Waking up this morning was a pretty great experience. I'm staying with a wonderful host family in Panama and working on getting out of North America. I've luckily made some progress. I've actually got a ship lined up to take the bikes safely in a container. I've got a sail boat ready to take me Columbia. In other words, I'm pretty much set. I even got my paper work from the States! No more showing forged papers to officials for me. Also, it appears shipping a motorcycle is far from an easy process. If I mess it up, and leave without a proper stamp or paper. I'm fucked if I ever want to come back through Panama. Game over, they'll never let me back. So, I guess things are pretty serious around here. It's about two full days of running around to this place and that. Have some dude check this, sign that. Find crazy immigration locations, that don't have signs or people to help you. It's pretty typical of Central America, so I'm more used to it than most, buts it's still all pretty ridiculous. Anyhow, even though my current job is to run through Panamanian bureaucracy, I'm still giddy about the thought of getting some more road ahead of me. Almost there!
Captains log: my host family has taught me how to make patacones. They're delicious little breakfast patties that are made from frying green plantains. I've never had these until I've spent some legitimate time in Panama. I've been here for two weeks, and I'm finally getting some legitimate Panamanian culture. I cannot believe how wonderful my host family has been. It's literally insane how nice they are. As soon as I arrived, I received a hearty welcome the mother Gladys. She told us I can stay as long as I want. It was totally unreal, as I'm settling down, Gladys and our couchsurfing friend Mayra tell us dinner is ready. What? A free meal? I'm all over this. It was homemade chicken, with a side of rice, and a salad. I'm offered wine, water, and coke to drink. It's all just way too welcoming. It comes to a point where I'm joke fighting with Gladys to clean my own dishes! What a family! It's becoming so surreal that we felt bad for all the wonderful meals and hospitality we've received. At one point I felt so bad that I was just taking and taking, so I thought I should go back to a hostel for another night. But then I realized: I'm retarded. This is the best host family anyone could ask for. I should stay forever.
I'm always interested in cooking, and of course eating, so I keep asking questions about Panamanian cultural food and staples. And since I've just been conversing about it, Gladys keeps making all of it for us. It's effing awesome. What are bollos? I found out at breakfast yesterday. What about empanadas? Well that would be this morning, and bravo tango whiskey, they're flakey, buttery, and delicious. Along with empanadas, we had tasajo, apple juice, and cinnamon coffee. It's awesomely comical when we're chatting with our buddy Ian, whose driving down in a truck / camper. He camped out in the mall last night and had never heard of couchsurfing, so while explaining it over lunch. We all had a good laugh when I was bragging about the kick ass cinnamon coffee. Sometimes I've got all the luck in the world.
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