Tomas Arias's Waterfall

The following post is part IV of a special Potsusaker Post series on a weekend trip to El Valle with our friends Blake and Lisette.

エルバジェ３日目の朝は、滝を見に。入場料一人３．５ドルとちょっと高い割に、ハイクする距離はそれほどなくて、ちょっと損した気分？まあ私有地だから仕方ないか。

We also visited a beautiful waterfall. According to Lonely Planet it is named "Chorro El Macho" (Manly Falls). But really it should be named Tomas Arias's Waterfall.

The reason? Let me explain. In order to see this waterfall we had to pay $3-$4 each (supposedly for maintaining the short trail, bridge, ect.). But where they really try to make their money is the $40 "canopy tour" where they send you down a zip line on a harness. Quick note: this is a private waterfall, not public. Tucked away on the trail is a nice little monument to "Tomas Arias" for preserving the "manly" waterfall (privately of course). We chuckled. Oh yes, THAT Tomas Arias! The very powerful oligarch from back in the early 1900s. You know, that political family who, as Blake likes to remind me, has ruled Panama since Viceroy Arias executed Balboa. But hey, as long as they privatize the waterfalls and keep the trails nice... Let the free market rule!

吊り橋が何箇所もあって、なかなか楽しい！

No jumps on this bridge. Whew!

ジャングルをずんずん突き進みます。マイナスイオンいっぱーい。木陰になっているので、割と涼しいです。

Really a pretty area.

エルバジェは緑溢れる素敵なところです。

Thanks Tomas!

Hiking Up "La India Dormida"

The following post is part III of a special Potsusaker Post series on a weekend trip to El Valle with our friends Blake and Lisette.

エルバジェ２日目は、朝からハイキングです。運動不足で山登りとか実は苦手なわたくしですが、なんとかかんとかハイキング大好きなアメリカ人３人にくっついていきました。こんな森・山の中を上ってゆきます。

In the late morning we went on a hike up one of the many mountains in El Valle. We chose to the most famous route up "La India Dormida." Watch out for roots! It's named that because the silhoutte of the mountain is supposed to look like a "sleeping Indian woman." But if you ask me, it just looks like a mountain (large hill?).

不思議な木が沢山ありました。標高は高いけど、やっぱり熱帯。

Naoko pondering climbing a tree for a better view of the surroundings. This was Naoko's first "big" hiking trip and she made it to the top with minimal belly-aching. Good job Naoko! A+

約２時間で到着。ああ、結構辛かった・・・。が、景色を眺めると疲れはふっとぶね。エルバジェがカルデラに位置してることが分かる景色。

At the top of "La India Dormida." From left to right: Lisette, Blake.

風がびゅんびゅん吹いてる頂上です。カルデラですから、連山登りもできまっせ。私は一山で十分ですがね。

El Valle

The following post is part II of a special Potsusaker Post series on a weekend trip to El Valle with our friends Blake and Lisette.

El Valle is a small town two hours outside of Panama City, which is located in the crater of a volcano that erupted three millions years ago (according to local legend). The entire valley used to be a lake (also many many years ago, according to local legend). The town is more or less a weekend getaway for wealth Panamanians from the city who have second (or third) homes in El Valle. Their kids like to drive noisey motorbikes and four-wheelers around the otherwise peaceful streets.

連休を利用して、近郊の街、El Valle (エルバジェと発音) に２泊３日で行ってきました。エルバジェとは、その名の通り、谷（カルデラ）にできた小さな街です。シティから車で約２時間。標高が高いので、涼しい！！！！夜には、パナマに来て初めて長袖を着ました。気持ちよい～。パナマの軽井沢と名づけました。

One major attraction in El Valle is the weather. Because of the altitude, the temperature is about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than the city. We enjoyed drinking coffee outside with the beautiful scenery.

エルバジェと言えばお金持ち家族のための避暑地だそうで、週末に訪れるためのキレイで大きなお屋敷が立ち並んでいました。そして、こじゃれたカフェがあったりします（写真）。とにかく気温が程よいので、お外でコーヒー飲んじゃいます。

Another attraction is the anti-littering campaign. Signs read something to the effect of "Love your Panama... don't litter" and so forth. Nevertheless we observed a person nonchalantly tossing a plastic bottle on the side of the road like it was nothing. Maybe they hadn't read the signs yet... I like this sign the best.

エルバジェで一番嬉しかったのは、町にゴミが落ちていないこと。中米はどこの国でもそうらしいのですが、ゴミのポイ捨てがすごいんです。この街は、ゴミゼロ運動みたいなのをやっているらしく、ゴミがほとんどありません。

This is the window looking out of the little cabana that we stayed in. Very cozy and charming. At night we played "Panama Monopoly." And being the good little capitalist that Jeff is, he won. It's all about owning Casco Viejo and showing no mercy.

カルデラですから、他の地域にはみられない動植物が豊富らしいです。蘭（オーキッド）が有名で、植物園もあるし、近くのマーケットでも沢山売られています。宿泊したカバナの窓からも、沢山の熱帯植物やら、咲き誇るブーゲンビリアが見えました。心地よい風と、満開の花と、緑のジャングルを眺めてたら、山もいいなーと思えました。（私は基本的に海が好き。）

Playa Coronado

The following post is part I of a special Potsusaker Post series on a weekend trip to El Valle with our friends Blake and Lisette.

また、祝日による３連休だったので、コクレという地域に遊びに行ってきました。パナマで仲良くしている、ブレイク＆リセット夫妻にご一緒させて頂いて。パナマシティーから車で東に向かって約１時間。コロナドビーチです。ほとんどが私有地化されているので、パブリックビーチを探すのにちょっと苦労したけれど、海に出た途端、ものすごい開放感。

On our way to El Valle we stop at Playa Coronado, a beach about 45 minutes outside of Panama City. Our first attempt to get to the beach was thwarted by a security officer who stopped our car and told us that we needed to be residents or hotel guests to enter. We said that we thought the beaches were public. He responded, "Yes, the beach is public, but the road to the beach was NOT public, but private." All beaches in Panama are public, but apparently privatizing the only decent road is a way of getting around this so rich people and tourists don't have to worry about "riff raff" disturbing their weekend beach trips.

The officer then told us that there was a public road down the highway five minutes. So we decided to try this route rather than protest. The "public" road was awful. Thankfully our friends have a SUV, which is often necessary to get around parts of Panama.

大好きなビーチコーミング。シーグラスも、原型をとどめている貝殻もたっくさん！私、一人で大興奮。１時間以上、下向いて歩き回ってました。

We eventually got to the beach, which was very nice. Naoko is quite the beachcomber and she noted the high quality of shells and sea glass at Playa Coronado.

蟹さんもうろうろ歩いてました。４人で囲んでキャッチ。フライにして食べたりせずに、ちゃんと逃がしましたよ。

There was also some wild life! The four of surrounded and caught a little crab. Hmmm.... lunch!

砂はサラサラだし、水もキレイだし、ゴミはないし、人はほとんどいないし、快適～。シティから近いので、またちょくちょく来たいです。それにしても、良い天気であっつい午後でした。北半球は冬なのに・・・。

After a nice walk along the beach we headed back toward our destination.... on the public roads.

Cerro Ancon

毎日アパートから見ている、パナマ市内の小高い丘、セロ・アンコンに登ってきました。（写真はアパートから撮ったもので、左に見える丘がセロ・アンコンです。）

Every morning we drink coffee and admire this view of Cerro Ancon or Ancon Hill. It used to be in the Canal Zone (US territory) and the administrative center of the canal (and still is). The other weekend we hiked up Ancon with Daya to have a panoramic look of the city.

車（タクシー）で頂上まで行くこともできますが、２５分かけて登ってみました。頂上にはパナマの国旗。セロ・アンコンは元アメリカ軍基地内であったこともあり、１９８９年までは、ここにはアメリカの星条旗がはためいていました。パナマ人にとって、この市内を見下ろす小高い丘に、パナマ国旗が毎日丘に揚がるっていうのは言いようのない特別な感情を掻き立てるものらしいです。

At the very top of the hill is a large Panamanian flag waving. This is particularly significant given that the US flag flew here until 1977 for everyone in the city to see.

歩いて３０分くらい。車で上まであがることもできます。頂上からはほぼ360度の展望があります。まずは、運河（ミラフローレンス）を望んで。うすーく写っているんですが、水面の高さが閘門を挟んで段違いになっているのがわかるかしら・・・？これ、結構感動です。

This is a view of the canal and Pedro Miguel locks from the top Cerro Ancon.

旧市街地。サンホセ教会やら、大統領官邸など、肉眼で確認できます。手前は、貧民街と呼ばれている、チョリオ地区。昼間から大きな音楽が聞こえてきます。

This is a view of the Casco Viejo and surrounding neighborhoods.

同じく貧民街のサンタアナ、そしてその奥には運河通過を待つ、大型船籍の群れ。サンタアナには手入れされてない、古びた住宅街（マンション）が立ち並んでます。

Notice the ships waiting to enter the canal. The colorful buidings are in the Chorrillo neighborhood and not really somewhere you would want to wander around at night (or even during the day).

新市街もキレイに見えます。旧市街地を取り囲んでいる貧民街とのコントラストがすごいです。パナマの「中米一の貧富の差」という現実も見えるわけです。

久しぶりのショートハイキングでした。年末年始とジムをサボっていたので、実はちょっときつかった。

This is a eastern view of the city (looking away from the canal). Close up is Calidonia that bleeds into Bella Vista. The highrise buildings on the other side of Panama Bay is Punta Paitilla, a newer wealthy financial district.

It was a nice hike and even saw a toucan on the way up.

Popcorn!

Every Tuesday is "movie night" at our house. Some recent showings include The Color Purple, A Few Good Men, Curundu, Capote, and Before Night Falls. While at the grocery store last Tuesday, I ran into some microwave popcorn. "Ah, what goes better with a movie than popcorn?" I thought to myself.

But when I got home I suddenly realized that I didn't have a microwave to make the popcorn. Damn.

So I figured I would make popcorn the good ol' fashion way: on the stove top. (I remembered that as a kid my my mom made popcorn like that all the time. Of course she would never used the microwave popcorn for the stove top process...)

And it worked! Quicker than a microwave too! It tasted better too!

And Naoko was happy! I felt pretty silly for being so mentally dependent on a microwave to make me popcorn. For now own we're making stove top popcorn (and without out the microwavable kernels). Try it. Don't be a slave to Act III and the microwavable industrial popcorn complex!

Underpaid and Overworked: UPDATE!!

There she goes again...

Underpaid and Overworked

Co-editor of the Potsusaker Post looking to the past for journalistic inspiration.

You would think after a nice two-week holiday the "hired help" wouldn't be taking a siesta on the first day back at work. That's okay, I guess one month of 1917 would put most anyone to sleep.

A big 'THANK YOU' to my co-editor, co-researcher, and co-everything-elser. Love, your appreciator-in-chief.

Nabe

最近、気に入ってよく作っている鍋料理があります。それは、ピェンローという中国の農民用鍋。これ作るのがすごく簡単で材料もシンプルなのに、驚くほどおいしい。火加減とか、まったく気にしなくてよいので、忙しい時でも作れます。あくまで素材の味をシンプルに楽しみたい皆様、是非試してみて！忘年会＆新年会などで疲れ果てた胃にもやさしいですよー。

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/m_tamasaka/20081030/1225221971
www.yui.or.jp/7jigen/club/penro1.html

くそ暑いパナマで、エアコン効かせて食す鍋もまた、いいもんです。パナマは常夏なのに、白菜が一年中売っているのです。残ったスープで雑炊もよいですが、私は翌日のお昼に中華スープにして２度楽しんでおります。

Happy New Year!

あけましておめでとうございます。今年初の乾杯は、シャンペンですー。クリスマス休暇は家でゴロゴロ＆外食が続きましたので、新年はおうちで。

For New Year's Day we decided to stay home and enjoy a lovely supper. Naoko worked hard the day before preparing for the exquisite meal. A bottle of Moet & Chandon complimented the food. Moments after I took this picture of the champagne as I was preparing to take another picture, the cork unexpectedly shot up into the ceiling. It barely missed my eye and the camera lens as it grazed my hair. Eeek! Another close call!

久々にご馳走をスクラッチから作りました。こちら、アペタイザー４点。クレソンの炒め物、サーモンのカポターナのせ、ズッキーニのバジルソース焼き、海老のマリネ。お家だと、いろんなものがちょっとずつ食べれるのが幸せ。付け合せのレモン＆お塩＆ガーリックチップスはお好みで。

We had four wonderful appetizers: salmon with capotana (top right), zuchinni with pesto (top left), fried watercrest (bottom right), and shrimp with shredded red onions and elegantly-placed capers.

ローメインのサラダ。洋ナシ、くるみ、ゴルゴンゾーラを乗せたら、バルサミコ酢で。この組み合わせ、大好きです。

Hmmm.... walnuts with gorgonzola cheese...

メインはビーフシチュー。２日間煮込んだかいあって、お肉は柔らか～でした。デミグラスソースが売ってないので、初めてフォンドボーから自分で作ったのでした。あーおなか一杯。日本食以外いは、なるべく手作りしようと思いました。お料理も楽しいもんだ。

The main dish was a rich vegetable beef stew. Lots of veggies and meat boiled down with an entire bottle of red wine.