Visiting the Icaza Family in Panama City

We went to Panama City last weekend. We met up with the Icaza family. Gabriel and Lezlie (husband and wife) have three sons: Sammy, Elio, and Danny. All three boys are HMI alums. Unfortunately, Sammy was still in San Francisco, but we got to see Elio and Danny. Here are some highlights from our visit to Panama City.

The train. We rode a train to Panama City. The train went through the jungle and alongside the Panama Canal and Lake Gatun. There was an observation deck between the cars with big open windows that Porter and I liked to stand near and watch the canal and jungle go by. There were a couple of Texans who had hired a guide. He told us a bunch of things about Panama and about the canal. I loved the train ride.

 

Here we are waiting to get on the train

 Daddy bought us snacks for the train ride.

 Mama in her seat looking out the windows at the canal

 Daddy, Porter and me on the open-air observation car

 This is Gatun Lake and you can see some of the big container shops in the canal in the background

 Victor, the Texans' guide

 Porter on the Observation Car as we go right by Lake Gatun.

 For part of the train ride, we were right alongside the canal

 The guide told us this is the prison where there keeping Manuel Noriega

The hotel. We were expecting to stay in the Icaza'a house but Gabriel had rented a hotel room for the four of us. It was enormous: at least 8 times as roomy as Sila. You would think that we had never been in a hotel room before if you had seen the looks on our faces as we stepped into the room. I was delighted to find that the hotel room had a big couch, and a kitchen with a full-size refrigerator, microwave and stove. Porter and I had fun running across the room and jumping face first into the pillows on our big bed.

Shabbat Dinner. Porter and I had just learned about Judaism in history class with Mama and it was fun to then experience a Friday night Shabbat dinner. I enjoyed the Panamanian appetizers that Lezlie made. And it was interesting to watch the Icaza family say the blessings over the bread and the candles. My yarmulke kept falling off my head! More guests arrived and we had a scrumptious dinner and delicious dessert.

This is all of us getting ready to eat at the Shabbat Dinner. The people are Daddy, me, Nanette (a friend of the Icaza's), Gabriel, Lezlie, Eric (Nanette's husband), Porter, and Danny. You can't see Elio or Mama.

Driving around the city. During our visit, we drove around the city. There were a lot of us, so we had to have two cars. The adults rode in one car, leaving me and Porter to ride with Danny.  Danny was a good person to chat with because he related the history of Panama City to himself. It made it more interesting to listen to him and see the city, both the modern and old parts. Danny is going to go through the Panama Canal with us. Now that I have gotten to know him, I am excited to see him again.

 This is Daddy at the Icaza's apartment

 This is us on the edge of Casco Viejo, the old part of town, with the new part of the city in the back

 Mama and I thought this wall with the iron bars and the plant growing was pretty.

 This is me and Danny walking in Casco Viejo

 This is me and Danny again, this time on the roof of a hostel, overlooking the old and new parts of Panama City

This is me on the stairs to the roof. I liked the paint job

Hike in the jungle. We went on a hike in the jungle with Gabriel, Lezlie and Danny. At some bird feeders, we watched hummingbirds drink. They fought over who got which feeder. It was amusing to watch the birds fly around beating their wings. We also climbed a 40 meter tower. It was beautiful at the top. We saw the canopy of leaves from above. When we looked down, we were really high off the ground. On the walk back to the car, I talked with Lezlie about my imagination. She was a great listener who engaged in the conversation by adding ideas or noting how some of my ideas made her feel.

 Porter, Gabriel, me, Danny and Daddy on top of the tower. You can see the canopy of the jungle in the background. Mama took the picture and we are all really sweaty because it was so hot

 This is me on the way down the tower, in the middle of the canopy

 Here is Porter almost all the way at the bottom of the tower, where the plants look different

 This is me talking with Lezlie

On the way back from the jungle., we stopped at the Miraflores Locks, part of the Panama Canal. We checked out the exhibits and saw a movie about the construction of the locks. Here is Daddy overlooking the locks. It is weird to that we are going to go through them  in just a couple of days.

This is not everything we did in Panama City. Those are just some of the highlights. I really liked our visit with the Icazas. I hope we meet more people like the Icazas because they were nice hosts and devoted a lot of time just to us. I am glad we spent the weekend in Panama City. - Jack Rabbit