On Wednesday, January 15, the full moon was still shining brightly at dawn.
After our morning chores, we caught a taxi to take us to the Panama Canal Museum, located in a neighborhood called Casco Viejo, which is the oldest part of Panama City. The building that is now the Panama Canal Museum was originally built as a hotel. When the French began building the canal, they bought the hotel and turned it into their headquarters, so it is a fitting location for the museum.
This week has been pretty fun. On Saturday we went out to eat again at the marina. On Sunday we didn’t do anything in the morning. In the afternoon, we were planning to eat at the marina restaurant, but dad talked to boat people for too long and didn’t get back before it closed. So he COOKED DINNER FOR US???!!! On Monday we rented a car and went to a town called Puerto Madero. We had a really disappointing meal, then we got dessert in the closest real city, Tapachula.
Cette semaine était plutôt amusante. Samedi on a mangé à la marina. Dimanche nous n’avons pas fait beaucoup de choses le matin. Pour dîner, nous voulions manger au restaurant de la marina, mais papa a parlé avec des personnes pendant trop longtemps, et le restaurant a fermé. Donc, IL A CUISINÉ LE DÎNER POUR NOUS ???!!!. Lundi on a loué une voiture et on est allé à un village qui s’appelait Puerto Madero. Notre repas était décevant, puis on a été manger un dessert à la ville la plus proche, Tapachula.
Friday, January 4 continued… We hopped into the car and drove a short distance through town of Tuxtla Chico to the main highway. We passed a herd of goats wandering the streets.
A very short way down the highway, Miguel turned into a driveway and parked. He announced we were at the historical Mayan ruins. Directly ahead of us was a small pyramid.
We realized that since the Mayan ruins were literally on the outskirts of town, that meant that Tuxtla Chico has been an established town for thousands of years.
Continue readingSunrise, Friday, January 3
Miguel picked us up from the marina at 0800. We drove for about 45-minutes to a town named Tuxtla Chico, but Miguel kept referring to it by its nickname, Chocolate Town. Along the way, Miguel chatted non-stop, explaining to us what we were seeing along the ways (what each of the buildings were, what produce was being farmed, what kinds of trees were along the road, etc.) and about Mexico’s economy, history and culture. Miguel was a history buff and enthusiastic about his own heritage, making him a wealth of information.
Our first stop was a park that was a tribute to the town’s Mayan heritage. In the middle of the park was a sculpture depicting a ring and a black ball, which were the components of a game that the Mayans played. In the game, the ball was made of rubber (rubber trees grew in the area). Embedded into the ground around the sculpture was a ring made of small stones that had etchings at regular intervals.
Continued from yesterday… after we toured the chocolate museum and tasted the free samples, we stocked up on chocolate (chocolate is an important passage food, especially in rough seas).
We headed south to the Our Lady of Guadelupe Parish, which was a block inland. It was built in the 1930s, and probably the most unique thing about this church is that there is a crown on top of the middle tower instead of a cross. However, there are crosses on the smaller two towers that flank it on each side.
Since we had some time to kill before La Iguana opened for dinner, we decided to check out the new Naval Museum on the malecon. The admission fee was $3.00 for adults and $2.50 for students.
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