Panama City / City of Knowledge

             There were 8 USF girls at the hostel last night, and we called our contact in Panama City this morning to see if there was a way we could dispose of our suitcases in order to kill some time in town before the rest of the group arrived.   She was so gracious about allowing us to store our bags (which our professor emphatically told us we would not be able to do), and she was able to send a driver and a van to pick us up and get us over to the Ciudad de Saber (City of Knowledge) from another part of the city.  We called first thing and he was due between 10 and 11 in the morning, so we had plenty of time to complete some of our homework first.  The driver was not able to take us to the part of town we wanted to walk around, but he recommended that we check out the mall and gave us the name of a traditional Panamanian restaurant called El Traipiche which we could try for lunch.  The mall looked just like every other mall I’ve seen except for the stores with American clothes at rock bottom prices, but the food was fantastic.  I ordered a mozzarella sandwich on “house bread” which was basically deep fried first so the cheese between was nice and gooey, and a side of patacones (fried plantains).   

                After lunch, we walked around the mall a bit more and then got a cab to take us to the Café Duran at the City of Knowledge where we would be meeting the rest of the group arriving that afternoon.  The bus arrived and we were taken to the housing we would be sharing for the next two days.  It was six people to a house and we were able to stay in the one our luggage had been stored in which made it very convenient.  We were given some time to get settled in, and then we were taken to a grocery store to pick out dinner for that night and breakfasts for the following two mornings – all on $36 for 6 people with food at American prices.  Not the easiest task, but we only went $3 over budget!  Following a delicious dinner of leftovers for me, chicken for some, and a big salad we had a group meeting in our professor’s house.  We played a “get to know you” game where we wrote down an interesting fact on a piece of paper which was placed in a bag and pulled out by someone who had to guess who it belonged to.  It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds!  One of the girls on the trip brought some badge holders that her mother had made into flowers from the plastic tops on vials at the hospital (she is a nurse).  After our meeting and discussion of upcoming events, we were sent home to bed in order to rest up for a tour of Panama City in the morning.  Unfortunately, rooming with a bunch of girls who are already friends left us up chatting and catching up until about 1am.  Oops!  Good thing we had the coffee maker in our house!  J