The Sun is Setting on Panama

I got an e-mail yesterday announcing the 2008 Winter Sale for an outdoor gear company.

“That’s strange,” I thought, “their e-mail software must have messed up. It’s not even close to being winter.”

I guess you could say that I’ve adapted to the eternal summer of Panama. In five days it will be time to adapt again, this time to people who speak the same language as me. Eight days after that it will be time to adapt to the polar opposite of Panama – Tokyo.

It’s hard to believe they’re all we have left, but we’ve been spending our last few days here well.

Last night we worked out in a park with our friend Oyden. He and his brother are starting Crossfit Panama, so he’s really into Crossfit and has a lot of great gear that we haven’t been able to use since leaving Austin. Rings for pullups, a medicine ball, and grips for dip pushups and dips.

We worked out in a playground under the light of the Global Bank building in downtown Panama City. After that we went to Casa Vegetariana as usual. I love that place.

Today we made a trip to La Novena, which is probably the most gourmet vegetarian restaurant in Panama City. It’s run by a very friendly chef named Arturo. He used to be an engineer, and it shows in his cooking. We look into the open kitchen as he prepares our dinner and it seems as if he’s counting every flake of parsley that falls out of his raised hand.

The food us absolutely unbelievable and he goes way out of his way to accomodate our strict diet. He knows we usually come on Tuesdays, so he always makes a vegan soup that day. Today he had spinach bean soup, which was amazing.

He told us that he had zucchini broccoli too. We were excited about it until his assistant chef told us that they were out.

“If you give me fifteen minute,” he says in good, but Panamanian, English, “I think I can make for you.”

Unable to decide between the two soups, we each order both. And a smoothie, salad, two slices each of fresh whole grain bread, and an entree which he has designed just for us. It’s pasta with almonds, tomatoes, and eggplant.

We hear all four people in the kitchen chatter about whether or not we’ll actually be able to eat all that food.

After we finish he sits down and chats with us for a few minutes and sings along as he plays the Spanish guitar.

Tomorrow we’ll be going to sleep early because the following day we head to San Blas Islands, where the native Kuna tribe live. For twelve dollars a day they house you, feed you, and show you around the island. Many people have told us it’s the best part of Panama, so we’re excited about that.

When we get back we’ll have one last day to go visit our favorite people and places one last time, and then we’re off to LA and San Francisco. Both of us have been in touch with our friends there and are looking forward to seeing them.

Saying goodbye to Panama will be sad, but not as sad as it would be if we weren’t about to go find adventure in Japan.