After making ten contacts and receiving two free gifts we decided we needed a break from the city and the yacht club world. (and we really wanted to wear something other than one outfit every day for a week) So we packed our day packs with our house and beds and headed to El Valle de Anton, the city in a volcanic crater.
El Valle is unlike most towns in Central America. It is more of a sprawl of a town where one is often confused on where the main area is. We were one of these confused visitors wandering around the streets for somewhere to set up camp. Turns out, we eventually ended up in what we can only describe as a Panamanian commune… I am not sure if everyone is aware, but R has a slight fear of communes (among various other irrational worries that will no doubt be discussed at some point)! She is afraid that we will drink the punch and never get out. It’s actually very similar to her Psych ward and Latin American jail fear.
Anyway we decided to set up tent out in the large green expanse and then tuck ourselves away for a minute so we could use the Internet and R could stop hyperventilating. So here we were, sitting in our tent in the middle of a commune in a volcanic crater planning to avoid more commune time by running to the grocery store, when we check our email and we read an email from our potential employer Jeremy! He asked to meet us in the city for a drink. We responded in the natural way, one of us of screaming (and it was actual screaming, loudly, in a tent, in a commune) and the other immediately closing out of the email and grabbing the purse to go collect groceries… After we collected ourselves and our groceries we tried to contact Jeremy to no avail (his phone hates ours apparently and email was not an working too well either).
But we still hold out hope that one day our electronics will get over their differences and make some magic happen. So the next day we decided to do as much El Valle as we could before we had to head back to the City for a possible drink. We hit up a steamy hike to look out point, went to the famous outdoor market choke full of amazing veggies and fruits, and swam in a waterfall in our pantaloons (since neither of us were organized enough to pack swim suits) before we headed back to the city (unfortunately we missed the apparently very nice hot springs largely because of our lack of proper swimwear; out at a waterfall after a hike is one thing, but pantaloons in public is awkward in Panama).
We were only in town for two nights, just a short weekend trip/vacation from our travels. On our first day we adopted a dog, who we named Negro, who then followed us about, slept outside our tent, accompanied us into all of the stores (much to the dislike of the locals), and hung around us in the commune up until the moment we got on our bus out of town. We also found a fancy Panamanian straw baseball cap for G-dad’s birthday back in June (a little belated at this point)! Juan, the friendly owner of our commune Casa Juan, told us we were welcome to come back and stay indefinitely, paying or not, anytime we wanted. He’s looking after Negro, so there is a slight chance we may consider stopping by some day… but it’s quite unlikely. Maybe if he hadn’t said that with the you two are such beautiful girls and you would make pretty babies statements too… It’s a chill place, though, full of artists and musicians and children and some super interesting conversation!
Also, sorry this is late. We are volunteering at a hostel in Panama City. Update to come this week!
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Rule #2: Don't Die. 