It's official.... I'm crazy

I'm crazy.  I am. I really am.  Let me tell you how I know this.  I'll start from the beginning.  Last summer we started saving for a "BIG TRIP" (or two) for this summer. Trip #1. Visit my cousins in Liberia, Africa. This trip offers a great set up; very expensive plane tickets $1,200 each (times 4 for me, AlphaPoppa and the boys) but free room and board with my family.  We would, of course, chip in and buy food, etc. to off set the cost of hosting us.  Trip #2. Tokyo, Japan to visit AlphaPoppa's brother, his wife, and baby.  Once again trip #2 offers a place to stay with family, we can chip in to off set costs, etc.  However, both trips slipped away from us.  The airfare to Africa went up to nearly $2000 each and that would be way over budget.  My brother-in-law in Japan, a sailor in the Navy, is out at sea with my sister-in-law just starting a new job.  Even though both trips fell through we knew we wouldn't be content staying home all summer.  The urge to be on the move flows through our veins, so we decided on New York City.   I'm originally from The Bronx, I have many childhood friends there, a bunch of cousins, friends, and AlphaPoppa's sister is there.  This seemed like the best bet.  We can use all the extra savings for Broadway, The Bronx Zoo, Handsom cab rides in Central Park, etc.  I found a $60 bus ride from Atlanta to China Town, New York on what is known as the "Chinese Bus".  It leaves Atlanta at 8pm and arrives on Canal St. in Manhattan at 10:30 am, I figured that this will also be a good way for the boys to sleep the whole ride.

Atlanta to New York City route

Now, the story is not crazy, yet.  Not until a series of spontaneous events happened on Saturday night, 2 nights ago.  I had this very bright idea that perhaps we could catch a cheap flight out of NYC to Paris.  Zane's school is having a meet up there for the Japanese-French immersion students and even though he is not in that program it's a small school and few families were planning to get there.  So I checked the prices. Getting into Paris was running about $1,600 a person.  Nope, not possible.  So then I figured as long as we can get into Europe we can just take the Eurail Train System into Paris.  So I started checking other European cities.  Madrid, nope. London, nope. Rome, nope. Berlin? What?! $500 round trip from NYC to Berlin?! $676 after taxes?  Impossible!  Nope it's possible.  I immediately called AlphaPoppa and asked, "Hey, you want to take the kids to Germany in June?  The tickets are cheap."  He says," Sure, what dates.  I can only be away from work for a week". I say,"Me and the kids will stay in Europe the whole month of June.  I'll book your ticket for the beginning of the trip."  I then chose June 4th- 29th for me and the kids and I BUY THE TICKETS!!!! Just like that no hesitation, nothing... CRAZY!  Once I get my e-mail confirmation I look things over and see that I accidently chose June 1st NOT the 4th. OMG!!!!  I call the hubby back and let him know what happened, I'm in a panic now.  June 1st is less than 2 weeks away.  I know it's only a 3 day difference from what I intended, but I'm freaking out by this point.  He tells me, "leave the dates and don't worry about it, we'll figure something out."  I then nervously book his ticket from the 1st to the 8th.  FoxyMama reassures me,"Darling, you did not book those tickets for June first by accident. There are no accidents."  Mom, this is not the time to go Kung Fu Panda Buddhist on me!

There are no accidents.

Now that we have tickets. I guess a plan is in order. We are so freakin' backwards!  The plan is that we will land in Berlin, Germany on the 2nd find somewhere to sleep for a couple of days then head to Paris on a train, hook up with the school parents, then AlphaPoppa will "find his way back" to Berlin to fly back to NYC then get back to Atlanta.  I couldn't sleep saturday night.  I've traveled under much crazier circumstances before but never with the kids.  Am I being irresponsible?  Have I lost my mind?  Why can't I be like other people and just be happy buying things, sleeping in late, and watching reality TV? When I tell Zane about our trip I'm going to be in BIG TROUBLE!  He's the most conservative member of the family (at 8 years old) and I'm not prepared for the series of questions that he will ask me. "Mom, do you speak German?" "Where are we going to sleep?" "Do you know anyone in Germany?" "How much money do you have for this trip?" etc. etc.  All my answers will not be to his satisfaction.  Europe is expensive and this travel on a shoestring budget has been reduced to traveling on a dental floss budget. 

Berlin, Germany- Paris, France

I'm always telling others to step out of their comfort zone.  Traveling to Germany is out of mine and I'm nervous.  I don't speak German and I've never been there.  The only person I know there is my old roommate that I lived with in France 10 years ago.  I have her address but I haven't spoken to her in 10 years! My many trips to Latin America and the Caribbean have been like visiting home for me.  I know the cultures and languages so well that its a part of my own individual identity, most definitely inside my comfort zone.  As nervous and unsure as I am I refuse to cancel or adjust our new tickets.  I have 10 days to make this make sense.  Fortune favors the brave so Im putting on my courage cap and about to make some miracles happen. Yikes!

Echo Panama Slide Show on Youtube

Previously I posted this video of our experiences in Panamá, but it could not be viewed by iPad and Smart Phone users.  I've uploaded it to YouTube, now everyone can see it.  Thanks for hanging in there with me!

-Echo

Panama Photo/ Movie Slide Show

Here is a movie slide show of the pictures I took during our journey in Panamá:

Warning: This video is 30 minutes long (but interesting) ☺

Echo's Panama Movie SlideShow

I hope you enjoy it.

Making Connections

Our trip is over but as you can see our experiences and the people we meet will stay with us for a very long time.  The most important part of my travels are the human connections that I'm able to make.  Nothing satisfies me more than meeting new people from different cultures and different perspectives.  Staying in a hotel separated from local people has never interested me much.  Unlimited Margaritas and cruise ship tourist traps don't excite me at all.

My way of traveling is not for everyone.  Cold showers, crowded bus rides, mystery meals, and late night Salsa parties are too much for people who seek relaxation, repetition, and routine.  To me all the aspects that some may consider undesirable are worth the many many lessons I learn from actually making connections with the people I meet in my travels.

Here are some of the many people who touched me, and the boys, along the way:

José & Conchita, our host parents.

 Their daughter Anahi was also there, seen in the background.  She was very ill and on bed rest almost my whole stay there.  My few encounters with her were lovely and I hope she gets well soon. ♥

My Bermudan housemates Jaeden and Sakima



♥ The kids at Casa Esperanza ♥

Melody, our tour guide.  I know if we lived in the same city that we would be great friends, but since we don't I know we will be great FaceBook Friends.

                                      

Our experience in Panamá was arranged by Ileri Spanish School.  Ileri arranged transportation to and from the airport, our home stays (which included breakfast and dinner), our Spanish classes, some of our tours, and our volunteer hours at Casa Esperanza.  Basically they made sure we were well taken care of. 

I even want to shout-out our host dogs, Chiqui and Dobi.  Besides secretly peeing and #2-ing on my suitcases, when I wasn't looking, they were fun and kept us on our toes.  In my mind these tough little guys were making sure mice and other tropical creatures didn't get comfortable in our temporary living space.

Our trip has come to an end, we are back home with AlphaPoppa and FoxyMama.  We are very grateful and forever changed by our time in Panamá.  We are looking for our next opportunity to travel abroad.  I will look at where to go and start my saving strategy this week.  I'll let you know where we plan to go, and why, as soon as we make a decision. 

Thank you for joining us in Panamá, we hope you enjoyed our adventures and I hope you are inspired to take an adventure of your own.  Stay tuned because I feel I owe you an explanation of how I became a travel-addict and how I feel in love with culture and language.  Now that is a story worth hearing...

Our last full day in Panamá

Saturday, April 7, 2012

We all agreed to make our last day in Panama a great one. We started out with a certification ceremony for my students. They were very proud of the progress they made in Spanish and the community service they did at Casa Esperanza. After that we hung out for a while until it was time to go to the zoo. 

Dude saying goodbye to his neighbor/ friend

near the school

The zoo is nothing like our Atlanta Zoo. I know from experience to not even expect such a thing. Our American zoos are huge and full of exotic African and Asian animals. Our zoos are big businesses, this zoo on the other hand cost $2 per visitor, $1 if you are a student. Most countries have small zoos that are used as animal refuge and rehabilitation centers. They are used primarily to showcase local animals and a few foreign animal visitors. The zoo in Panama had monkeys, macau, jaguars, and exotic birds. I got my best laugh was from seeing American racoons, very cute! These are definitely not the tigers, lions, and gorillas of the US but that was OK with us.

Lazy Leopard 

Caution, these animals bite 

The zoo also doubles as a Botanical Garden (making the $2 price even better).

After the zoo, we headed out to lunch at a cheap buffet style restaurant for a $6 total. While we ate the rain started. Ya gotta love rainy season! While waiting for the rain to stop we put our heads together to decide how we wanted to spend our last day. We knew zip-lining was out, and a long trip to another part of the country was not an option. We decide that we really enjoyed our bike riding and ice cream day and would return to CoastWay. This time Zane got his own bike and afterward we all enjoyed ice cream; a Banana Split (for Zane), a Charlie Brownie (for me, of course) and a Muppet Ice Cream Cup for Dude.

Zane on his bike 

Indigenous vendor selling jewelry at CoastWay

During our last night with Conchita I made sure to add myself to her Skype contacts, take a few pictures, and to pack for our early morning flight back to Atlanta.  We definitely miss our friends and family back home but we truly enjoyed our time in Panamá.  I'm so proud of Zane and Dude for their flexibility and adventurous spirits.  We will definitely be traveling abroad this summer and I hope you and your family do too!

 

Isla Grande

Friday, April 6, 2012

We have one, and only one, activity planned for today, Isla grande.  Isla Grande is on the Caribbean coast and is promised to have clear blue-green water.  We met our driver at 7:30 a.m. and headed toward the Caribbean coast.  The drive was breathtakingly beautiful.  We rode down a stretch of highway that ran along the rainforest floor, through sleepy caribbean towns with people laid out in their hammocks, over hills, down valleys, and curving around smooth roads. 



Front seat view of our ride.

Ruins from Portobelo Fort on the way to Isla Grande 

Once we arrived at our destination our next step was to take a boat over to the Isla Grande beach area.  The boat ride was $3 each way and $4 each (excluding Dude) to be on the beach.

 

Clear blue water at the dock

Me and the boys on the boat

View of Isla Grande from our boat

Isla grande was just lovely we spent hours playing, splashing, and swimming. 

Zane and Dude

Zane started playing with some of the local kids

swinging from this rope into the sea.

Zane found a cool tree and climbed it,

full tree shown below

Once we got hungry we walked around the island to the residential area.  Locals were there fishing, living a simple life, and selling cheap meals for $2.50!!!  Zane was adventurous enough to try octopus.

Local kids posing with a big catch.

Sleepy beach dog, living the life.

Zane eating octopus.  He liked it.

 

 Dude playing soccer with his big bro

 Today is Good Friday

We hung out at the beach until 4 o'clock.  We headed back to Panama City to find that it had been raining hard for hours.  Knowing that we were on the beach and not caught in the rain in the city made our little excursion just a little bit sweeter.  Conchita had dinner ready for us when we got home and we went to bed early.  The boys were knocked out for the count!

Casco Viejo & La Cinta Costera

After my students`class today we weren´t sure what to do that would be quick and cheap.  I came here with the assumption that I would be able to see and do a lot more with Panamá being a small country and all, but boy was I wrong.  One thing that I wanted to do but realized that I hadn`t done was visit Casco Viejo, which is Panamá City´s historic district.  Since Casco Viejo has been in the back of my mind this whole trip I decided that this would be our best bet, so we hopped in a taxi that dropped us off here at La Plaza Catedral (shown above).

Outside the Cathedral there is a plaza, hence the name, that had many souvenirs for sale.  All the vendors were indigenous Panamanians and one was willing to let me snap her picture, for $2!  I`m very upset that I was not able to visit the indigenous parts of the country as my young Bermudan house mates did.  They found it very interesting, so I will be sure that is on the top of my to do list when I return to Panamá.

Unfortunately almost all of Casco Viejo is under construction and being renovated but I was able to get a few good snapshots out of our little trip.

After about an hour and a half of shopping, roaming, and taking pictures I saw dark clouds roll in.  We quickly made our way through an area called La Cinta Costera to the fish market to catch a taxi back to El Dorado.  Tons of people were at the fish market buying fish for Good Friday tomorrow.  I`ve been told that tomorrow everyone will eat fish as a tradition.  We got to the fish market quickly, but we weren´t quick enough because we got caught in torrential downpour. Dude couldn`t have been happier to be soaking wet.

When I could finally get a taxi to pick up wet people we headed home, back to Conchita and for the first time since we`ve been here Zane fell asleep before dinner.  All this traveling has him exhausted, but I can tell he`s enjoying every bit of it.