Panama Update #32
August 16, 2008
Today we went to the Parque Natural Metropolitano (Pictures from Panama 9). It is a huge park (265 hectare) on a hill within the city limits, fairly close to where we live. At about 8:30 AM this morning we called some of the neighbors in the dorm that we have become friends with and they also wanted to go. Emma is from London and has been living in Scotland the last 8 years going to college and is at the Smithsonian to finish an experiment she has started that studies the sounds that corrals make, Fernando is a college professor from Cali, Colombia, and Emma's new roommate also came. We went on a loop hiking trail that took about 2 hours. At the top of the hill is a panoramic view of Panama City. The guidebook says that an important battle in the US invasion to oust Noriega took place in the park.
After that we went to a Spanish Learning Center. Nikki and the other 2 women signed up for Spanish lessons twice a week, 2 hours a lesson, for four weeks. The cost is very reasonable, at $112 for the 16 hours. There will be a class established for only the 3 of them, and they can share a taxi. They are excited about starting in a couple of days. Afterward all of us went to a Lebanese restaurant where we got humus, baba ganoush, and falafel. After that, the three others went back to the dorm, and Nikki and I stayed in the area. We wanted to check out a vegetarian restaurant that we had seen before, but not tried. Since we had already eaten, we only ordered some juice and a salad. The food looked good and we definitely plan to go back. While we were there we saw someone else from the Smithsonian eating lunch there.
In the evening we took a taxi (as usual) to the Albrook mall to see Kung Fu Panda in Spanish (dubbed/doblado) so we could practice our Spanish as we watched. All the malls have been packed on the weekends and really seem like the place to be for all ages. After the movie we did a little shopping. Nikki bought a mask and snorkel for her next field trip and I bought a clock to hang on the kitchen wall in our apartment for only $3. They have a wide range of prices here, where you can get some things so cheap and other products are more expensive than you can find in the US.
