The weather was incredibly cooperative, and we enjoyed the beach both day and night. We tended to congregate around the same two bohios near a bar and place that served snacks throughout the day and evening. Candy seemed to be the designated bohio reserver, getting up early and staking our claim to the sandy real estate and precious shade. After dinner most evenings a number of the night owls would congregate in the same area enjoying the gentle sea breezes and full moon. Those evening vespers (ok, maybe not vespers) would reluctantly break up around 3:00 am. One particular night we learned that Chris M. had a incredible skill. As we talked late into the night someone asked what time it was. Chris looked up into the sky, extended her arm, closed one eye, and said, “according to the moon and stars, it is 2:20 am.” You laugh, but she was only ten minutes slow! Chris was also the source of an interesting story about Fran’s massage at the beach massage parlor. Without getting into too much detail, we learned the difference between a jutting *** and one that is akimbo. Yes, there was much laughing all week long.
The surprises by our Panamanian classmates kept coming. Once again we boarded the bus and headed to Ramon Fernandez’ beach house in Punto Barco, maybe 25 minutes from Decameron. A cocktail party and BBQ ensued that would have these old bulldogs talking about for the rest of their lives. Ramon’s beach house is not that Jersey shore cottage type house that you might be thinking about. His beautiful home sits on a promontory about 200 feet above the beach. There are enough pictures on ours web sites for you to get an idea of just how incredible a place it is. The food was . . . you know I’m running out of superlatives. Empanadas, coconut shrimp, seviche, Spanish ham, and the list goes on. We ate, we danced, we talked, and we sang, and we certainly enjoyed the view and Ramon and his wife Gisela's awesome hospitality. When we first arrived, Ramon met us at the door with a videographer filming the turistas. The filming would go on for a few hours as we enjoyed the evening. Later on in the evening on a giant screen, we were treated to a video that showed us 40 years ago (pictures from the yearbook), and then 40 years later with video that had been taken that night. As we left party that evening, we were each given a DVD of that video. What a great keepsake!
On Wednesday afternoon, most of the crowd moved down to the Country Inn Suites in Amador. It is a beautiful location for a hotel at the beginning of the causeway with the Bridge of the Americas as a backdrop and the Pacific entrance to the canal at its doorstep. From there many of us toured the places in the old Canal Zone that were most important to us, looking for our old houses. Sometimes being happy to see them, while others unhappy with there condition, or in Barry’s case, the darn house was torn down and a new one was being built in its place.
Albrook is a busy place with most of the houses renovated and occupied. There is a big grocery store there, and a giant mall. The YMCA in Balboa is great for shopping for molas and other local curios. Balboa is much changed. What used to be the BHS parking lot; softball, Fastlich and little league ball parks; and the road to Diablo are now a huge container port and storage facility. Parts of Ancon and Balboa Heights are nice, other parts are not so nice having been abandoned for the last decade. Of course, the Administration Building looks great. Los Rios and Cardenas seem fully occupied. Bob Bacot and Tom Duncan have homes in Cardenas, while Dave and Diana Bishop live in Los Rios. Ft. Clayton (or the City of Knowledge) is also a busy place with many businesses in operation, a Holiday Inn being constructed and other construction projects ongoing by Fernando Alfaro’s company. I believe the new American Embassy is being built in Clayton. Gamboa is in a time capsule. It looks the same as it did 40 years ago, except for the fact that it has about a tenth of its former population, and now it has the beautiful Gamboa Rainforest Resort where the golf club used to be.
As for Panama City, it looks like a large U.S. city, with incredible growth and dozens of skyscrapers. The building boom is continuing and stretching the city’s borders all the way down to Tocumen airport. The area around Fourth of July Avenue, the road between Ancon/Quarry Heights and Panama City is all shuttered up. Not much in the way of population in the area, so not much commercial activity either.
So after playing turista for a couple of days, the gang huddled back up for another planned gathering. This time a big chiva the size of a school bus pulled up to the hotel and we all climbed aboard. The inside was a tad different than your usual bus however. The seats were along the sides of the bus, there were no windows, handholds and ropes hung from the ceiling, and there was a bar and a DJ in the back. For the next couple of hours, we drove through our old familiar haunts: BHS, Balboa, Albrook, Clayton, Pedro Miguel Locks, La Boca, and the Causeway; as the music pounded, the bulldogs danced, and the contents of the bar disappeared. Later that night a very accommodating restaurant at the end of the Causeway found seats for the 50 of us and we continued our bingeing without the purging.
Somehow our second weekend was upon us, and it was time to return to reality (aka the States). It was a very full week, and we were, for the most part, ready to return. We knew that we had not only enjoyed a very special trip, but that we had experienced a “top 3” in a lifetime vacation. We had returned to our childhood home, saw familiar and not-so familiar sites, renewed old friendships and cemented bonds with our classmates through this shared experience. Not surprising, we learned that you can take us out of Panama, but that you can’t take the Panazonian out of us.
We will forever be indebted to the Panama reunion committee. Thanks so much for your generosity, hospitality, and friendship. And to my fellow reunionites, thanks for being great travel companions. I am looking forward to the BHS 68 40th Reunion Part 2 in Orlando.