Going Up?

I neglected to mention something really fun that we did a week or two ago because I haven't uploaded the pictures yet. It was recommended to us by a family when we first got here, and we just barely had an opportunity to go. They called it the "chocolate swords". It is an ice cream cone with a normal amount of ice cream dipped in chocolate and then hardened. But the "dip" in chocolate is done in such a way that it's about two feet tall. Claire could not hold her cone and reach the top of the chocolate. With the time it takes to get going on the chocolate, the ice cream starts to melt. While it ends up in a big mess for little kids, it was hilarious and we will definitely do it again. I will post a picture or two when we get them on the computer.

As for this week, I was gone. I went to Panama for work and was amazed at how different it was compared to the first time I visited (for a month in 1994). As a quick overview, when the U.S. finished the Panama Canal, an agreement was made that had the U.S. administering the Canal for a long time. That agreement also allowed for several U.S. military bases to be built in Panama in order to protect the Canal. The U.S. also had it's Jungle Operations Training Center and the military's Southern Command located in Panama. In the 1970's, President Jimmy Carter inked a deal that would return the Panama Canal Zone to Panama on 31 December 1999. So during the 1990's, the U.S. drew down its troops and eventually closed its bases. The Panamanian currency is the dollar and you can still see the U.S. influence in the stores, etc, but the bases are not the clean, maintained areas of the city they once were.

Panama City is nice, though. The highlight of the trip, however, and much like the first time is visiting the Panama Canal and being amazed by the engineering that carved 50 miles through the jungle. I'll spare you the technical details, but it really is an engineering marvel for the technology that was used. The Canal was begun by the French in the 1880's (I think) and then abandoned. The U.S. came in the early 1900's to pick up the work. They eventually finished the job and it was officially opened in 1914.

We visited the Miraflores Locks (one of three sets along the canal) on the Pacific Ocean side of Panama. In the below picture, you can see the two lanes. Then the next two pictures show a large container ship being lowered from the Miraflores Lake to the Pacific Ocean level while the boat next to it enters the lock. The first picture is taken about 5-7 minutes before the next one. You can see how far the container ship was lowered.

The below video clip shows the container ship passing through the lock while the ship in the foreground's lock is just opening up.

Finally, a picture of Panama City from the Old City. Picture taken looking East.