1st Night Out on the Town (June 13)

So towards the end of the day I received a note from my roommate to call her. At first I couldn’t reach her because my phone wasn’t working and I thought I’d done something incorrectly but then I realized the system was down so I used the office cell phone to call her. So she told me the Embassy was sponsoring a movie night at the local theater to watch this movie about human trafficking and wanted to know if I wanted to go. Of course I said yes, anything would be better than coming home at 5:30p.m. and having absolutely nothing to do. So I arrived at the Embassy and she, along with Diane (lady I went out to lunch and shopping with my 1st day) and I went to Diane’s apartment (right next door) before heading to the theater. Because traffic is a beast here we walked the distance from her apartment to the theater. Now, normally I would not mind walking because exercise is good for you and it truly wasn’t a long/hard walk. However, I was wearing these brown high heels that I’d been standing in all day and they are certainly not the kind of shoes you wear for long times or for walking long distances. I clearly did not have any other option but to grin and bear it so we walked the 20 minutes, in the Panamanian equatorial heat, in the heart of rush hour traffic with smog, grit and overcast skies threatening to open up and downpour on us at any moment. Drivers in Panama are very aggressive and do not care about pedestrians – no right of way here – and so you must truly be careful anytime you are walking. Oh, let me not forget that I was carrying my large umbrella, work folders, lunch bag and purse while wearing a long sleeved button down blouse. The saving grace was that I had on a loose, flowing skirt so there was some air circulating but that was also a hindrance because I had to make sure the wind wasn’t whipping it up or it wasn’t getting twisted while I was walking. Nonetheless, we made it to the center and had dinner at Bennigan’s before the dinner. Yes yall, they have a Bennigan’s here lol. Of course the menu was in all Spanish but they had pictures for some dishes to help. I had this Cajun seafood platter (and yes Ariana I finished it all lol) that had salmon, shrimp and crab cakes atop a bed of rice. It was quite appetizing :-) Unfortunately we had to eat in less than 15 minutes because the food took forever to come and the movie was about to start. We went to this movie theater that had leather seats that reclined. Yes, in the public movie theater, where tickets normally cost $6, the chairs recline so you can prop your feet up and truly relax while enjoying your movie. But that’s not the best part. You can order food from Bennigan’s or the other restaurant in the center and they will deliver it to you in the movie theater so you do not have to get up and miss anything. How bizarre! Americans would eat that up! The movie was pretty good. It was a Lifetime movie that in true Lifetime fashion was extremely long but had a good message. Being the movie analyst that I am (I can’t help it, I get it from my dad) I was talking the whole time (quietly to myself of course) and critiquing the movie, the acting, etc. I’ll have more on the human trafficking topic in another post. All in all, it was a very fun evening. I met one of Diane’s friends who is volunteering with the Peace Corps and is stationed here in Panama for 27 months. She taught me a lot about the organization because I did not know much of anything about the program and its purpose. She worked in a US bank for eight years before giving that up to join the Corps…yeah…making all that to barely making $30,000/year. Giving back to your country and helping humanity, that’s what we’re all here for anyways…right?! I thought tonight was going to be my first night getting a taxi but one of the Embassy employees ending up bringing us home so that was great. I can’t wait until this weekend when we go out and have some more fun and get a chance to see the city! Oh man I almost forgot…I saw a prostitute tonight walking the street corner. I could not tell if it was a male dressed as a female or a true female but apparently in Panama prostitution is very legal. In fact, there is a special type of visa that companies can apply for to bring females into the country specifically for prostitution. I’m telling you… if it ain’t one thing it’s another.