The Meal

“There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?” Ecclesiastes 2:24 & 25

I really can't tell you about my entire weekend because there is just too much to tell and my schedule will not allow it. I spent the weekend with Kristel Samuido and her family. Kristel is from Panama and she took care of Richard and Ellie for 1 ½ years. Kristel in many ways is like a second daughter to Bo and me and we love her very much. It is because of her encouragement that I came to Panama for this course.
Kristel and her mother Rita picked me up after class on Friday and we drove to Colon which is on the other side of the isthmus a bit northwest of Panama City. That evening Kristel, Rita and Kristel's dad Tito and I had supper together and then toured the city. In the morning we got up, got into the car and headed east along the Caribbean coast. We stopped somewhere in the jungle at a small outdoor restaurant and had a Panamanian breakfast. From there we proceeded to Portobello (I think that's an Italian word. It's sure not Spanish. Christopher Colombus was the first European to discover the place.) At Portobello we hitched up with D'ja, Kristel's cousin and D'ja's mother. From there we went to Isla Grande, which is a small island about 50 km from Colon. I know, the name is Isla Grande, but it's still a pretty small island. It's just the biggest one around there. To get to the island you have to hire one of the multitude of small boats that are waiting there to ferry the tourists over. The one we got was very long, very skinny and very old. It might have been a dugout, it was hard to tell, but it did have a motor and life vests and we made the approximate 1km trip with no problems.
We lounged around on the beach for a while and then went to eat. We had to walk our way along a pathway between a myriad of old and not so charming houses, shops and restaurants. They all had something to sell but were in no way pushy about it. When we got to the restaurant I was a bit surprised. I'm not sure I would have picked it, but Tito and the others had been there before and knew what they were doing. It was about 30 feet by maybe 15 and it was open on 3 sides. It had a grass roof, sand floor and a solid rail wood rail around the 3 open sides. The closed side was where the bar and the kitchen were located. The restaurant was on the beach about 15 feet from the water. The owner was a friendly, tall, skinny, middle aged black man, who wore no shirt or shoes. We sat down directly under the speakers, which were putting out an earsplitting mixture of Latin and Caribbean music. I can tell you this, nothing and I mean nothing seems to happen in Panama without music.
Cervezas and other drinks were served and we sat there in the Caribbean breeze talking, listening to the music and watching the people swim in the crystal clear water while others strolled by. Behind the bar the TV was playing, with no sound, an old Mr. T rerun. Eventually, the food was ordered, not from a menu, but by Tito who went with the owner into the kitchen to see what was available. It took forever for the food to be prepared and to be brought out, but nobody seemed the least concerned about it, including me. The cervezas were still available whenever they were needed.
When the food came out, it was (pardon the trite phrase) worth the wait. There were six whole fried red fish, including the heads, on a giant platter, covered with cooked tomatoes and onions. Two other platters contained fried plantains smothered in chopped garlic. A third platter served up coconut rice. It's just what the name implies. Rice cooked with coconut. The fish was fried perfectly!!! It flaked off onto the fork but was still moist and tender. The poor things had been caught that very day and they certainly tasted like it. We ate fish, plantains and rice until the world seemed level. The food was exceptional as was the company. The music although loud, never seemed to get in the way and in the end Mr. T and his friends captured the bad guys.