June 9- Panama City

I've gotten to go to Panama City twice this past week- once for orientation with the other REU students (all of whom arrived on June 5), and once for the weekly Tuesday seminar.  I have really enjoyed getting to see more of the city!  On Monday I got to see a lot of STRI's facilities in Panama City (especially impressive is the Earl S. Tupper Tropical Sciences Library- it began on BCI in the 1920's before being moved to the city, and contains an immense volume of information on tropical biology.  A few books are incredibly rare- we saw one where only five copies exist in the world!)  That afternoon we saw the STRI marine labs in Naos, an island just off the coast of Panama City.  A fun day!  I was also delighted to finally get to meet the other REU students.

On Tuesday we heard an interesting talk from a visiting scientist, and then the whole REU group went out for dinner.  Casco Viejo (the historic part of Panama City) is quite close to the Smithsonian's facilities there, and is incredibly beautiful!  I'm looking forward to getting to do some more exploring there this summer.  There is an interesting and surprisingly seamless blend between historic buildings and newer construction.  There are tons of window boxes with lush tropical vegetation- I am definitely a fan.

And the boat ride to and from Gamboa is always great.  You get some incredible views of the canal no matter which boat you're taking- mist-shrouded mountains in the early morning, a bright, clear sky over lush green forest in the early afternoon, swirling storm clouds rolling over the mountains near dinnertime, and the lights of buoys and passing container ships and the stars at night.