The Planned and Unexpected

We thought we only had the weekend to explore Panama City together, so after our first visit to Casco Viejo, we headed to the Miraflores Visitor Center to see ships going through the locks on the Panama Canal. It was an amazing sight to be sure and anyone who goes to Panama should absolutely make the effort to see it, but it was also hot. The next morning, we went to the Greek Orthodox Church. If we ever did move to Panama, we would probably want to live in Panama City to be near this church. It is a beautiful place and I could follow the homily if I paid very close attention. We also saw a neighborhood Christmas parade, which I just loved watching, but after a while we headed out to the Amador Causeway to visit the BioMuseo. This natural history museum is in an interesting Frank Gehry designed building, set amid beautiful tropical gardens. We ate dinner at the marina, and then settled in back at the apartment for our week of practicing living in Panama City. Randy was going to work and I was going to pretend I lived there--a little sightseeing but mostly getting to know the everyday places. But Monday morning brought a plot twist. We'd been concerned about Randy's company for quite a while and before he even started work that day, he heard through the grapevine that some of his co-workers had already been laid off and that massive cuts were coming. Sure enough, the dreaded HR appointment showed up on his calendar for 5 pm. He spent a few hours tying up a few loose ends and then we headed out to explore the amazing waterfront along Avenida Balboa. Now I would say that in normal conditions, I wouldn't recommend doing that in the middle of the day, but we enjoyed it despite the heat! And we met some overly friendly raccoons that made me nervous but didn't seem to mean any harm. The next day we went to the Metropolitan Park which gives you a taste of the unspoiled jungle right in the middle of the city. The park is neat, but if I did that again, I'd go early in the day and hire a guide to help me see animals and birds. It's too easy for them to hide in the jungle. So our visit to Panama was now more focused on whether we thought we could live there for a few years. We had already had that in the back of our minds, but now it was front and center.