Tropical Envy

I learned a valuable lesson during our return last night from Panama. I should never listen to my tropical wife when it comes to appropriate garb for a New England spring. I let her talk me out of bringing a jacket as she felt this would be inappropriate and unneeded since it was bound to be even warmer when we got back. I do and should have known better, however she is the grand poohbah of all packing related activities for our travels.

We landed back in Boston to a 50 degree temperature which was decidedly better than my last return, in February, but still a little brisk to be sporting only a short sleeve shirt. It made waiting for the bus to the parking garage “interesting”. My wife acknowledged her mistake and pointed out I shouldn’t be taking advice from her on these matters (I didn’t know I had a choice – yes, I was stunned). At least I had my brand new Panama hat to help keep me warm. The bus driver gave that chapeau a grin when I boarded – I think he must see a lot of this on his job.

I also learned to avoid scheduling one of these trips during the school vacation week in Massachusetts. I cringed when we arrived at our gate in the Panamanian airport to see it deluged with a staggering crowed of American high school teenagers and everything that goes with an assembly of such. They were there for some school trip and they turned out to be a remarkably well behaved group putting lie to my initial impression.

View from Our Hotel Room

The brisk welcome home did nothing to dim the pleasure of our last couple days in Panama. We caught a plane down to Panama City on Saturday morning and met up with one of the PanaGals at our hotel. She squired up into Panama City so we could host a family lunch with those members of my wife’s family who have become “capitalinos” – residents of the capital city. Most importantly we wanted to see one of my wife’s aunts who is fighting a very tough battle against a very aggressive form of cancer. We chose a restaurant near her home so she wouldn’t have to travel far.

Panama City

This was the first time in a couple years I’d wandered into the city itself since I can now bypass it with flights to David and once again I was struck by how much has changed. Panama City is truly bursting at the seams with people and development. Even on a Saturday the traffic was horrendous and this despite some amazing improvements to the roads in and around the city as well as a fully functioning subway system that recently opened.

Not the Same Place I Remembered - Amazing Changes in 30 Years

Most telling was a remark from my wife’s cousin as she drove us into the city. The road was choked with cars barely moving despite the six lane highway and she remarked how lucky we were that traffic as moving so well. I couldn’t live in this place which is kind of sad because Panama City will always have a very special place in my heart from my days of running around with a great group of fellow lieutenants in hot pursuit of Panamanian pulchritude. That city is gone forever and the megalopolis which has replaced it, while impressive by any standard, doesn’t have the same charm and is decidedly more difficult to get around in.

Saw a Lot of This

When we eventually did reach the restaurant in the El Dorado section of the city it was more than worth the effort. We were soon surrounded by a bevy of the famous PanaGals as well as the aunt and uncle. As required with my wife’s family laughter was soon rampant. Family members trickled in over the course of the afternoon and we were luckily blessed with a very patient waitress.

My Wife, PanaGals, and Aunt and Uncle Saturday Afternoon

One of the highlights of the day was the arrival of my wife’s niece and nephew to lend a younger bent to the conversations. We were soon comparing notes on upcoming summer movies and the impending new chapter in the Star Wars universe. It was so cool to catch up with the young’uns since they’re usually camped out in the city, far from my usual haunts in Chiriquí (my wife’s home province). We also entered into a conspiracy to get them to visit us up here late this year.

With the Young'uns

After three hours in the restaurant we declared victory and decided to head back to our hotel. The assembled family did not want the reunion to end so they all returned to the hotel with us (once again through the traffic morass), even the aunt and uncle. We spent the next four hours hanging out in the courtyard next to the pool and conversation never waned.

At one point I donned a bathing suit and jumped into the pool because I wasn’t returning to the US without being able to claim I swam outside at least once to my long suffering fellow New Englanders. It finally got so dark that we could barely see each other and we had to say goodbye.

Proof

Saturday was a good microcosm of what I love about visiting Panama. It isn’t the tropical heat and breathtaking beauty of the country, it’s the people. Most especially it’s my wife family who gladly donated an entire Saturday just to sit around and catch up with and enjoy the company of each other; that’s something fairly special and something I think has been lost to a certain degree up north.

Saying Goodbye to the Group After a Long Day of Laughter