Mi Barrio:

Casco Viejo lies on the western side of Panama City. It is where I am currently staying in Luna's Castle Hostel. I thought I would give a small tour of the area via pictures. The neighborhood was very run down, but is being built up as and up-and-coming part of Panama. The President resides a few hundred meters away and the beautifully renovated facades and tourist cafes stand right next to squatter houses. It is an interesting juxtaposition of wealth and poverty.

A fellow Fulbrighter who stayed at the same hostel as I, showed me this view of the back^ and the front of Luna's Castle Hostel

Walking around two days ago with some friends from Luna's Castle, we found these beautiful streets.

When Captain Morgan came to ransack the city, Panamanians painted the gold alter piece seen below, black. This altar piece is the original gold.

 This is part of a church from Casco Antiguo, (below) even older than Viejo.

 Mi amigo the shaved ice man, best snow-cone around for $0.75!

 It is said that the arch seen in the picture below helped make the decision to build the canal in Panama, since the odd shape and age proved that there had been no earthquakes in the area for a long time.

More pictures and stories to come! A la playa mañana!