Old Panama

Panama City is the Capitol of Panama, and it is an interesting place. The city is near the Pacific side of the Canal (everything depends on the Canal, it seems), but there are all kinds of inconvenient hills and bays around the area, so the city is spread out and divided. Also, pirates sacked the city more than once and that lead to rash decisions on where to place the government buildings, I guess.

Anyway, the Presidents house is located on a beautiful point overlooking the ocean. It's in the old district, and it's about the only place tourists should consider getting out of their cars in the old district. There are literally about three blocks that are kept up and, most importantly, have police stationed on each corner. The rest is pretty run down and slummish. They are rebuilding many of the buildings that need some updating, and touristy places, but there's a long way to go. Still, it makes for interesting views--really raw stuff, ya know? And for me, it's really RAW, too (get it? 'cause that's, like, the file format my camera uses: RAW. Heh.). 

Here are some faces I met around town. You'll notice that everyone is sitting in the shade. It doesn't help. Click through to see a few more.

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f/3.5, ISO 200.