Delphinas

On the way back from Contadora, we ran into a pod of dolphins, all of whom wanted to show off for us.  Here is a video of their amazing antics.

Survivor: Contadora

"temple" where the voting-off ceremonies are performed.

 While visiting the island of Contadora, my friend Julia and I stumbled upon the compound for "Survivor: Panama."  We thought we were just looking at the housing for the crew, but turns out, half of Survivor is a FAKE!  including the temple where they do the voting.  These are pictures of the "temple" which is actually inside a building, and shares a wall with the crew bar.  And everything is made of foam; spray-painted foam.

"tribal" table to perform a challenge?

fire pit for the voting ceremony, complete with foam skull.

 I feel like this pictures shows it best.  What is very good artwork which would look realistic on tv is just foam art, as seen by the pieces that have come off to reveal wood planking.








So we think that the contestants actually lived on a deserted island, but were ferried to the compound for the voting ceremony and challenges.  And we are 96% certain that this is the ferry that was used.  It was graffitied by the crew and left as the demarcation point between normal beach and nude beach.

upclose drawing- red tribe vs blue.

 Ever wonder how they come up with Tribal Challenges?  We found all kinds of engineering plans still tacked up for the construction crew.








TV lost a lot it's magic with me today, but that's okay.  We all know that reality shows aren't real, and that Santa exists only in our minds, but still, I'm a bit sad to see the fake foam walls.

Now, of course I am going to look up Survivor: Panama on youtube to see if I can spot the forgeries.

Murga Par-tay!

Yup, this happened tonight at the end of year party.  Our principal hired a Murga (traditional Panamanian band composed of snare drum, big drum, trumpet, sax, and trombone) to play.  They were SO LOUD, but it was really fun to dance with my colleagues to celebrate the end of '12-'13.

end of school year birthdays

My friend Nick, in the striped shirt, was born in mid June, which means that he's usually in the middle of final exams (as student or teacher) for his birthday.  And all of his teacher friends are also in the middle of semester-end activities.




But we rallied to go out for a beer on his birthday night.  That counts for something, right?

ISP Class of 2013

Last night was the graduation ceremony for ISP's class of 2013.  74 seniors graduated in a very fancy ceremony.  There were flags (representing the multiple nationalities of the graduating class) hanging from the ceiling, as well as a balloon drop.

And at the end, GLITTER CANNONS exploded, just like you'd see at the Superbowl.  Had I known, I would have taken a picture, but it was just so unexpected.

However, I was able to get my camera out to capture the FIREWORKS that were set off in the soccer field to celebrate the graduating class.