Viva Bocas

Me and a couple friends decided to go to a baseball game last Wednesday. It was actually a really important playoff game between Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui Provinces. We took a 40 min. boat ride to the mainland, and then a 15min. taxi ride. We arrived at the baseball game at around 5:30 pm. The stadium was built to fit more or less 2,000 people but within half an hour there were probably between 5,000-7,000 people there, and we were the only 5 gringos in that entire crowd. The locals were so happy to see foreigners coming to they're baseball game, which was also a big deal because Chiriqui is the top ranked baseball team in Panama, and because Bocas gets very little attention from the government, even though they probably provide the country with the most tourism, if they won so many people would be really happy. The game lasted for 7hrs.! 16 innings after we got there, thousands of drunk Panamanians later, several riot control police ordered in, some people getting arrested, and after many new friends made Bocas won 3-2. You have no idea what 5,000 happy Panamanian locals sound like. The whole game itself was just a giant party, and then the party made it to the streets while police tried to control everyone, making for a scene out of a war movie or something. We had to wait for a taxi for about a half hour, which turned out to be the smallest taxi in the world capable of holding 5 gringos and a driver. The driver was amazing and scary at the same time. We were flying down the road at 55-70 mph, passing 18 wheelers around hair pin turns, and he was actually drifting this little crappy car around really, really sharp turns (which is really ridiculous if you know what drifting is). After that half hour drive we arrived at the docks. I bought myself a nice chocolate milk and then we got on the boat. What we were doing was actually illegal because the boat had over max capacity of riders, and had no running lights (we could have been seen as drug smugglers), so we were basically going blind and overweight into the sea. We couldn't well stay in Changinola (where the game was) so there was no option. The boat ride turned into one of the most beautiful rides of my entire life, with just barely enough moonlight, on the cloudy night, to see the left mangrove bank, but on the right side you couldn't see anything. Then 20 min. into the boat ride the boat ran out of gas...Which turned into the funniest 45 min. of waiting in my life. All the locals were laughing it up (they were all really, really wasted), while the driver was half-trying to call someone to pick us up. One of the guys who came with us to the baseball game thought we were all going to drown or sharks were going to eat us, haha. Other than him it was muy tranquilo y comico. Eventually a boat came to give us more gas, and we arrived home at around 3:30 a.m. and I had classes at 8 a.m. I also found out later from another friend that in the two months he's been here in Bocas 2 or 3 people have actually died returning on those night boat taxis because they are drunk and fall out of the boat, and without any light nobody can ever find them. That came as a little shock, but I don't care, I still had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Tonight, two friends and I are going to try and go camping on a really deserted beach about 30 min. away. It should be awesome. Talk to you all, Peace to the Fishing Village.

El Arrecife

Today I had my first formal run in with the reef. It was a relatively small day (wavewise) about 3-5 ft. and I got some waves, but I found myself inside the break (basically where I don't want to be) and got slightly ragdolled across the reef. I got a gash on my right side, and a couple cuts on my legs. I was so close to the shore that I decided I just wanted to get out, but realized too late that from where I was to the shore (no more than 10ft.) was littered with thousands of sea urchins. I was able to avoid 99% of them but got a couple spines in one of my toes and in my heel. It sucked but its not so bad. I spent 1.5 relatively painful hrs. at my friend's apartment, who had a first aid kit, rinsing my wounds, pulling out spines, etc. Then I went to the pharmacy , but I was stopped on the way by the police because you cannot walk around topless in Bocas and I only had boardshorts on, but explained that I was cut up and only quickly going to the pharmacy. I bought some hydrogen peroxide, some gauze, and some antibacterial soap. I also talked to my older brother and he recommended soaking my feet in white vinegar which helps to degrade the leftover spines. Then I took a shower and that brings me to now, and you know yea it sucks to get super cut up, but you know I was so terrified of hitting the reef before, that now I'm actually slightly relieved. Oh and they are some sweet battle wounds, haha. Looks like my friend Mike is gonna come down to visit for a week on the 13th and then my family will be coming down on the 22nd to surf some, should be great. Until next time, me voy.

Surfing is Fun

So I mentioned in late November that I had gone surfing in Hong Kong, and yea that was cool for the experience and being able to say that yea I have surfed in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong has got nothing on Bocas del Toro. This past weekend a 6-7 foot swell came in and me and a couple friends went surfing at a reef break called Paunch. It was EPIC. The waves were perfect, and even though it took me basically a day to get back into the groove of surfing, picking waves, etc. it was still fun. There are a lot of really amazing surfers out here too and most of them are pretty cool. The waves are dying down this week, but hopefully another swell comes in next weekend. Spanish classes are going good, and Bocas is a pretty fun town and I'm making a lot of friends. Until next time. Keep the Peace.