Baseball

Hola a todos,
I went to a baseball game last night in Panama City--Metro vs. Los Santos. Baseball games in Panama are quite different than baseball games in the States.



Here are three main differences I noted:

1.) Tickets are $3. You sit on concrete steps. If you want real stadium seats, tickets are $4.


2.) People are insane about baseball in Panama. The game was tied 1-1 through the ninth innings and went into a tenth inning. Los Santos scored a run in the top of the tenth and the crowd went nuts, throwing their drinks and screaming and beating on drums.


3.) Oh yeah, drums. There was an entire percussion section at the game. Not just someone beating on a couple of bongos, but an all-out section of people playing percussion instruments together, mostly salsa rhythms, throughout the entire game. I'll try to get a video for you guys to listen to it. I'm having trouble uploading video right now, but I'll see what I can do.



Strangely, most baseball terms are in English. So you might hear someone say, "Carlos Muñoz de Los Santos está al bate, y tiene un strike. Rodríquez está en primero base. Los Santos tienen dos outs." There's actually a verb that means "to get someone out"--"ponchar". So you'll hear people in the stands screaming "pónchalo!"--"get him out!"




Afterwards, my friends wanted to get something to eat, but it was late. What's the only fast food restaurant that's open late? You guessed it--Taco Bell! It was really, really weird to order food in Spanish at a Taco Bell. Panamanian Taco Bells sell french fries, by the way--complete with salsa, nacho cheese, and jalapeño rings.



I'm a bit in a hurry to get packed up and get to the bus station, so I'll stop here. I'm heading to Chiriquí province tonight, to the city of Boquete. A friend of a friend told me that the Easter celebration in Boquete is very beautiful, and the region itself is beautiful, high in the mountains. There are also lots of coffee plantations, so I'm looking forward to some tasty samples. :)

¡Hasta pronto!