Quieres llamarme? Puedes ahora!

You can get a pre-paid phone in Panama and avoid outrageous international calling rates on your US plan. I purchased mine through Movil, at the Allbrook Mall, for around $35. International calls cost .16/min.

You can call me at (507) 6697-3779. But I should call you back, since you’ll be charged if I am the recipient.

Diablos Rojos

The Diablo rojos (‘red devils”) are a public transport system around Panama City . My short videos here do them little justice, and I will endeavor to get a better photograph of the detail that goes into their graffitied décor. My first night in Panama I saw a string of about eight of them, neon blue light underneath and various day-glo insignia along the hood and sides. My first impression was that this must be some sort of raving caravan. However, when the next day when I noticed them again, and everywhere, I formed my second impression—that this must be the public transport system of the ninth rim of Hell. However after kind of settling in, I appreciate the originality that goes into them, and the curious juxtaposition of various trademarked characters—from Yosemite Sam and Wolverine to the Cool Aid Pitcher and Sonic the Hedgehog—with religious symbols, including Jesus, Mary, and the Archangel Gabriel. I have yet to ride in any of them.

It's okay, I'm a biologist.

Finally! I fulfill my dream of having a badge establishing my status as a biologist, which I can wave at people who find my behavior in natural parks or in the vicinity of large reptiles unacceptable, thus reducing them to a smoldering pile of awe and contrition*.

*note--pass has no such powers.

Tupper Labs main building

Tupper Lab entrance

Tupper Labs, Panama City

The Tupper Labs

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City is housed in a former-hotel building called Tupper Labs, after Earl Silas Tupper (see photo of bust), of Tupperware fame. It is in Balboa, bordering on Caledonia (the Panama City “ghetto”), and near the Museum of Contemporary Art. While lab space is not overwhelming, it is a modern facility with a conference center, library, and cafeteria. Tuesdays are the busy days, when researchers stationed in Gamboa and the Barro Colorado Island come back from the field.

Lab work for my project will take place here, as I require a mass spectrometer to measure the foliar phosphorus levels in my tree seedlings. The Fortuna "lab" will consist of a table and entirely of materials I take with me. But more on that later.