Panama? Close enough.
Well, after our last experience, we decided to try Panama again with our neighbors who go every once in a while themselves. We figured that they would know how to deal with the cars and paperwork issues. Turns out, they don’t go IN to Panama, they just park their car, and go into a mall that is on the border. So… We didn’t go to Panama-Panama, but we did go into some stores that were technically on Panama soil? We saw magnets with the word Panama on them at least. I am a little bit disappointed that we didn’t get a new stamp for the passports, but also, pretty glad we didn’t have to deal with any miscommunication over papers that left us stranded in another country.
It was helpful to know a good spot to park the car. The neighborhood was extremely dodgy, as it was the very same neighborhood with Joe the helpful border rapist from the previous post. Alleged border rapist?
Anyway, a young man watched our car for a nice tip, while we went inside “Citi Mall” – sponsored by McDonald’s!
We ate there! It was a lot like a McDonald’s.
We wandered around the mall for a while. It was air conditioned and had an escalator, which is a huge luxury in Costa Rica. It was pretty exciting!
Really, this mall would have been a good place to go at the beginning of our vacation to stock up on groceries. They were much cheaper and certainly more varied and plentiful than at the “Tres Amigos,” our tiny corner store (with its twenty-four dollar sunblock). Everything else cost about what you’d pay back in the states, I think, with a few deals here and there. It was a place to buy shoes, clothes, dining-room sets, horrible art, and fake Christmas trees in October. Morgan says, “It was a lot like a Mexican Target.”
After leaving the McDonald’s, I mean, the mall, we wandered around the chaotic streets to look in some of the smaller shops that looked like they were vomited all over the street willy nilly. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of soccer clothing shops—like, hundreds. In fact, every shop we saw had something soccer in it, which makes sense, when you see how decrepit houses and and villages spring up around the perfectly manicured fields. It’s definitely a huge part of life here, though Morgan is still shocked by the sheer volume of shops dedicated to soccer in one block.
We saw lots of Panaderias and Super Pans. Sweet breads are also a huge part of life here. I feel like we finally got into the rhythm of Costa Rica walking: on a sidewalk, in the street, through the cars, past the doggies, and the kids in their cute little uniforms, you just keep going. Don’t stop for nothin’! Especially not for the guy who follows you down the road shouting, “Hey! Hey! *whistle* Hey! You wanna buya watch!?” We said, “No thanks,” but he had been following us and trying to catch our attention for a while before we acknowledged him.
We found a pet store with real, live animals in it, and tiny, tiny puppies, but they all seemed kind of sad and oppressed by the heat, and there were signs everywhere saying not to pet them. Or love them.
We found a few things we wanted (you all like soccer clothes, right?), and then headed back home to watch “Vampire in Brooklyn” and listen to the rain.
And then Morgan killed at least 27 bugs! He’s my bug killing hero.
Anyway, a young man watched our car for a nice tip, while we went inside “Citi Mall” – sponsored by McDonald’s!
We ate there! It was a lot like a McDonald’s.
We wandered around the mall for a while. It was air conditioned and had an escalator, which is a huge luxury in Costa Rica. It was pretty exciting!
Really, this mall would have been a good place to go at the beginning of our vacation to stock up on groceries. They were much cheaper and certainly more varied and plentiful than at the “Tres Amigos,” our tiny corner store (with its twenty-four dollar sunblock). Everything else cost about what you’d pay back in the states, I think, with a few deals here and there. It was a place to buy shoes, clothes, dining-room sets, horrible art, and fake Christmas trees in October. Morgan says, “It was a lot like a Mexican Target.”
After leaving the McDonald’s, I mean, the mall, we wandered around the chaotic streets to look in some of the smaller shops that looked like they were vomited all over the street willy nilly. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of soccer clothing shops—like, hundreds. In fact, every shop we saw had something soccer in it, which makes sense, when you see how decrepit houses and and villages spring up around the perfectly manicured fields. It’s definitely a huge part of life here, though Morgan is still shocked by the sheer volume of shops dedicated to soccer in one block.
We saw lots of Panaderias and Super Pans. Sweet breads are also a huge part of life here. I feel like we finally got into the rhythm of Costa Rica walking: on a sidewalk, in the street, through the cars, past the doggies, and the kids in their cute little uniforms, you just keep going. Don’t stop for nothin’! Especially not for the guy who follows you down the road shouting, “Hey! Hey! *whistle* Hey! You wanna buya watch!?” We said, “No thanks,” but he had been following us and trying to catch our attention for a while before we acknowledged him.
We found a pet store with real, live animals in it, and tiny, tiny puppies, but they all seemed kind of sad and oppressed by the heat, and there were signs everywhere saying not to pet them. Or love them.
We found a few things we wanted (you all like soccer clothes, right?), and then headed back home to watch “Vampire in Brooklyn” and listen to the rain.
And then Morgan killed at least 27 bugs! He’s my bug killing hero.