First trip to Panama (part 2)

Panama city :)

So I'm back and halfway through the next Framingham Master's Class. During each class, it pretty much takes over my life and consumes every ounce of free time that I have. Coming right back into it AND work after the week off was a bit of a shocker to the system. However, it's going well and we are halfway finished. Just 4 days this week, then the full day Saturday again and then we are done! After this class I will be done with 5 out of the 9 classes and will finish and have my masters next year, kinda crazy!

ANYWAYS, Panama was a great time. We left right after school on Friday and took the quick 2 hour flight to the city. We arrived to Panama City and just went right to our hostel. It was THE hostel in the city so was definitely full of all of the backpacker,hippee, people you would usually expect to be staying in a hostel. It was a Friday night and it was attached to a bar so it was definitely bumping when we arrived. We checked in and went to bed, exhausted.



Our 4 person bike ride along the Causeway.

Day 2 and 3 were days in the city. We spent the time exploring around the city, riding bikes on the causeway, and taking a trip on a boat THROUGH the canal. That was probably the coolest part of the whole trip for me. We went through 3 of the locks and I had no idea it was such a big process, SO crazy. Every boat gets held in each one and the water levels rise to put you up to the next level and there are some BIG boats that go through there. Something that I will never forget.

A big barge coming through.

Entering the first lock.

We then took an overnight bus to get to the island, Bocas del Toro. Everything went smoothly and we arrived very early the next morning to the island and checked into our lovely house for the next 4 nights. It was the perfect size for the 4 of us. On the island we spent the week hiking through jungles, some beach time, snorkeling, seeing some dolphins, and walking through some pretty gardens. I liked the island but we were very, very busy and didn't have much down time.



Our muddy hike....NOT my favorite thing we did!


After our time on the island, we were all set with tickets already purchased, to ride back overnight Friday night to get back to the city. BUT, when we got to the bus station (which is really all that is in this town) the office was closed and everyone was telling us that there was no bus because it's Good Friday and why would the bus company have sold us tickets? Well we were in a large dilemma and needless to say, a little frustrated. They told us that we could take a different bus, to a different city and there we could hop on a bus to Panama City. We hoped for the best and 2 buses later, nearly 11 hours, some blasting loud music, and freezing conditions, we made it back to the city at 6am. So now it's Saturday and we had 1 last day in the city to hang around before leaving super early on Sunday. We split up our group....the couple went off and then Carolyn and I hung out but it was good to have some separation after SO much together time. We explored the city a bit more and went to bed early for our early departure the next day.

Overall, it was a great trip but I realized a lot about myself on the trip. I do not like spending money and would much rather save money for things that I value in life. When traveling with a group, it's important to have a plan on what you are going to do and not just decide on the fly. Also, I don't like to travel as much as I thought I did. Don't get my wrong, I do enjoy it but I am just as happy relaxing at home and resting. We were so go-go-go that by the time I got back, I was more exhausted than I was before we left. I felt like I didn't have a vacation because I had no spare time. But that's life. Now it's back to work and back to Framingham. It's almost the end of April now, where is time going? I will be home in 2 short months, whoa that will fly by. Love and miss you all!


The view of the canal from the flight home, SO impressive!