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One month and two days after the Canal initiation, we traversed back the familiar route, this time coming from the Pacific side.
Our ship’s canal appointment is at 02:00. More than a dozen ACP (Autoridad del Canal de Panamá) cable crewmembers came aboard shortly after that to secure the ship with cables at the entrance of the canal locks and release it at exit points. All but four men in the canal crew were awake for the few minutes now and then that required them to do a little bit of work during the six or so hours they were aboard the ship. The rest staked out niches on the deck and immediately went to sleep. In the morning, they rolled up their sleeping mats, stuffed them in the bags, waved goodbye to me, and left. All received full pay for a good night sleep on the job, perhaps even with overtime because today is November 3, Panamá Independence Day from Colombia.
I do not fault the canal cable workers for their careless attitude toward their job; the blame should rest with the ACP authority who decided that 16 persons are needed for eight hours on a job that requires only four to do in 15 minutes.
On land, all the canal workers who sat in the front of the lock’s locomotives to watch for obstacles were also sleeping soundly during the entire time we went through Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks. I am sure accidents do not happen often on the tracks, but since the job is to watch out for the unforeseeable, shouldn’t the watchmen at least be awake just for image’s sake? The last time we went through the canal was in the daytime, all watchmen had their nose buried in the newspapers, not one person cared enough to show a perfunctory glance at the tracks. Leave a Comment
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English is spoken as a second language and the Panamanian people are among the most friendly in the world. The infrastructure is first-world, including excellent roads,a sophisticated business sector, the second largest Free Trade Zone in the world and a banking center that holds more than 100 banks.
come and see me Leave a Comment
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Talk about making the most of being in a foreign country. I formed and created a reggae style band that we named "Zona Media," meaning that half of us were from the Canal Zone and half of us were not. I was the lead singer, and played most horn parts. A few months after this pic was taken, we added a trumpet and a tenor saxophone to add to the depth of our reggae.
We were played on most radio stations, to include Super Q, Radio 10, Patatus and La Super Estacion. We also played many nightclubs that allowed live bands. It was so neat to hear my own voice on the radio. It was also a blast to see people dancing to music we were creating.
I miss those days alot. We drank for free, were invited everywhere, and accepted/contributed to the music culture of another country. We always say "in America, everyone is guaranteed 15 minutes of fame." I had mine already, but oddly enough I didn't have it in America at all. Thank you Panama for giving me a chance.
I am told from time to time our songs are still requested and played on Radio 10. Would love if anybody in Panama City could verify this. Leave a Comment
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Panama has exotic tropical rainforests, cool gorgeous mountain refuges, Caribbean-style beaches, seven living Indian cultures, a pretty U.S.-style capital city, historic venues ( Columbus and Balboa both came to Panama) adventure tours, diving, rafting, kayaking- not to mention one of the world's engineering marvels- The Panama Canal.
people that will hug you plenty Leave a Comment
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on November 23, 2006
on July 17, 2004
on May 10, 2004
