Firstly, I had rather teary goodbye with my dad at the airport. We had to walk about 6 terminals to find the correct one, and then it turned out I would have to take a bus to the actual plane! I wish I'd gotten a picture of it, the plane was out in the boondocks of the airport - I felt like we were taking off in a construction zone!
When I got on, I had the whole row to myself, so I spread out and then someone in a full row asked to sit on the far side of my row. I think it was an Israeli - he was wearing traditional Jewish clothes and a yamakuh. He spoke little English and minimal spanish from what I could tell. I couldn't figure out why he was going to Panama from LAX of all places.
I don't remember the first half hour of the flight, I passed out before we finished taking off and woke when they served us a light breakfast burrito.
The rest of the flight was a lot of reading. I got through two books!
Flying into Panama was gorgeous.
It was almost sunset and we could see storm clouds rolling in. At the airport, I bummed around for a few hours trying to find something to do. I began compulsively eating the fruit I'd packed, because I suddenly became worried that they would hassle me at customs because of it.
Finally it was time to get on the plane! It was really dark at this point and I began being worried that I'd told Kim the wrong airline to pick me up at.
On the plane, I was sitting next to a drunk man who kept telling me stories that I only partially understood. Finally, I was pressed so far away from him that I was against the window.
When he left me alone, I ignored him.
As we were flying in, I noted all these bright flashes in the sky - pretty near to our plane! I couldn't figure out what they were, when finally I realized they might be lightning. We were landing during a lightning storm!
At the airport, we were the only plane disembark and after I got through customs (no questions about fruit or vegetables), and I'd put my bags through another x-ray machine. (this one MUCH shadier than the last), I got to the arrivals gate and there was Kim and a friend of his named Nickolas!
They were very helpful with my very overpacked bags and took me to a car and were a definite sight for sore eyes.
We drove for about an hour and a half through the lightning. We passed through some very poor areas and I couldn't quite believe the level of poverty. There were shanty-towns that had soldiers lining the streets, with great big guns. It was intersting and foreign at the same time.
Finally, we ended up at a hostel.
The owner was very friendly, even though it was midnight when we got in. Kim said that he would come over early so that I could have breakfast and call my parents. It was such a relief to know that. He said he'd come over at 8:30 so I woke on and off throughout the night until it was close enough to 8 that I could get up.
I have no watch, so I had to keep checking my kindle.
Kim left after breakfast so that he could pick up the other arriving teachers and I had a lovely lunch with his father. It was really nice because his housekeeper is a sweet woman who took me under her wing and answered my stupid questions and responded to my partial Spanish.
Then everyone was here and we went to a nice dinner!
The next day, we woke early and headed out to get blood typed, taken pictures, and get a "cedula". A cedula is a Colombian ID card and apparently, no one can get anything without it. Until we get one, we're undocumented workers!
We thought we'd get temporary ones, but they couldn't give us temporary ones, so we have to wait 2 weeks to get official ones. It was a little disappointing because it was SO MUCH work to fill out all the forms in Spanish and get blood typed and drive around town.
I lied on my application and said that I was Catholic, because as one of the guys pointed out, it's a 90% Catholic nation and you don't want a minor thing to be the reason you get denied a cedula or something.
Then we went to have lunch and we were all starving and slightly headachey. We hadn't had breakfast because none of us had Colombian pesos, and the woman taking us to get cedulas didn't know we didn't have breakfast. When he arrived, we got "the best burgers in the world" and they might have been, but I was so hungry I ate mine too fast to taste it.
Then there was an adventure trying to cash the traveler's checks! No one would take them! It was more than a pain, it was embarrassing because we were dragging everyone else with us to try to get them cashed. Finally, everyone else went home and we went to this downtown bank inside an Exito (it's like Target), and they cashed some. I think I'll just keep the rest until I come home and put them straight back in my bank account.
Now I'm home.
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