Okay, well. So today I traipsed around Panama City with a couple of other students, and overall had quite an interesting day. As I mentioned earlier, we started out at the Smithsonian library, which was absolutely amazing. They carry lots of journals that I think are a bit hard to find in the States--many international volumes, and the library itself was quite a nice building. Out back, there was a small cafe, which served super-cheap food and drinks (coffee and a pastry-like object cost me 85 cents!). I should note that Panama uses a currency known as the Balboa, although you wouldn't know it by spending money because pretty much every transaction is in dollars and the Balboa is equivalent to the dollar.
Anyways, in great contrast to the cheapness of the food, the items for sale in the Smithsonian gift shop were, as usual, expensive. But they had a nice looking t-shirt with a leafcutter (arriera in Spanish) carrying a leaf shaped like Barro Colorado island, so can you forgive me for indulging? :)
And actually, that sort of contrast carried over nicely for the remainder of the day in the city. We visited a shopping district, which was frighteningly similar to shopping districts in the States, where everything was name-brand and had a price tag to match. Then we went to a historic neighborhood (the name escapes me at the moment), which was in the process of renovating, which was fascinating. This district was one of the earliest settlements in the Americas, and lots of the old buildings looked like they'd been around for about that long. But at the same time, the Panamanian government is trying to renovate the historic district, so the half of the buildings that didn't look completely ramshackle and old were shiny and new, and many of them still bear "for rent" signs. I guess the plan is to finish the renovations in four years or so, but who knows if that will really happen? In the meantime, it was absolutely fascinating to look at windows with sky and plants peeping through that are juxtaposed with shiny, new, wrought-iron fences and bright green and yellow paint.
I should mention that it looks as though an artsy crowd has moved into the neighborhood as well, as evidenced by the occasional studio, and the prices appear to be geared towards the wealthy sector of the population.
In great contrast, when we returned to the area around the bus terminal where we were dropped off in the morning, the open-air market nearby was full of incredible bargains--tons of cheap goods, most of which were made of pure, 100% plastic. Quality.
So shortly thereafter we hopped back on the Tico bus to go back to the dock to catch the boat back to Barro Colorado Island...
Tonight we went to a fascinating talk on telemetry, or the art of collaring animals and then following them around. The highlight was the use of the phrase "splineball ionizer" as an alternate for "lightning rod." I mean, really. Which sounds cooler?
And with that, I'm off, because computers are in demand here.
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