I couldn't believe we were in Panama, but what was even more exciting was that we were going through the Canal. Boats from all over the world come to this one spot to trade, sell, and just experience Panama. I feel extremely lucky to be able to see this stuff before I die, that's more than most people can say.

Casey and I wanted to spend as much time with Chase and Rachel as we could, because they were going back home to Montana soon. Chase and Rachel if you don't remember from previous emails/blogs are from S/V Alaya and have been traveling with us from San Blas, Mexico. Chase's parents own Alaya and invited him and Rachel, his girlfriend, to come take this trip with them. Since they are in their twenties, they aren't boring and kept me completely sane down the coast of Mexico and Central America.

Chase, Rachel, Casey and I decided to go to the Panama Canal museum and then go to the old town that was nearby to see the sights and maybe learn a thing or two about the history of Panama. We hired Luis, a taxi driver, to take us to the museum and teach us all he knew about the Canal for $8 an hour. First, Casey and I took Luis' taxi to TGI Fridays (a restaurant with wonderfully small desserts), where we agreed to meet Chase and Rachel. When we got there, Chase and Rachel were just dropping off their shower bags back at their boat (yes, we cruisers have to walk to public showers to conserve water onboard.) Casey and I sat on the curb and waited for them and Luis leaned on his old blue cab.

Luis was a tall, thin man with dark skin and black eyes. He always wore an old white hat with a black band around it that made him look like a jazz player. He called it his "Panama Hat" and promised to buy Chase and my Dad one later for a little extra money. Luis had a raspy, croaking voice, obviously the outcome of the cigarette that seemed to permanently hang on the side of his mouth.

"Ready?" Luis asked hoarsely as we approached. "Si," said Chase as we crammed into his tiny, rusty Taxi. "Where you want to go?" he said as he covered his mouth and let out a disgusting cough. "The Museo de Panama" Said Chase, who was in the front seat. "Ah, Museo de Panama," Luis quickly repeated as he stepped on the gas.

We drove for about twenty minutes and came to one of the locks of the Canal, which looked as if it were going to burst under the pressure of water it was holding. Luis told us to get out of the car so he could take a picture of us in front of the lock. After we did that, it was off to the museum.

We came to a very tall, square building that looked like it had marble tiles on it. There were hundreds of people from the cruise ships waiting in line on the steps to get into the museum. "Oh my gosh." Said Luis, looking at the hordes of people in front of us. We started up the steps and followed Luis to the top of the line. It looked like we were going to be in line for a while. Standing there not knowing what to do, we watched Luis talk to one of the uniformed guards, trying to make some sort of deal. We then decided to get into the "line" for tickets. The two lines (or three, I couldn't tell) were all uneven, some half the size of the other ones. Chase, Rachel, Casey and I went to the shortest line, just incase Luis didn't hit it off with the security guard.

A fake-looking brunette woman standing next to us in one of the longer lines scowled at Chase with her perked up face. After a while of staring at Chase (who looked extremely uncomfortable by now) she couldn't restrain herself anymore and started yelling at him in Spanish pointing her finger at him accusingly.

Chase's is of Honduran dissent so wasn't strange for Spanish-speakers to mistake him for local. "No hable espanol" he said, sounding almost proud to not speak Spanish as he shrugged and shook his head. The woman stopped, squinted and then started yelling at him in English. "We have been waiting longer that you, you cut in front of us!" Her aggravated-looking posse of other elderly Spanish-speaking ladies nodded in agreement. Chase looked at the muddled lines of people and I could tell he was about to debate (he is naturally gifted in the art of debating), but instead he said "we're just following our guide." She clenched her teeth and said "Yea? Well we are just following our guide too!" Normally an expert negotiator, I was sure that Chase would argue the topic, but he just said quietly "go ahead."

I pondered this and wondered why Chase had let these old ladies go ahead of us when we were in a different line. Respect, I concluded. After all weren't you always supposed to "respect your elders?" I was sure that a woman just like that mean brunette made up that saying and brought it out whenever she needed it. We didn't ask any questions or say a word as the brunette and her clan of ladies walked past us with their noses in the air.

After they were well ahead of us and chattering away in Spanish, Chase cried, "geez, some people can't wait like 3 minutes in line!" We all nodded our heads with our eyebrows up. "Oye," Luis interrupted the silence "Lets go, lets go!" He ordered our tickets for us in Spanish and handed them to us once we were in the high-ceilinged building. "Here is the adult ticket for the big man," he said loudly as he handed Chase his ticket. "Oh, and the Children's tickets for the ninas." He handed Casey and me our tickets. "And an adult ticket for the lady." He wheezed and handed Rachel her ticket. "And mine is FREE!!" he coughed excitedly, showing us his ticket. Apparently he had made a deal with his security guard friend.

We toured the museum lobby for a few moments and then crammed into the crowded elevator to go to the observation deck. Casey and I were facing each other and Chase was stuck behind me. Rachel was crammed behind a woman with a walker. "Are you crammed enough, Tara?" Chase gasped, obviously painfully crammed himself. I let out a small laugh until another person squeezed into the elevator and I was so squished I could barely breathe. An old man tapped the "up" button with his elbow and we started moving up about five floors. The awkward elevator silence was mixed with the thick smell of twenty bodies vacuum-packed into a claustrophobic, stuffy elevator.

"Ding!" The metal doors of the elevator burst open and it's contents of people poured out. The fresh cool air never felt so good.

Luis led us to one of the decks and peered over the cement rail. All of a sudden there it was in front of us: the Panama Canal. I couldn't believe that we were actually here, at the Canal, the product of endless hours of work and countless deaths from malaria and yellow fever. It was even more exciting that I was going through the Canal in a few days. We watched a cruise ship go through a lock, blasting an ear-piercing honk as it entered.

After visiting other exhibits about the bugs, people, vacations, and history of Panama we decided to go to the "Old Town" as it was called. Luis got inside and leaned over to open our doors from the inside (the handles were broken) and we were off.

The grey clouds were swirling in the sky, slowly accumulating. A storm was coming we all agreed. By the time Luis had parked on a cobblestone street the wind was blowing the cold rain around, causing a street vendor near by to cover his beaded souvenirs with plastic wrapping. "Welcome to 'Old Town'" said Luis as he let out malicious-sounding laugh. "This way," he directed us with his hand as he adjusted his Panama Hat.

Luis first let us into an elaborately decorated Catholic church. As we walked into the dimly lit room I noticed life-sized statues of Mary and other saints in the walls. The rows of benches were spotted with people that were praying. Luis took his Panama Hat off and motioned for us to come forward. We followed him to the front of the church and looked at the hundreds of lit candles and statues. Luis crossed himself and did a small bow to the statue of Mary.

We stood in amazement at this beautifully decorated room not really knowing what to do. I noticed that, as in most old towns that I've been to, the architecture was detailed and ancient looking. I glanced over at Luis, who was still holding his hat to his chest and mouthing a silent prayer. Chase, Rachel, Casey, and I shifted our feet on the tiled floors, slightly uncomfortable in the quiet room. Luis opened his eyes, looked at us and smiled. "You ready to go?" He asked. We nodded our heads and walked out of the Catholic church's gigantic doors.

The rumbling of the grey sky must've reminded our stomachs how hungry they were. So we decided to go to lunch a McDonalds around 1:30 just because it was cheep and we still had to pay Luis in cash. Also, none of us had had a burger in a long time. We've been so deprived that even a crappy McDonalds hamburger tastes good!

We walked into the restaurant and waited in line. When it was our turn, Luis took our order and repeated it to the half-asleep girl behind the counter. I made a mental note to never act like the girl taking our order if I ever worked in the food service. She looked like she'd rather be anywhere else and rolled her eyes when we didn't understand her lightning-fast Spanish. Some people... I thought.

After we took our seats and the food was passed out we started talking about what to do next. It was raining outside so we had to go somewhere enclosed. I took a refreshing sip of my 7up and remembered how much I missed soda. I glanced over at Luis, who crossed himself and looked up to heaven before eating the BigMac we bought him.

Tap, tap, tap. The rain ricocheted off of the cab's scratched windows as we bounced up and down in our seats, driving over the uneven streets. We were off again. Luis was taking us someplace. I didn't know where that place was, but after some thinking, I decided I didn't really care. People were walking close to the building, trying to avoid getting wet and street dogs were wandering out in the rain. My eyes, which were half shut, suddenly become wide open as Luis skidded to a stop. We were in front of a tourist shop. Luis pointed to the store then to his hat, "I be right back. I get you a Panama Hat." He motioned to Chase giving him a sly smile. "Big man, you come with me." Chase hopped out of the car as Rachel, Casey and I giggled at his new nickname.

About 10 minutes later Chase and Luis came out with two hats: one was on Chase's head and one was in a plastic bag for my Dad. Chase had the exact same hat as Luis. "I like it!" I said as Chase got in the car. "Me too." Said Rachel and Casey together. (Much later, after this trip, I took the liberty of looking up the word "Panama Hat" in the dictionary:

Pan.a.ma |?pan? ?m�| (also panama hat)
noun
a wide-brimmed hat of straw-like material, originally made from the leaves of a particular tropical palm tree, worn chiefly by men.

After a while touring the town, we became thoroughly aware that Luis was charging us eight dollars an hour, a hefty price to pay for an entire day. Chase decided that we should let Luis go for a few hours and then have him pick us up later after we had explored Old Town for a while. "I'll go talk to him really fast." He said to us as he walked over to Luis. "Luis?" I herd him say. "Hmm?" Luis grunted. "We are going to the town for a while. So, umm, we don't need a taxi driver for a few hours, ok? So you pick us up at this spot in three hours?" Luis looked at the ground for a few seconds as he thought and then looked up "Ok." Chase smiled. "aqui. Tres horas. Ok?" "Ok." Luis lit another cigarette. "Let's go." Chase said quietly as we walked away from the rusty blue taxi. Luis followed us. Chase stopped and turned to Luis "We don't need a guide." Said Chase, "We are poor cruisers. No denero." "Si" said Luis as he kept following us.

Chase told Luis time after time that we didn't need a taxi driver or a guide, but he wouldn't be swayed. "Oh well." Sighed Chase. Casey and I shrugged our shoulders, but I was getting a little frustrated. I knew he knew what we were saying. He was using one of he oldest tricks in the book: suddenly, after speaking English perfectly with us, he doesn't understand us. Well, he does, but he's pretending not to so he can make more money. We ended up letting him stay, or should I say he let himself stay.

After touring the town a bit more, we were cold, cold and in desperate need of a rest. I realized this before anyone else and decided to push the topic out there for discussion. I knew that Chase would want to keep going, though. This was a problem since everyone seemed to agree with Chase's opinion. I had to think of a way to persuade everyone to stop and get out of the rain for a while or else I was going to freeze. "Hey Chase." I said. "Si?" He said slowly as he stepped over a pothole in the sidewalk. "Do you know what sounds really good right now?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. "What?" He asked glancing at me and then back to the ground to avoid tripping over any more holes in the sidewalk. "Some coffee." I said simply, trying to sound convincing. I knew this would work. Chase was a coffee fanatic and probably daydreamed about the beverage in his spare time. Chase stopped walking and pursed his lips "Oh, that does sound good." He stood there for a minute staring into space, probably thinking about how great it would be to have a latte, but I would never know for sure. He had a look of longing and perhaps deprivation in his eyes that I hadn't seen since we visited the coffee plantation in El Salvador. Chase turned to Luis and said, "Let's go find a caf�." Everyone agreed, not to my surprise. My mission was accomplished.

After we found a little caf�, Chase and Rachel got Lattes and Casey and I got orange juice. I was really annoyed that this "coffee shop" didn't have mochas (my favorite kind of coffee.) We took our seats outside on the small patio. Behind us I heard the buzz of two British guys gossiping. "She looked like a hippopotamus!" Said the long-haired one. "Oh yes, absolutely." The other agreed. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the way he said "hippopotamus." I almost made myself bleed. "I have to go to the bathroom," I said through clenched teeth. After we were finished we walked back to the Taxi.

The cold spits of rain were making us all shiver and I kept kicking myself for not bringing a coat. We clambered into Luis's Taxi and clunked the heavy metal doors closed. After a short and uneventful trip to an Indian craft store we decided that we'd had enough and that were going home to the boat to relax. It had been a long day full of the Canal, history, and Panama Hats.