Day 25 - February 23

Monday, we picked up Scarlett for a girls' day (plus Kiefer… who was actually very invested in this plan) and headed into the city for a chocolate-making class.

We weren’t even sure we had the right place because the door was locked, and we just stood there awkwardly like tourists who had already messed up. Thankfully, someone quickly opened it and let us in — and immediately the smell hit.

The kind of smell that makes you want to eat chocolate even if you just ate.

The display chocolates also looked both delicious and expensive, which felt very on brand.

Scarlett was our official translator and tour guide for the day. She was very excited to escape the littles… but admitted she didn’t actually know where anything was anymore 😂
Still — excellent translator, questionable GPS.

Kiefer, however, was thrilled. He now refers to Scarlett as his new best friend, and the two of them were basically inseparable the entire day.

The class itself was actually really interesting.
They walked us through the entire process, starting from the cocoa pod and fruit all the way to finished chocolate.

We got to sample the fruit around the bean — the instructor told us to suck on it. It was sweet and really nice!

Kiefer chewed it.

Immediate regret.

He did not enjoy the bitter seed in the middle at all.

I knew chocolate started bitter, but I had no idea how long it takes to become smooth chocolate. They stir it for up to 48 hours before it ever becomes edible candy. Forty-eight hours! I can’t even commit to stirring dinner for four minutes without wandering off.

Then the fun part — we made our own chocolate bars. We each added whatever ingredients we wanted… except Kiefer, who very seriously chose to keep his completely plain.

Afterwards, we did a chocolate tasting paired with prosecco (very civilized, very adult moment), and the kids got hot chocolate since they were obviously not invited to the prosecco portion of the event.

Afterwards, we went hunting for a market so I could buy a mola.

Tiffany was confident Scarlett would find it no problem.
Scarlett was less confident in reality.

We wandered for quite a while, texted for directions, and eventually found it — a whole area of vendors selling molas.

For anyone who doesn’t know, molas are traditional handmade textile art made by the Guna people. They’re layered fabric designs — the really intricate ones have multiple layers carefully cut and stitched to create patterns. They’re basically wearable art.

I got so excited that I immediately bought some from the first vendor I saw.

They were nice… but simpler than others I saw later with many more layers.

Did I still love them? Yes.
Did I learn to lap the market first? Also yes.

I didn’t haggle — partly the language barrier, partly because, honestly, they need the money more than I do.

Then began the burger quest.

First restaurant: steakhouse.
$40 plates.
No burgers.

Hard pass.

Second place Tiffany recommended: a gorgeous French restaurant.
We were dressed for “walking all day sweating,” not “wine pairing and posture.”

Also, no burgers.

We walked.
And walked.
And walked.

Finally, Paul searched online and found a place. I’m still not convinced it was actually a burger restaurant — it was Mediterranean — but they had burgers, so the kids were saved. Paul and I had shawarma, and honestly, it was delicious. Mostly, we were grateful for air conditioning and chairs.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted but made it back in time to drop Scarlett off for karate and quickly say hi to the girls and Luis. She bought sunglasses during our adventures and left them in the car — thankfully, we found them because that would have been tragic after the miles we walked.

We still had over a two-hour drive home.

On the way, Paul stopped to get cooler water, but the store didn’t have any. A man nearby offered to have us follow him to another store where we could get it. When we realized we didn’t have the right bottle, he literally pulled out a knife, cut the lid off our bottle, and poured the water in for us.

Just… kindness.

Paul gave him $10, and he told us his name was Tom, he’s a handyman, and if we ever move here, we should call him.

Panama continues to be a place where random strangers are just… good humans.

And that was Monday:

chocolate science → getting lost → mola shopping lessons → international burger hunt → roadside kindness → new best friends

We will sleep very well tonight.