Last Friday's activity was supposed to be biking on the causeway. The causeway is sort of like a boardwalk, I guess. It's on the water and there are a ton of bars and restaurants. And you can see all these little islands and boats. Also if you take my host dad's word for it, it's full of mobsters that hang out at this yacht club. I don't know if I believe him, I think those people are just rich, but an undercover mission to see what goes on inside is not out of the question.
Anyway, people like to ride bikes up and down the causeway so that's what we were going to do. At first I was excited but then when we actually go there I realized this was utter folly. I'm very unatheletic and I don't know why it took actually getting to the causeway to realize physical activity when it's hot as hell would be unpleasant. Luckily for me there were no bikes to rent when we got there.
After that we drove around and for some reason ended up in the ritzy part of town. We ended up in the part of the city that makes up the skyline.
Fancy!
I took some pictures of Trump's massive hotel.
I didn't say they were good pictures.
Then after that we went to a fancy mall where everything was overpriced.
Even whatever this is
It ended up being a longish day and most of it was spent driving around and being in traffic. It was nice getting to see more of the country side. And Vanessa's adorable son joined us. He decided it was his job to teach me Spanish as we drove and six-year-olds are the strictest of teachers.
Finally, although I desperately tried to get everyone to go to a movie instead we ended up going back to the causeway. It was the middle of the afternoon at this point and even hotter than before. But then in a stroke of lazy genius I was able to convince Vanessa that we should get one of these things.
And she did. It ended up being just me and one of the other students so ours was smaller. It was still a ton of work to peddle but at least we had shade. On the way up the path I got a real wolf whistle, from an actual Panamanian who I think was a construction worker, so that makes up for the earlier nonsense. As the others raced past us, we discovered that the contraption would always go the same speed no matter how much we peddled. The only thing that kept us going, both on the way up the path and returning, was the fact that after we were done we were going to go to one of the million bars/restaurants and get a nice refreshing drink.
All I wanted was a mojito. I don't really like minty drinks, but I was parched and tired and it seemed like the best option. I'm not sure what was up with the bartender woman. Every time we asked her a question she got all panicky and had to call someone on the phone. Apparently, they had mint at some point, but now all they had was mint leaves that were clearly dead. I wasn't really sure what else to order. All I could think of was secco, which I'd already had. So I had to get a rum and coke like my bike buddy ordered.
I'm not taking this as my go to a bar and get a drink experience, because it wasn't a cocktail, but the lady did make bike buddy pay for me so I'm still taking it as a win.
Besides that it was another lazy weekend for me. I did get my mother to e-mail me some stories I'd started but forgot to pack and I've been writing non-stop since. So I didn't feel too bad about my lazy weekend especially since bike buddy told me he also was going to have a uneventful evening.
This, however, was lies. On Monday when we saw each other at a school he told me he'd had a weekend filled with action-packed adventures. He hung out with his host mom's nephew (who he'd been advised to stay away from). And they got into all sorts of shenanigans. They got to see illegal street races and gamble. And they went into the bad neighborhood I mentioned a few posts back, and prostitutes ran at their car yelling out prices.
And on the inside I was like WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH HOW COME I DON'T GET TO ENGAGE IN DANGEROUS STREET RACING HIJINKS?!!!!
But on the outside I was like that's coo'.
Today, we were supposed to go to the president's house in the morning, but we ended up being late (surprisingly not my fault) and had to wait for the later tour group. This has been the one day it hasn't been a relatively nice day. It was really cloudy and pretty windy. We had to dress 'formally' for this and the dress I wore decided it wanted to do this stupid Marilyn Monroe thing, so much time was dedicated to trying not to flash anyone.
At the president's house there are these giant birds that Panama received as presents, so I got some pictures of those guys because they are huge and will not blink.
Then it was time for the tour. The president's house was pretty nice and I got some great pictures. Also I'm pretty sure I saw a ghost. Through a glass door in a mirror I saw a woman with an elongated head and red hair and no one in the group had red hair so I call ghost. I didn't take a picture though because I'm not sure about ghost rules, but I'm pretty sure it's bad business to take a picture of one.
Unfortunately, the tour structure was very rigid. You had to stay with the group and look at things when you were told. Also tour guide spoke exclusively in very fast Spanish. I think I would have tuned out even if I could understand it because the whole thing was making me feel like I was in middle school. So to occupy my time I started making little games for myself. Like the duck lip game, where I took advantage of the numerous mirrors in the house to take stereotypical internet pictures.
Oh yeahhh
Look at that forehead, yum yum
It was hard to do this without getting caught so then I switched to the caption game.The Caption Game
The caption game is easy, just take pictures of things and add dumb captions to it. Works best with old art. Warning there is some nudity, but it's okay because it's symbolic.
Is she looking at my butt? She's looking at my butt, isn't she?
I claim this land in the name of-- oh you're still here...this is awkward
Oh man, is that a centaur? I think I took too much...
We can never forget the Great Mustache Battle of 1837
Though it's nothing compared to the Beard Wars of 1860
The secret to architecture? Waffles.
This room was designed right after the first Harry Potter movie.
Don'tlookathispenis. don'tlookathispenis. Dammit, I looked.
Wiiiiiiiilsonnnnnn!!!
No real caption for this one, I just thought it was funny that she was naked but still has designer shoes.
So I took this picture because I understood enough to know that this table was important. This guy and the other tour guide kept pointing and were very emphatic about it but this was the only good picture I could get.
Bitches. Bitches just up and down the whole table.
Did you tell the camera crews where we bathe?!
Ooops I'm so zany, I need a spin off.
Then the tour was over so my game ended. We looked for food, ended up buying hotdogs for a dollar and now I'm back home blogging.
I'm hoping this will not be another lazy weekend. I really want to check out the nightlife here or at least go swimming or something. Well until next time here's a picture of some Panamanian food.
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