Panama Update #17 - Carnival in Brazil - last trip before quarantine

April 10, 2020

hey there folks from quarantine in panama....i know some of you know i have decided to stay in this country for the covid-19 pandemic, but not all....so i have decided to stay here due to the response panama has made to this virus and not come back to the states.....i do not foresee myself coming back until possibly christmas....as a message was sent to all americans abroad stating that possibility....and this is a hard thing to face...as is watching what is happening in my country, state and hometown from afar....and being very worried for family and friends....please make good choices, based on science, and data....listen to dr fauci....and not others in charge...wear a mask and gloves, for someone one's sake, but also yours...and really....just stay home!!!!!

here in panama, we have been on lock-down for four weeks as of today...and our lock-down has progressed quite quickly....four weeks ago all schools closed and we started teaching on-line....then the airport closed, as well as all non-essential businesses closed...then parks, pools, social gathering places, trails and the way to the beach and the mountains closed (to stop this from spreading faster to the interior communities)...then to only being allowed to be out shopping for two hours a day for groceries or the pharmacy based on the last number of your national id and no alcohol for sale....to now only being allowed out two hours a day on specific days of the week due to me being female (mon, wed, fri)...all of this to slow down the inevitable spread that will happen here....so the health care system does not collapse.....all good steps to help this country and its people make it through this horrible time...so much more restrictive than what is happening in my home country....but if it helps this progress at a manageable rate, and helps save lives, and helps me and the folks i know stay safe and not get sick....i am ok with it....

is it difficult????  oh yes...but on some level, i have been trained well.....from wintering in antarctica to living in countries where supplies and food was scarce at times...i know how to deal with this...as well as my mom knowing how to talk on skype and friends knowing how to use meets and zoom and skype all before this to stay in touch easier....aspects of my life has made this much more doable....the part that is really tough though, is the teaching the kids on-line....i am not very good at being a virtual teacher....they, as well as my colleagues, are who i miss on a day-to-day basis....i still laugh with them, teach them and i still see them, but this is nowhere near the same as teaching in person....and i know this is a huge struggle for many teachers....you make it work...but it is just hard.....

at the moment i am actually having a stay-cation for spring break....very rare for me..i was supposed to be visiting my 90th country diving - belize.....so i have decided to send out my most recent adventure to brazil during carnaval, just two months ago...before any of this really was front and center for my life....i mean i was following everything in china, because i am really hopeful i am still headed there come august, but it was not in my face every minute of the day, like now.....as for china...yes....i really am hopeful i will get there...i figure, they may be one place that really will open back up for school in time for the next academic year when i look at what is happening there now....and my visa is still moving forward sort of, and i had a virtual packing inventory take place this week with a moving company here in panama...and schools are opening back up there in about 2 weeks (shanghai at least).....so yes, i do hope that happens...but i know it is not a guarantee with what is happening elsewhere in the world.....so it is time to relive what used to be....and what i am not sure will ever be quite the same again....it is a weird to think about how my life, my profession and everything about my world may never be the way it was....we'll have to wait and see i guess....so until then...let's head to carnival in rio and iguazu falls, brazil...what an amazing trip....

Rio de Janeiro....cool town...and just crazy during carnival....everyone, and i mean everyone is dressed up in costume of whatever they wish for however many days they wish....we were there for three days and it was crazy....one of our days we went up to the peak of sugarloaf....you take a few gondolas up to the peak....as you can see above....

once up there we wandered around and checked out the view of all of rio...they made some nice walking areas and i loved this wish tree with the orchids....these are the two awesome women i traveled with...louise and emma....

this is the view from sugarloaf, a monolithic granite and quartz mountain on the edge of the atlantic ocean, that overlooks the city of rio....you are looking at one of the most famous beaches of rio - ipanema beach.... here the song the girl from ipenema really does come from....

the street art above is one of the many pieces done on the lead up to the most famous steps in rio, which you will see in the next picture....this was one of my favorites, as it shows the world and was created using name of people for the different countries.....no idea if people added their own names or it was done by the artist...but i liked that overall image....

this is a shot of the famous steps in rio - the escadaria selaron - they are a set of mosaic steps - with tiles from all over the world - that were created by an artist who did not like how run down they were....he worked on them up to and including the time of his death....he was actually found dead on the stairs...in about 15 minutes of being at these steps i found tiles from most of the places i had lived in the states and around the world....it was incredible...and extremely crowded, which is why you do not see a picture of me on the stairs....but they were really cool....

this was one of our first carnival parties...we were headed back up sugarloaf mountain to party at a vip party...i know...me and vip....pretty darn funny...the can is tonica from a company called antarctica in brazil....i loved all of the antarctica cans i saw....took pictures of many of them....of course there is vodka in the tonica....the stuff on my face...yep, its a decal...easy on, and easy off...and fun to wear...

here you have the view from the vip party....the little light in the distance at the top is from jesu christo - or the christ the redeemer statue....which we went to see the next day....but rio is definitely a pretty city at night...lots of water and lights and surrounded by mountains....

one of the most recognized statues in the world is overlooking rio - christ the redeemer - considered one of the 7 new wonders of the world (the 6th i have seen in my life)....it was a long trip to get there with a lot of waiting, but worth it....if only to see the masses of people laying on the ground to take a picture of the whole thing- it was hilarious....things i did not know....the face of this statue was created by a romanian....it is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone....the statue is just slightly taller (30m/98ft) than the width of the arms (28m/92ft)....and that you can take a train up the side of the mountain to go visit it.....it had a spectacular view as well :)

this view from the christ the redeemer statue is looking out over the famous copacabana beach...which is right where we stayed in rio....it was actually a wide beach with huge surf...but much of the time we were in rio it rained, so we never made it into the water....

and then we went to the best part of carnival in rio in my opinion...the competition of the samba schools....holy cow....if you ever get the chance to see this competition, do it!!!! emma, louise and i were soooooooooooo excited about this part of our time in rio!!!

there are more than 70 samba schools in the rio area and they all perform over the days of carnival...they are a group of dancers, drummers and marchers.....they get one hour to perform in the samba-drome....which you can see below....above you see the mestre-sala (literally the "master of the room") and porta-bandeira ("she who carries the flag")....they are in the front section, but not first for the samba school....as they carry the flag of the school.....and have lots of rules for their performance...

above you see the length of the samba-drome to where our seats were....we were about 2/3rds of the way down the stadium....and across the way you can see the blue section of the stadium and that is where the second set of judges sat....so we got to see all of the performers...it was incredible....everything you see in this picture on the floor of the stadium is the same samba school....they come up with a theme filled with dancers, floats, a samba song played by live musicians and amazing costumes....it is unlike anything else i have ever seen....

this float was a play on how tv presenters are just representations of fake news and what the public wants to hear....the puppet in the front moved and the screen was a huge LED screen...with dancers all over it...can you see their copper costumes????    amazing!!!!

this float was the start of a samba school that looked at climate change and how humans were contributing it....this opened and closed and went up and down, and was stunning colors....we really liked this samba school's presentations, but they did not make it to the finals....we watched the last evening of the semi-finals....so these schools really were incredible....

being the marching band alumna, i had to include a picture of one of the marching bands that played the samba music for their school...in most cases this was the same song over and over with different sections (bells, percussion, horns, etc) taking the lead....these bands were incredible and the choreography that went along with their playing was outstanding....so much fun to see the live marching/samba music being the backdrop of this cultural event!!!!

the samba school that performed 3rd had a huge amount of fans....people throughout the sambadrome were waving these white & red flags to celebrate this group....they did make it to the finals the next weekend and were very traditional....their theme was the first african-brazilian clown and his pathway through life....

as you can see from this float, he worked his way through the circus and was a well known performer...so all of the floats and 45 performing groups were related to the telling of his story....and again it took the school one hour to get through the entire sambadrome....simply stunning....

this float was one of the first for the 4th samba school....which focused on architecture of the ages...you might be able to tell that the "head" in the center of all of the people on the float looks like a statue from earlier in this post....christ the redeemer....and it was...it went up and down and the arm span was accurate....but not the height....still it rose at least 25 feet....

these performers above were an example of part of the dancing groups....but there were not tons of steps for people in these costumes....so many of the people in sections like the one above in a school were actually tourists....that is how they get enough people....you can pay to be a performing member, and you go to the school a few days before the performance and learn the few steps of your part....maybe i will do this someday....as it was a mind-blowing amount of people in each school.....

the float above was one of the last ones i saw before i had to head back to the hotel to catch my very early flight.....this picture was taken at 2:30 AM.....the performances by the schools do not start until 9:30pm and each is an hour with about 30 minutes in between....this is not an early evening by any means.....but wow!!!!! what an amazing evening!!!!!!

from rio i flew to iguazu falls...i stayed on the brazil side, but this set of waterfalls is located where three countries come together - brazil, argentina and paraguay....although the falls are only in brazil and argentina...and both sides are very different....i also visited the bird park on the brazil side...loved these wings....just call me macaw dani!!!! hahahahaha :)

iguazu falls are the biggest set of waterfalls in the world...and i was told by one of my guides that they were only at 50% capacity due to it being the dry season....whoa!!! the different sides show very different views....the brazil side gives you an overview of most of the falls...except on the last bit of walkway, where the picture above was taken.....

this is actually the more common shot from the brazil side...as it gives an overview and looks toward the argentinian side....beautiful...this was the side i visited first....

the next morning i headed across the border of argentina and checked out that side...i got on a boat as well, to see the falls up close and personal....we actually "drove" directly into the falls you see on the left side of the picture...the big one with all of the water....we got drenched...it was awesome!!!!

the argentinian side was also built on top of the biggest fall - called the devil's throat...you walked out over it and were able to take some pictures....and i was so fortunate for the sun to come out and then got a double rainbow....overall, i liked both sides, but i am glad i did the argentina side second, as it was a bit more up close personal and overwhelming!!!!

this last shot is a panorama of the devil's throat....so much water....and remember, this is only 50% capacity due to the dry season....i have a hard time "picturing" more water in these falls.....

the other thing i visited was the world's most energy producing hydroelectric dam - called itaipu dam located between brazil and paraguay.....it was huge!!! (yes, i have been to the enormous dam - three gorges dam in china)....in 2016 itaipu produced 103,098,366 megawatt hours surpassing china as the dam that produces the most power....it does not stay at that level....but when that was accomplished it was the number one producer of hydroelectric power...and this is considered one of the 7 new modern world wonders according to civil engineers....two world wonders in one trip....go brazil!!!!

and for my last shot it is me with the national drink of brazil...the caipirinha cocktail.....quite tasty and found everywhere....but i did prefer the one made with vodka more than the one made with cachaca....but overall they were yummy and you could find them everywhere.....

and there you have it...my carnaval (correctly spelled for the country i was visiting) trip to brazil....which is a huge country and only seeing two cities of it was nothing...maybe someday i will get back to this country.....it was a lovely week and i would recommend it to anyone...once we are flying and traveling again.....

if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me...and please, please, please take care of yourself and family and friends in this crazy time of covid.....i am hoping to get back to traveling sooner rather than later, but i know that i have been so fortunate to be where i have been and to have seen what i have seen....fingers crossed i will get back out there traveling....and that i make it to china to teach for the next academic year and that maybe some of you will meet me there or meet me somewhere else along the way.....hope you are well...i hope to get out one more update about this year in panama....more soon....i hope...

have a fab day :)

dani

Panama Update #16 - Mexico City (Day of the Dead) & Cozumel (Diving)

February 16 - 28, 2020 - i have been trying to get this finished for the past two weeks...hopefully today is the day :)

hey there all....this.is.2020.....thanks to barbara walters for that line 😉 i hope everyone has had a great start to their new decade....a few folks have been in touch about my plans for next year with corona virus and all, but i am still on course to head to beijing, china next year to teach....some have asked if i am worried....and my answer is no....it is a flu....a scary flu because china does not tell the world the truth about things and will not do things to lose face....but it is a flu.... i do find the uproar interesting.....so yes, i am still going to china for the next school year and am very excited about it and my next teaching post, as the school is rather impressive....will china bounce back from this???? i do think so, but it may be rough going for awhile to get things up and running like clockwork again....but again....it is a flu.....thanks for the concern and if my plans change, i will let folks know....but for now it is full steam ahead with my plans and trying to get my ducks in a row.....

things here in panama are busy, busy, busy and i am hoping that my next update is about here....but i am about to head to rio de janeiro, brazil in a week for carnival and then iguazu falls for the second half of the week after the samba parade i am attending.....so i assume that will be an update that will want to be written about the carnival craziness and amazing falls in between three countries.....so i am not sure when i will write about panama....maybe that will be my last update from here....with highlights from the whole year......because it has been fun around here.....

but this update is about where i went for my november break....mexico city for day of the dead and cozumel for diving the second half of the week.....i went with a great bunch of folks and below you will see pictures from both experiences....day of the dead in mexico city is like no other i bet and it was incredible....i wish we had made it to a cemetery to truly see the historical and traditional celebration, but the parade and the floats and the artwork were spectacular....and the food....just wow!!! if you are any kind of foodie at all, you need to get to mexico city and eat your way through it!!!!  on with the pictures...there are quite a few....enjoy....

this is the main cathedral square of mexico city....in the plaza of the constitution....we had breakfast at a restaurant overlooking it....so this is earlier in the morning....in the afternoon this space was heaving with people....i am sooooo glad we got to see it before the crowds and crowds of people were there...as the main parade ended here....

this was the view as you entered the square...this piece of art here was representing all of the different areas of mexico....it had murals made of seeds and plants, paintings of important people who had died and dioramas of the different areas of mexico....there were tons of skulls, pan de muerto (special bread for this weekend), marigolds and people dressed up....also, tons of street foods, which i was so happy to see and experience, as that is one thing i feel panama really lacks....

this was a family who had come from NY to participate in the dia de los muertos celebration in mexico city....there were many folks who dressed up and even more folks who painted their face with a skull....this is said to represent a chance to overcome the fear of death, act recklessly and get up to mischief, as you should not be doing those things throughout the rest of the year....many people mix flowers with skulls....as you can see on the guy's amazing suit!

there were tons of street performers as well....these folks are dressed in the traditional day of the dead costumes and the gentleman is playing a type of a hurdy gurdy, or crank styled instrument....the woman is wearing a catrina styled dress and a flower head-dress....the gentleman is in a guayabera suit, which many mariachi bands wear for concerts....some people also wear these outfits to symbolize their dead relatives that they are honoring.....

this is one of the many altars in the main cathedral in the plaza that you can light a candle to remember the names of the people who have died....one of those candles in there was lit for my dad by me....he would have loved the music and the parade and especially the food....

outside of the cathedral, this is one of the many altars that was set up to remember people....the altars usually have things on them to represent the elements of water, wind, land and fire...plus, food and drink are on the altar for the spirits....marigolds and monarch butterfly representations were everywhere as well....as they are symbols to help spirits find their way to be celebrated by their living ancestors....the symbolism throughout this celebration is enormous and i am sure i am forgetting things....but i hope you can see just how important of a celebration it is to mexico and other places in central america....

the parade was a ton of fun....it had a very cultural and local feel....nothing very swanky...but people were definitely celebrating....this celebration used to only be in cemeteries and private homes, but after one of the james bond movies, it has become something grander and more public....this was only the fourth ever parade in mexico city for this celebration day....

there were floats and traditional dancers and skeletons everywhere to celebrate those who had died before....and marigolds everywhere....so very colorful as well.....

some of my favorite characters were the puppeteers and i loved the ones of the skeletons and their skeleton dogs.....the dogs would come over the sniff around....the puppeteers were really good....

here are the folks i was traveling with in mexico city....megan, rachel, david and i......it was a bit colder than panama, so we are wearing sweatshirts and shoes and socks...it was so great to experience fall....and of course, it was not cold enough to say no to ice cream :)

later that night we went to see a production about la llorona....it was overly dramatic, hard to follow in spanish, rather cold and very long....but gave us jokes for the rest of the trip....even though it is not a funny story....she is known as the weeping/wailing woman, who drowned her two sons in a river because she was unloved by her husband who cheated on her....she was not allowed into heaven until she found the souls of her sons and brought them with her to heaven.....she is used as a scare tactic to get young children to do things....like...do this or the weeping woman will catch you.....

we got on one of these boast for about three hours in the cold on the evening of the day of the dead to watch a play about when the spaniards took over mexico and it ended with the wailing woman "drowning" in the lake....it was both under & overwhelming....but the coffee was warm and the elote - or mexican corn on the cob was delicious.....

sunday we took a walk down one of the main avenues and came across all of these floats that had been in a different parade....they were either outlandish animal things or skulls....this one of the animals was one of my favorites....

this was one of my favorite skulls, as it was covered in stars and the hands over the eyes....i don't remember its name, but it was stunning....

i think rachel's face says it all....i am pretending to be attacked by the pincers in the front of this animal/insect/bird piece of art...i have a feeling my picture was taken by other passersby, as the gringa getting eaten....too funny....rachel was not as amused as i was....i think.....

here is some of the tasty elote or corn you can buy on the street.....there also was tons of fruits and tamales and pan de muerto and fried potatoes and drinks....it was street food heaven!!!!

this was a mandala sort of alter set up outside of the national theater, where we were headed to see the amazing folkloric, mexican ballet group....of course it was made from seeds, nuts and corn and marigolds all over it....

the folkloric ballet was incredible...if you go to mexico city and they are performing, i strongly recommend you go see them....just wow!!! it was traditional dancing from all over mexico and the caballero above, or mexican cowboy was amazing with his lasso!!!!

in the same performance there was a couple that tied this ribbon into a bow, only using their dance moves with their feet.....it was awesome!!!

this group was amazing to watch....they had the traditional catrina dresses and the men were in the traditional mariachi suits, guayabera....just their spinning alone was enough to make me dizzy...

much of the music of this amazing show was done live....either by drummers or mariachi....the musicians were incredible and all had special suits for their part of the performance....fiddlers, guitarists, buglers and drummers were the highlights for me....especially the buglers....wow!!!!

and then we did a food tour in the main central market and literally ate our way through....in most cases they were able to accommodate a vegetarian....not when we had the hogs-head tacos....but i skipped those....and let me tell you, mexican tacos put tex-mex tacos to shame....here you can see the start of morning....the first set of grilled tacos were made here....

of course we went to a mole stand....and who knew there were so many types of mole????? it was incredible...usually a mole sauce has some type of fruit (my favorite was the apricot base), chili pepper, nuts and possibly other spices like black pepper, cinnamon or cumin....this stand was incredible....

this is prickly pear cactus for sale, known in mexico as nopal....it was used in many dishes starting from the time of the aztecs....today still it is a staple ingredient for many dishes....we had it in tacos and as part of salsa and salads....yummy....

this was the window of a candy store....you just looked through the windows to find what you wanted and then ordered through the middle window....lots of options....loved the windows....so colorful and sweet!!!

we saw this car on the way to one of our dinners....i just had to take a picture....i am sure it has had many taken....no idea if it really ran, but i think it would have....cooooool!!!!

after the day of the dead celebrations finished we were off to cozumel to dive....cozumel let me relive a place i visited in college when i did a spring break trip to cancun....yes....for those in the know....it was senor frogs we went to....still the same as it was a long, long time ago....

one more joined our crew to dive together....so now it was david, rachel, megan, linda and i.....david was very excited here at senor frogs....as the majority of us were having tasty margaritas!!!! ole!!!!

on one of our dives we had to weave through some rocks....it was one of my favorites....we saw many things on our ocean dives...eagle rays, frog fish, nurse sharks...and the best part was, very few lionfish....it was a great two days of ocean diving....

here we are underwater getting a shot of the crew on one of the dives that did not really have a current....i am on the very right....i have decided that i really love diving and i seem to be almost better underwater than i am above-water....it is one of my happy places....

our final day diving was my favorite though!!!!! we went diving in a freshwater cenote...that had a halocline....here you see me above....you can't even tell i am in water....diving in freshwater was sooooo much different than when in salt water....it is so clear and really plays around with your buoyancy....also....when you breathe out, your bubbles get trapped along the ceiling of the cave and look like liquid mercury....totally freaky!!!! the light behind me comes from the way out....and we always to could that, because none of us is cave certified....the fun part for me was the halocline - when a salt water river runs at the bottom of the freshwater...it was warmer, more dense and made everything look fuzzy....as i dove i kept playing with the salt water....i would pull it up into the freshwater just to watch it sink back down....the DM thought i was dancing or something....but i LOVED cenote diving....i will do it again in my life, of that i am sure....just amazing!!!!

this is a shot of the water as we were taking the ferry back over to playa del carmen from cozumel....just stunning....lovely place to dive....

and of course my parting shot....dani and a beer....not just any beer though....a mix of salt, lime, tomato juice and beer....a bizarre, but tasty beer to have in mexico...especially if you like bloody marys....salud!!!!!

so there you have it...my trip to mexico city and cozumel over my november break....thanks for patiently waiting and here's to me getting the next addition out soon....as i am just finishing up my brazil trip for carnaval and to iguassu falls....it has been incredible....more soon and i hope all of you are diligently washing your hands....

peace out....dani