Body Break

I wish I could say that this week I became like Hal Jonson and Joan Mcleod and was super active this week in the healthiest of ways. I was as active as ever but my body took a major beating this week! Don't worry I'm perfectly ok I just have some lovely looking bruises for my efforts.

Bruise Day 1: Ziplining! So, so, so much fun! We went to Bastimentos Island and spent 2 hours zipping and climbing through the trees. There were 8 ziplines and then a tree top obstacle course. At times, we were 150ft feet high standing on platforms with jungle surrounding us. A touch unnerving but so thrilling! The company we went with was through Red Frog Beach and our guides were super fun and knew how to put even the most gittery of people at ease. One of the obstacles was a cable bridge were you are tied off and have to walk across on a cable with a cable above to help with balance. Imagine a really long slack line through the trees but this one is made out of braided steel cable. Bruises this day came from said cable when my feet fell off and the cable snapped up and hit the inside of my knees. I was having way too much fun to even realize I'd gotten any.

Bruise Day 2: Chill afternoon hanging out at the Blue Coconut! Emma and I had spent the afternoon taking Molly for a walk along the beach just outside of Bocas Town and after doing some errands in town then headed out to the Blue Coconut to hang out for the afternoon. I did my first round of ocean paddle boarding and then just chilled out for most of the afternoon. Best part of the day was taking Molly and Wilson (the resident dogs) swimming! We were able to get both dogs sitting on the paddle board although it did take a little bit of effort. Both Emma and I got scratched up like you wouldn't believe but again we were having way too much fun to stop.

Bruise Day 2 Continued: Once I got back from the Blue Coconut, most of the students currently attending Habla Ya and I decided to head over to Aqua Lounge for Ladies Night. Now if you don't go and google this place you'll never understand how absolutely nuts this place is. It's a bar/hostel that's right at the water's edge and it has openings in the deck that allow you to jump right into the ocean. There's also a couple swings out over the water and a trampoline you can jump off of. Great place to hang out on a hot day and, well, it's also a great place to go at night. Of course you can't take anything of value with you cause you might just end up taking a swim! Now they do have ladders that allow you to climb out of the water back onto the deck but I decided I would try my hand at pulling myself out. It ended up being a little higher than I thought it would be, which is where the first bruise on my arm came from.

Bruise Day 3: I went surfing! Not sure how I feel about the sport yet as it seemed like it was a lot of effort for not much excitement time. 4 of us got a boat to drop us out in the water where the break was. I caught a couple waves (didn't stand up but I was on my knees!) but the hardest part by far was then swimming back out to try and catch another one. The waves that day may have been a bit big of a first timer, as I didn't quite know how to position the board into the wave so it wouldn't push me back. Was a little bit terrifying seeing these waves coming at you and knowing there was nothing you could do but try and minimize the impact. Not the sport for me but maybe I'll give it another go at a place where there's a smaller break. Came away with a couple more bruises on my legs and one really good one on the inside of my arm.

Deciding 3 days of beating was enough, I did have a couple relaxing days this week. On Friday, instead of having just classes, all the teachers and students banded together and made a typical Panamenon breakfast. After eating cereal, yogurt and fruit for almost a month straight it was a nice change of pace. That afternoon we went to Starfish Beach were we hung out and swam. Even met a couple girls from Regina here as they recognized my Rider bathing suit!

Loving the crystal clear water

Caribbean Sunset

My war wounds

 

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Rain Rain

Bit of a quiet week here in Bocas. The last couple days it has rained almost non-stop (I now understand why it's called the 'rainy season'), so there hasn't been much time for outdoor activities. Things move at a different pace down here and it's a bit tough to get used to. I've always been of the mind that I have to be on time or early for things and if I'm even a second late I have done something wrong. Down here if you're a bit late it's not a huge deal as your transit time relies heavily on the weather, the availability of water taxis, and the amount of people you stop and talk to in the streets. Coming from such a regimented background (school, work, sports, etc) it's nice to be able to move at your own pace and have a bit of flexibility in your day.
Seeing as how the extracurriculars this week are in short supply (don't worry I'll tell you about them in a bit), now seems a good a time as any to talk about the Spanish classes I'm taking at Habla Ya. I have been there for a total of 3 weeks and I have learned so much more than I ever imagined I would. My class size has varied from 1-3 people so the individual attention from the teacher is fantastic. Every Tuesday, the whole school gets together during our break and everyone goes around and introduces themselves in Spanish. Even if you know as little as I did that first week just being able to say what your name is, where your from, and how old you are was enough. It's a great way to get to know everyone at the school and it's a fun way to practice what you've learned in class. Every student gets a workbook and in them are activities that you do during class and as homework to help understand the grammar and all the rules. It's tough but I think if I keep at it I'll be able to hold my own. The toughest part for me right now is vocabulary but that will come with time and a little bit of work!
This week I had my first dive as a certified scuba diver! I plan on diving at least once a week so be prepared to hear about this a lot! Anyways, being able to just go out and dive without having to do any of the skills beforehand was fantastic! We had so much more time to explore and I saw so many things I've never seen before. Ready for it? This week I saw: Lobster, crabs, jellyfish, lionfish (3), chain morray eels (4), sand rays (5), a baby drumfish (which I found), and adult drumfish, a huge eagle ray (followed it for a while, but kept our distance), and pufferfish (2, 1 which was HUGE and 1 that I found and pointed out to the group). Can you see why I love this activity? It's a whole new world down there and on every dive you can see something new.
My other adventure this week was heading to the mainland and going on a cacao tour. It was so weird to be in a car again after getting around by boat for the last 3 weeks. Never thought that the motion of a car would feel so foreign to me. The tour itself was one of the best ones I've been on so far. For one thing, our guide spoke mostly in Spanish and I understood about half of what he was telling us! Some got lost intranslation and my lack of vocabulary but he would ask if I got it and if I didn't he or my classmates would explain what I missed. We climbed up the mountain and he told us how all the cacao grown in the region is picked by hand and then sold to be processed. Of course the community keeps some for the purposes of the tour but everything that is sold is done so on the fair trade market. The chocolate they sold at the community is 90% cacao, with the only additives being sugar and milk, and is by far some of the best chocolate I've ever had. I may or may not have bought $10 worth.... Absolutely backbreaking work for a high quality product.

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A Week of New Things!

Words can't quite describe how beautiful it is here in Bocas del Toro. The Bocas del Toro district is an archipelago of islands in the Carribean, near the border of Costa Rica and Panama. I was on the Isla Colon, but most of the nicer beaches are on the other islands, some of those being the Isla Zapatillas. These 2 islands are at the edge of the archipelago and are almost completely uninhabited. I spent a day with my classmates on a tour out to these islands and they are proabably the most untouched pieces of land I've ever seen. Reefs surround the island and you can see the open ocean crashing on them maybe one kilometre from shore. I was able to walk around the whole island in maybe half an hour (I've completely lost track of time down here), and it is probably the smallest land mass I will ever set foot on. Had a fantastic nap on the beach just listening to the waves. Jealous yet?

This weeks goal was to get my PADI open water scuba certification. I know I've talked about these guys before on here but they were so professional and I had such a positive experience at La Buga Dive. Such a crazy feeling to know that you're somewhere you shouldn't be and yet your there anyways. My dive instructor Leandro was fantastic, super professional when we're in the water and getting ready to head out, but also tons of fun and knows how to put a smile on your face. I've seen more marine life in 2 afternoons than I've seen in my entire life and I think I've found a new addiction!

A bunch of my classmates and I went caving on Wednesday and oh boy was that an experience. I have never seen so many bats before in my entire life! There must have been hundreds if not thousands hanging out in the cave. I personally don't have any pictures from that day because we had to walk waist deep in water through the cave and my camera isn't fancy and waterproof. This made me a bit sad because the cave had amazing limestone formations hanging from the roof. The tour ended at a 5 footish waterfall where you could climb to the top and jump into a super deep pool. Even though I'm sure the water was super dirty it was nice to have a quick swim in fresh water again. The only downside to the tour was the giant spiders crawling along the walls. You wanted to use the walls for balance but were so reluctant to touch anywhere cause there could be something crawling there.

I made a big decision this week and decided to leave the hostel I was planning on staying at my whole time in Bocas. Another student and I checked out a couple places and, with the help of Habla Ya, we were able to find an awesome apartment/condo on the Isla Carenero. This means I'll have to take a water taxi to school every day but having privacy, quiet, and having my own place to cook will be totally worth it. I came here to learn Spanish and have awesome outdoor adventures and it's difficult to do your homework with so much else going on around you.

Not many pictures this week as all my activities involved water and my camera can't swim!

Zapatilla 2: Such a Beautiful Island

Shameless Selfie!

Dolphins!!

This reminded me so much of the man-made channel at Emma Lake, but a little more overgrown

 

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Only One Week?

I've been in Bocas del Toro for a week or so now and I can't believe that's it! There are always things to do here, it's never a dull moment.

Monday was the beginning of my spanish classes, which I have every morning, Monday to Friday at Habla Ya. Oh my god, information overload! Gilberto was my teacher this week and he dove right in, which was good because it forced me to keep up. Habla Ya has an awesome style of teaching. Tons of hands on and role playing situations, but also tons of memorization. I haven't had to memorize phrases or words in a long time so I'm finding this a pretty good challenge. I'm trying to practice it as much as I can but, as I'm obvisously a tourist, people who come up to me automatically speak english.

Tuesday afternoon, the school set up a hangout session at a place called the Blue Coconut. It's a bar that's on a mangrove island, owned by a Canadian who's looking to make some rental places along the water. From what I've seen so far, I would totally rent one of his places once they're done! There was awesome snorkling, the water was crystal clear, and it was so quiet there.

On Thursday, students at the school went to Bocas Brewery, the only place in Bocas that serves beer on tap as they brew their own beer! Here we played Spanish Scrabble and hung out until we went and did a tour at the Smithsonian. Here we got to see some local wildlife (iguanas, birds, a baby caimen!), but by far my favourite part was the ocean life! There was an area where they were studying coral and this included a touching tank! I got to touch star fish, tube worms, non-stinging anemone, and even had a sea urchin placed in my hand! It was a pretty cool feeling having that little urchin crawl across my hand! The water is so clear here that out on the dock you could see all types of ocean life. That night some of us went to see the sea turtles, but unfortunately none showed up to lay their eggs. Did have a nice walk on a restricted beach though!

A student at the school, Von, had her birthday on Friday so to celebrate a bunch of us went to a bar called Bibi's on the Beach. I had my first octopus and squid of the trip and was it delicious! Now I'm going to digress here a bit and tell you about transport in Bocas del Toro. Bibi's was on another island and to get there we needed to take a water taxi. It reminds me so much of being at the lake and using tin boats to get to friends cabins, it's like a tiny piece of home. The taxis are fairly cheap, a couple dollars, and allows you to get away from the bustling town of Bocas.

Today I spent all day starting my PADI scuba diving certification. Less fun as there was videos and a confined dive in the after noon, which was super technical since I needed to practice all the necessary skills. It takes a bit to wrap your head around the fact that your breathing under water and that's okay! I'm doing my certification with La Buga and the dive master's are awesome. Lots of encouragement (fist bumps after every successfully completed skill does wonders for your confidence!), really relaxed and yet extremely knowledgable. I can't wait to go and see the reefs!

 

Blue Coconut's Lounge Area

 

The Blue Coconut!

Some casual Spanish Scrabble

Ooooooooooooo Barracuda!

Happy, happy, happy!

 

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Panama to Bocas del Toro

I've had a few days in lovely ole Panama, and my god the heat. It was quite a contrast to go from snow the last 2 days I was in Canada to 40 degrees and sunny. My first few days were spent with my Aunt and Uncle in Panama City where I was treated to some local dinning and some home cooked meals.

My Auntie Darlene and I took a tour of the Casco Vierjo, or Old Town Panama City. Our tour guide, Gloria, was a fiesty little lady with immense knowledge of the city. Our tour started at 9:00 in the morning and didn't end until 1:00 in the afternoon. Needless to say we got the whole tour and I did learn quite a bit about the city and it's history. The Casco has many monasteries and churches that had quite spectacular architecture, the grandest being the Golden Altar of the Church of San Jose. I won't delve into too many of the details (don't want to spoil it for those of you who may want to do this tour for yourself), but I will say it lived up to all the hype Gloria gave it. I have never seen anything like that before and I was throughly entertained the entire tour. I even got the opportunity to see the current President of Panama (it's election year in Panama so by the time I publish this he will no longer be in office), which is something I can't say many people have been able to do. I haven't seen my own Prime Minister and yet I've seen a foreign leader. We were sitting across the street from the Presidential Palace, when Gloria said "Just wait, he will be here in 5 minutes". Low and behold, there was an honorary guard stationed, and then came police motorcycles, followed by his SUV. Quite special.

I even survived my first rainy season downpour that day! My Aunt and I had ducked into a little street shop to browse at the souvenirs, when the skies opened up and decided to drench everything. We waited half an hour and then sunny skies were upon us again.

The next day I flew to Bocas del Toro, my home for the next 7 weeks. My arrival was less than exciting, I walked to the Hostel Tungara, which was only about 7 blocks but with my backpack full of clothes and my carry on bag and the intense humidity, it felt like forever. I was so happy to turn the corner and see the green frog sign only steps away. I spent the next few days walking around town and getting an idea of all the restaurant and tour options available. With all the islands around I don't think I'll having any trouble filling the hours of the day!

In front of the golden altar! (actually made out of wood and covered in gold :P)

 

The Largest Cathedral, they placed mother of pearl at the top to reflect sunlight so the sailors knew how to get home (just hope it wasn't cloudy!)

Mother of Pearl lining the church.

Concrete Jungle of Panama City!

 

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What's in a Name?

When I first knew I was going to be traveling for 5 months I wanted to find an easy way to tell all my friends and family about my adventures! Let's face it we all get tired of telling the same stories over and over again and I figured this would be the easiest way to do so (and not forget any!). Now I must say picking the name of my blog was the hardest part about my whole trip. Deciding where to go, where to stay, and how to get there was the easy part, these were all snap decisions, this airline, at this hostel, on this day... but a blog that will be on the internet until the end of time? Oh my!

I had a few ideas to begin with initially but I wanted to be sure that the blog adequately described my trip as well as fit who I was as a person. Some ideas that came to me initially were: 'There and Back Again: A Short Person's Tale' but I figured there may be some copywrite infringement in there and I would rather not have to deal with that. 'An Engineer Abroad', puke, an engineer is what I do it's not necessarily who I am. Many others came and went but none of them seemed suffice.

That was until one day this winter when I had my 'Eureka' moment. I was getting ready for school and whilst digging through my basket of hats and mittens I thought to myself 'Why do you have so many toques? Because you live in Saskatchewan that's why." I thought nothing of it until my walk from the Field House to the Engineering building later that morning. I'm sure it was a cold morning and I let my mind wander to help forget about the coldest Saskatchewan winter I had ever lived through. At the advice of my friend Deena (check out her blog Shoes to Shiraz, it's quite fantastic!), I wanted something simple and catchy, but nothing too wishy washy and then it hit me, Toques and Tan Lines! And the more I looked into it the better it became. Toques is apparently a Canadian term and well tanlines is what I hope to gain on my journey (along with many memories). As a proud Saskatchewan it also seemed to hit quite well as in the winter time I live in toques but in the summer time it gets warm enough to have some pretty dark tanlines (farmer tan anyone?).

I know you were all hoping for some awesome stories, don't worry those are coming, but I just wanted to welcome you all officially to Toques and Tan Lines!

 

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