Stuck in Panama

We have been in Panama City for a week now getting a good education in just how ridiculous the bureaucracy and red tape are down here.  After arranging to have our bikes shipped home and arranging a sailboat to Colombia and going to the customs office and finding out we need to go to the office in Colon and going to the police station 3 times to have our bikes inspected it turns out we need the original titles.  Even though we didn´t need them to get in to the country.  Argh.  So, we aren´t going to Colombia after all.   Its amazing how one grumpy official can throw a huge wrench in your plans down here.

But, there is always a bright side and we have been enjoying bits and pieces of Panama City while we are waiting.  We went to the horse track a few nights ago which was lovely.  Lots of old men there who would all huddle around the tv screens when the race started, and would snap in unison to bring their horses in first while shouting the horses names.  I bet on a horse called Aaron Armin (Paul and my middle names) and it won!  Snap, snap, snap!

And last night we returned from a drive around town and while we were pulling in to the courtyard of our hostel the neighbors invited us to have a beer.  Lola, a Kuna Yala from the San Blas island, showed us his printing press and how he custom makes offical stamps and type settings, and then he proceeded to amaze us with his incredible knowledge of American music, rattling off hits by Cindy Lauper, Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston, singing and playing air guitar the whole time.  They spoke almost no English and it was great to realize we could hold our own for hours in Spanish (and lots of sign language).  After way too many beers I said I needed some food and we started to say goodbyes but they opened their car doors and insisted that we go to the bar for some food together.  6 of us squeezed in to a little car and spent the next 3 or 4 hours eating chicken and fries, drinking way too many Balboas and playing songs on the jukebox for each other.  One of the older guys, who had amazingly thick glasses on,  kept passing out with his face towards the ceiling and waking up at a moment´s notice to sing a few lines of Journey or Vincente.  Late in the evening I noticed he had a pistol sticking out of his pocket.... Overall it was a great night out. 

Today we are going to head out to the Gamboa resort where our bicyclists friends are being put up to celebrate the finish of their trip.  We went there a year ago to sneak in to the pool and enjoy the amazing views, so I think we´ll try a repeat of that today.

Back home in a few weeks, one way or another!