Today we were flying to the city of Pasto to check out a little of Southern Colombia before our next batch of shows, but after our plane was twice denied landing due to bad weather, we got sent back to Bogota and that's where we are now. Tomorrow we'll make another attempt at getting down there.
We've had a great first two weeks of the tour. We flew straight to David, Panama which is in the western half of the country. Our contact there was Antonio who is a member of the local rotary club and runs a culture house which is always hosting different kinds of events. He had shows for us planned in schools, children's homes, retirement homes, libraries and community events. It was quite a mix of events that took us all around David and Boquete. He and another Rotary member Omedo also made sure we got to see plenty of the area from the coffee farms of Boguete to the beaches of Barqueta and lots more too like the library that was once a train station that Vanessa's farther slept in one night when he was traveling through Central and South America back in the 70's. I was also excited to see Gustavo who is a friend from my days with Celebrity Cruises. David is his hometown and he told us a lot of local stuff and gave us some background on Panama's exciting inclusion into the 2018 world cup.
While still in David we started a series of three shows with SOS Children's Villages. We had one show in David and then the next morning they drove us to Penonome where we had another one, and then on to Panama City as well. Our contact with SOS, Amelia, also made sure we got to see some of Penonome like the point that is the center of the country and the museum of Hermanos de Arias de Madrid who were two brothers who both served as Presidents of the country.
We had one last show in Panama City at Hogar Malambo, another home for children, this one run by Catholic nuns. We never would have gotten that show set up if it wasn't for the help of Irma and Raysa who I was connected to via my friend Joe who lives in Media, PA.
Performing for all these wonderful audiences with 13 shows in all was great and it's or course nice to see a new country, but the highlight really was getting to stay with our friend Yuliya in Panama City. Yuliya and I performed together on the Celebrity Silhouette Cruise ship for most of 2015 and I also worked with her brother Alex on the Celebrity Solstice in 2014. She was a wonderful host and it was great getting to meet her husband Luis's family as well. Luis unfortunately was off working at sea on the Celebrity Summit.
What would a trip to Panama City be without going to see the canal. I always thought I would go through it working on a cruise ship but I'm glad I made it to see it one way or another. The night before at Yuliya's sister in law's birthday party we found out that her father is in charge of maintenance for the tug boats that work in the canal. He invited us to come see his office which has a big window that overlooks the canal. When we got to his office we got so much more as he arranged for us to see the inside of three different tug boats, engine room and all. Everyone there was really nice and welcoming and gave us a great tour.
There is lots more to tell about al the shows and the great organizations that set them up and photos to sort through too, but I just wanted to get this little mid trip update out, warts and all. Next week we have shows set up in Chinchina thanks to Glen and Stiven at Minga house and then one last show in Bogota with Kidsave before we head home November 12th. Feel free to write with any questions. We're pretty good about posting photos to Facebook and Instagram everyday and I'll write more soon.
- Andrew
