Spidey in Spanish
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David,
Panama
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Sunday May 20 to May 21, 2007
After doing some quick shopping in the rain (IT NEVER STOPS RAINING HERE!) in Boquete, we caught a chicken bus for the 1 hour ride down the mountain to David.
David is the 2nd largest city in Panama. And there really isn't much to see here. But it is a key transportation hub for travelling north (to Costa Rica) and south (towards Panama City). Frank and I are going to catch an early bus on Monday morning to make our way back to Costa Rica to catch a flight home to the USA on Wednesday. Jessie and Mark are going to catch an early bus on Monday morning to continue their journey south to Panama City - where they are hoping to arrange a boat tour to visit the San Blas Islands and then continue sailing to Columbia. We have had an AWESOME time with Jessie and Mark and are sad to separate from them. So many great memories!
When we arrived at the bus station in David, we were immediately greeted by a hostel owner who told us about his hostel and offered to take us there. His rate was $6 per person, including a breakfast, clean rooms and bathrooms and kitchen. We walked with him to the hostel, but not in the logical straight line one might take during this noontime heat. No, he wandered about different side streets to give us a tour and show us where the internet cafes were and the movie theater, etc. A nice gesture - but Man, It Is Hot Tamales Here...
We ended up at his hostel eventually and checked out the rooms. One was available, but there was still someone in the room Frank and I were going to take. The owner went in that room and had a quiet conversation with the person in the room. He reappeared 5 minutes later and said "It's free now". The other person snuck out a side door...odd. He showed us the room, and I asked about the bed sheets since it was fairly clear the other person had slept in them. He said he would change them (and he did). Then I asked about the kitchen so I could put some of the perishable food we had away. He said there was no refrigerator because a guest had punched holes in it and it was getting repaired. Okay, a little strange. Then we asked for keys to lock our door so we could go out walking around the town. He at first said there were no keys -- then he found a key for one of the rooms. At this point, we were having major second thoughts about this guy. It didn't help, either, that when we arrived, he gave me a long sob story about his recent life. He said that he was married to an American woman who owned The Purple House, a large popular hostel in town. The recently split and he tried to start his own hostel. She wanted to prevent him from that, so she told his landlord that he was really abusive and a drunk and that he would be a bad tenant. The landlord gave him the lease anyways and he opened the hostel. He soon started recruiting guests at the bus station (like he did with us). But then she found out and reported him to the authorities because he did not have a permit to do so. He had to wait 30 days for a permit and in the meantime had to close the hostel because there were no guests. He finally got the permit - and when we showed up he had been re-opened for just 3 days. One might think that with all that time on his hands, he might do some cleaning up. Like sweep the floors, paint the stains on the walls, get the refrigerator fixed, get a key made for the door... A very strange story indeed....
So in the end, we ended up packing our bags and leaving. We grabbed a taxi who recommended a large hotel right on the square called the Hotel Iris. It turned out to be just $16 per room - for a private room with a private bath with hot water - and cable TV! And a great location. Sold! We settled in and then went out to grab a bite to eat.
Later that afternoon, Frank and I discovered that Spiderman 3 was playing at the movie theater around the corner. It was opening day, too. Cool! We went back and left a note for Jessie and Mark who met up with us soon thereafter. We bought tickets and grabbed our seats in the theatre. Only $2 per person. We were definitely the only gringos in the theater. Many locals were there with their ENTIRE FAMILIES. Yes, not just Grandma and Grandpa and the Aunts and Uncles. But also ALL of the children. Newborn infants, toddlers, kids of all ages. And those without kids pulled out their cellphones and chatted away. We immediately thought "Oh No...." But it turned out okay. After wrestling with their parents in the beginnng and whining a lot, most of the kids quieted down and watched the movie. So different from the USA where any parent would immediately get the Old Evil Eye - as would anyone on a cell phone.
Up to this point in our trip, Frank and I saw several movies at different movie theatres (as well as bootleg DVD's at the hotels). Each time, it was in English with Spanish subtitles. Soooooo... we just assumed that Spiderman 3 would be the same. Not this time! It was in Spanish with no subtitles the whole time. Surprisingly, we understood the entire movie! I don't know if that says something about how good our Spanish is or how bad movies have gotten that you no longer need dialogue! :-) Actually, it was a great movie - and we can't wait to see it again, in English next time.
That night, we retired early to our hotel rooms. No late night of rum drinking and card playing - we're getting old! We caught the second half of a movie on our hotel room TV. "Down with Love" with Renee Zelwegger and Ethan Hawke. A really cute movie! There were some scenes a little cheesy - that they copied right from Austin Powers. But it had a cute ending.
The next morning, we caught an early morning (8:30 - I guess it's not THAT early...) direct bus to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Cheers,
Kay
