A much needed weekend

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend after all the hard work I had put in at the fossil leaf site. After a quick post-work nap on Friday evening, I went to the STRI volleyball games where my team won yet again. I only got to play in one of the three sets, but I stayed late for the open-net casual games and ended up playing for at least an hour. I'm getting better and better at reacting to the incoming ball and knowing which way to hit it is best, but my bony arms are still giving me trouble, causing the ball to fly every which way whenever I'm forced to make a quick or far-reaching hit. I'll get it eventually! I hit a breaking point after a few rounds, with every muscle in my body aching from the week's work and telling me to just stop playing, and was about to head home to pass out when my friend Carlos invited me to go out for some drinks with him and some friends for his birthday. How could I refuse that??

The bar we ended up going to was in the Casco Viejo neighborhood, not too far from the STRI campus. It was a really cool place - we entered through an unlabeled gate, walked in a coridoor around a few corners, then suddenly we were on a balcony overlooking a courtyard full of people and lights and music. Carlos is very into electronica, and this bar was apparently well known for its DJing. As the night wore on, the music got progressively louder and louder and the bar began to fill up. Carlos assured me that late at night it "turns into a real party." It was incredibly difficult to understand the Spanish conversations going on around me with so much noise from the music and all the talking going on at other tables! Much more difficult than the house party I went to a few weeks back. Still, I was able to get by for the most part with the people to my immediate left and right, and the music was really good, so I'd call it a great night.


In one of my proudest moments in Panama to date, I discovered mid last week that there was going to be a micro brew festival right in our neck of the woods, and it was no problem on Saturday to convince my fellow interns to go check it out with me. It cost $10 at the door to get in, plus you had to buy tickets to exchange for beer, and pay for the event's special glass in which to receive your beers, which was unlike any beer fest I've been to before. But cost was no issue! Craft beer in Panama is basically unheard of and the few places that brew their own sell it only in house - this was not an opportunity to be missed. The event went from 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM, and we decided to get there as early as possible to enjoy the afternoon sun and to make sure we didn't miss out on any of the varieties. There were six breweries in total showing off their wares, including Brew Dog from Scotland and ROGUE FROM PORTLAND. I was so beyond excited. Never would I have thought to see a Northwest brewery all the way down here.

It goes without saying that I kicked the day off at the Rogue booth and ended up spending most of my time there. They had Dead Guy Ale, Yellow Snow IPA, Chocolate Stout, and Hazelnut Ale, all of which were fantastic. The Panama breweries had some decent beers if you stuck with the medium-bodied stuff, but anything on the dark side or the bitter side just didn't taste quite right. There were also a couple food stands, selling everything from chips to pulled pork sandwiches to empanadas (spinach and cheese for only two bucks!), and as the evening wore on we couldn't help but cave in to the delicious aromas. It had to be one of the best afternoons I've spent in Panama, if only there were things like this more often!

Sunday was my real rest day; all I did was sleep, eat, go to the market for produce, and walk around Cinco de Mayo looking for knock-off soccer jerseys. A much needed, relaxing break. On my way back from the jersey search, I even bumped into some coworkers from STRI who bought me ice cream. What more could I ask for in a Sunday? Maybe a free dinner? All this week we have a field trip group from the University of Florida visiting to see what work on the canal is all about, and on Sunday night the PI on the project (Bruce McFadden) took us all out to dinner to get to know each other. I was on the far end of the table, surrounded by the people I already knew, but I got the chance to talk to a few of the new-commers and will surely have many more opportunities throughout the week.