COLON, PANAMA

I love this luggage tag in the gift shop! My thoughts exactly!

So Panama.......oh how I love your culture!


Tues we had a full fun filled day in Panama........Colon pronounced Colón like men's cologne but Leanne and I liked to be redneck and say colon as in colonoscopy! ha! We got a huge kick out of listening to our guide say things like..."tanks you or chanks you" instead of Thank you and "we speaks english".....so fun! ok focus caroline, there is much to show.

Again, because of my love for visuals over words, this is a long large pic post. You might want to take it in shifts hahahaha!

Welcome to Colon, Panama that sits on the beautiful Caribbean Sea.






This is all us before the adventure began! I must say that tropical weather is CRAZY! Humid, cloudy then sunny, rains suddenly then over in seconds, and can make a southern girl that normally "glistens" sweat like a muscle man! NOT KIDDING! On this day we had sweat running down our legs and backs.....oh so attractive! ha!





The excursion that we went on was the GRAND TOUR of Panama! Which meant we were going to get a little of everything from the country. My family are big fans of getting off the boat and really seeing the culture that lives there. So on this particular day we were totally submersed in it!.

Here are some pictures I took as we were on the bus........

ok.....if you didn't know.......I am a HUGE LOVER OF PRISON BREAK! I mean I about passed out last summer in Tokyo when they had a life size cut out of the characters! Great Show. I can hardly write that statement without tearing up since it has been canceled.....tear....ha jk.....anyway if you watch you will remember the prison they were in somewhere in Panama..............SHUT UP WE SO PASSED THIS PRISON AND I WAS LIKE....."oh my gosh it could have sooooo been on that show!"

This is people waiting to get in to visit loved ones....

another view! it was straight up old and I was trying to imagine what it was like inside......I have a feeling not good since it was soooo hot and they had no air-condition!




mom and dad on bus



We were driven to the old American military base that was occupied until recently when the US left Panama. The country has turned it into Hotels and apartments. It was very beautiful!



A Panama Hotel

inside

We stopped here because this is where we would catch our boat for the village.






The view across from the Hotel...........can you say "OH MY".....it was just breath taking and the water so calm that I could get good pics of the reflections!



Green is my favorite color so to see all the shades of green about put me over the edge! ha






me



leanne



Then it was time to go down to the water for boat ride.















On our way to the village...these pics are weird because of the lighting...it was a very overcast HOT HOT HOT DAY!









We drove around for awhile to see all the vegetation and then arrived a village called Amborramia...as we drove up we could hear their village music playing and the excitement in me started to get out of control...village life is soooooo my favorite!!!!!!!


The men greeted us as we walked up! so cool

right passed the men they had an area we could take pics with the children. at first I was against it because it took me by surprise that they had them all set and ready. That is very different than other villages in other countries I have been to. But then I got over it.....because the faces were making me fall in love!!!!!

The top of the hill had there hut style homes

I mean really, look at this precious face!

obviously they wear their native clothing. Which means men's hineys exposed and women without tops. But the cool thing is that when you enter into their world all your "american rules" go to the way side and instead of spending the time uncomfortable and crazy....you get to just enjoy who they are and their history.

A covered area where we learned all about this tribe. I however was so on visual overload that I was twisting and turning and getting pics and listening all at the same time! There was NO sitting still for me!



our tour guide and the chief



hammocks....oh i love me a good hammock












While we were listening this PRECIOUS little girl was walking around with this bird and I was able to capture the sweetness of the moment and her beauty.






oh she is just breath-taking

swinging from the trees

you can't help but look at these pictures and sing....

Jesus loves the little children

ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD

red and yellow, black and white

THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT

Jesus LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD!

amen amen right?

at one point during the talk they said that the tribe would be dancing and we could join in............ of course we joined in. On the side of my blog there is a picture of me in China dancing with the women of a village.......it is a memory that I will have the rest of my life and I am so glad we could do the same here!










Chickens running around free

Then one of the boys decides to show us how he is not afraid of them hahah












boy resting in the hut



my new little friends......






ok i love these next pics.....this is Eli, the little boy below. He has to be the cutest and boyish 5 year old trapped in a 10 year olds body! He was on the cruise with us. oh i could have kissed his fat cheeks over and over! So anyway, I am taking pics and over hear Eli talking to the girls....in english which they do not speak......ha. He was showing them his little truck and how it works and wanted them to play with him. It was so precious. He just kept going on and on and at first you can see the little girl is leaning back like..."what the heck is he doing".....



Then she gets a little more brave and leans forward to see what he is doing......all the while Eli is talking 90 miles an hour hahahaha



and then my favorite pic....she leaves her comfort zone and gets closer to Eli. Love in any language right?

Chief

Then it was time for me to do some shopping and at one point looked up and this little boy was just chilling out on the table ha



Then his mom came back

time to get back on the boat and look for slothes and monkey and any other animals that wanted to meet us that day!



i love this pic because what you can't see is that i am sweating so bad that I am not sitting on my dress but have it hiked up to get air hahahahahhahahaha...just keepin it real ok. ha when you start sweating in places you never knew about........some lady-like rules have to go out the window!


Where we saw a sloth

beautiful plant hanging from a tree

ok................so that was only one part of our day! This is a lot, I know, so take a break and get you some Sweet Tea...........

We got back on the bus and had a bag of goodies for us....turkey sandwiches, this amazing banana muffin below



and a mint that was sooo good.



IT WAS NOW TIME TO HEAD TO THE PANAMA CANAL AND TO SEE ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD!



we saw a few churches along the way

Ticket into the viewing deck of the Canal



Mom and Dad



I will not give you all the history of the Panama Canal because you learned that in school....but here are a few maps to get your locations right....

This was one of the most incrediable things I have ever seen.

you walk up a large amount of stairs to get to the viewing deck. It is crazy because you are able to see the ship...to the left of the pic....almost completely out of water and it is HUGE....

so if you are interested this link is a moving illustration on how the canal gates work. it is easy to watch but i will try and explain it .

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/general/howitworks/como-funcion.html

This specific ship was from Tokyo and since I love Tokyo and it's people I felt a deep connection hahahah I was all trying to see if there were any Japanesse people on the boat to talk too...



pics of the locks...you can see that in every section is a different amount of water.





mom and dad trying to survive the EXTREME HEAT



Me so excited to be in this country



so here we go.......boat 1 is up out of the water.



and then they begin to drop it down......by the way...we learned that to cross the Panama Canal it takes cash...no credic card and they make something like a million something a day!

almost all the way down........getting ready to leave the locks



while Tokyo 1 is droping down boat 2 is getting closer and closer to go through the same transition into a lower level body of water.



closer






Indiana Hughes....i love this pic of Dad

mom looking cute






Then the sections of water begin to drain into other sections so that the boat can enter in



and Tokyo 1 is set free into the canal

so i am a huge lover of processes. Like the show on food net about how things are made or packaged.......i love factories and seeing things begin and end......it THRILLS ME!!!!!! so this is me so amazed at the fact that God gave men the ability to come up with somthing so amazing! It was very cool! ps.......there are two lines so that two ships can go through the process at the same time.

and after a very long hot day it was time to head to the boat. We stopped off at the pier and did some shopping. I was able to get art work which was exciting.

mom getting back on.....we went straight to the Lido Deck and pigged out on ice cream and cookies!!!!! yum yum

pic from the boat of Panama

Dinner that night...........the show was before dinner and it was an Asian Comedian that was SOOOOOOOO FUNNY!






wow....that was just one day. I must say this....if you ever have the opportunioty to see the Panama Canal....DO IT! the fact that some of it was dug out by men's hands make you respect it so much more. If a ship chose to not take the canal they have to add 21 extra days to their trip! CRAZY!!!!!!!

lastly, if you ever get to go to another country.......don't try and make it like America. Don't try to judge it according to how we live. Be able to enjoy a country for what it is....even if it isn't what you agree with. Don't rush through it but stop and enjoy all that you are experiencing...I promise it will make you not only grateful for where God has placed you but it will humble you to see that He has given us more than we need or deserve.

Costa Rica next time.....oh you are in for a wild adventure that was not on the list of daily activities! ha! love you