After a whirlwind trip to Panama to attend the inauguration of the new canal, I am back in Costa Rica. The celebration at the canal was clearly over the top.
Along with my partner, Buddy, I spent three days in and around the canal in pursuit of the story about the new expanded part of the canal. We attended the inauguration ceremonies at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal–the end of the canal next to Panama City. There was also a full blown ceremony on the Atlantic side as well. The press bus for that one left at 5:30 in the morning. Our press advisor Monica, said that the festivities on the Atlantic (Caribbean) side were primarily for the folks that worked on the new canal, so I opted to stay in bed a bit longer. As it turned out, that was a good call.
The ceremony on the pacific side was clearly over the top. It was complete with a stage show that reached a crescendo just as the giant ship appeared. The music and fireworks continued as it slowly moved into the lock chamber right in front of the assembled multitude. I have no idea how many people were there, but I am guessing that, in the area of the lock chamber, there were in excess of 100,000 people. I will try to find an accurate figure, but no matter what the number, I can tell you, and my videos will show you, that there were people as far as the eye could see.
During the celebration, I spent most of the day in the press area, but on more than one occasion, I ventured into the sea of humanity that extended the length of the lock chamber–about two and a half city blocks long. I wanted to get a feel for what the average attendee was experiencing. As it turned out, I actually ran into a friend of mine from Canada, and some other people that I knew from my days of living in the Panama Canal. I did a couple of interviews—one in Spanish, and one in both English, and Spanish. I also did an interview in Mandarin Chinese. That was clearly a one way interview. I asked a single question in English, but once the fellow started speaking Chinese, I was totally lost! He could have been making snide remarks about the fellow holding a camera in his face, but I did get an invite to visit him in his native country, Taiwan. Apparently, I was exhibiting Taipei behavior.
The purpose of the fiesta at the canal was the inauguration of the new locks, and the widened waterway of the canal. It was primarily for the people of Panama, but also for people around the world as well. The Canal is indeed a national treasure for Panama, but it is also important to the rest of the world, because the Panama Canal is where so much of the worldwide commerce passes. The more efficient the canal, the less expensive many of the goods we buy—at least that’s the theory.
With regard to the worldwide broadcast of the Panama Canal Festivities, much of the world was apparently short changed. As a result, many people do not know what actually happened. That is a real shame. The dual language broadcast (English and Spanish), was a great concept, but they had some technical difficulties and it kept cutting-out. The dual language device that I was using did not work well. It might have been a part of the same broadcast going out to the world. Thankfully, I have video footage of all the important events, which I will share as fast as I can process it.
For those in attendance at the new lock chambers, the moment that the giant ship appeared was dramatic and emotional, especially when the biggest ship to ever transit the canal appeared. That was no small item—pun clearly intended. My partner, Buddy and I were both impressed with the size of the ship, as well as the ceremony. It was all well done, and except for the President, the speeches were reasonably short. I must admit that I zoned out when the Prez was speaking. A politically oriented speech in my native language of English has me running for the door, in Spanish it sends me to another dimension. My mind wandered, and for a short time, I followed it, but I digress.
Having a press pass allowed me access to much of the area during the celebration. A couple of times I ventured out into the crowd. Both times I did interviews, but mostly I hung-out with Buddy, and the other members of the media, in the two large press tents. That location also happened to be where the free food and drink was to be found. It seemed like a good place to pass the time, whenever there was a lull in the festivities.
In addition to the two big tents, the press area had three levels of risers that permitted us to be above the crowd. That gave us an unrestricted view of the area and the important events taking place at the locks. Media from several countries attended, but given the magnitude, and the importance of the event, the number of countries in attendance was less than one might imagine. Notably absent were representatives from the USA, and where was FOX, or CNN? Where were and of the mainline U.S., or Canadian Media outlets? I am inclined to believe that there might have been some representation from the USA that I missed, but I clearly never saw it. Nevertheless, the inauguration was a big gala event, and as fast as we can edit the incredible amount of raw footage that we took, we will start releasing videos of the entire event on our YouTube channel. Most of the videos will be short, usually about three minutes, or less in length, so it will not require much of a commitment to watch each of them. In addition, Buddy and I also plan to produce a full length video utilizing all the footage from the canal event. We have so much video it will take time to select and edit the best shots. Having lived in the canal, and made many transits, 29 in all, I am the canal expert on our team. However, Buddy will also be offering his perspectives as well.
I lived in the canal for two years, and over the years, having made 29 transits from sea to shining sea, I know some things about that unique place, so if you are curious about something, please do not hesitate to ask. That is what the comment section is all about. If I don’t know the answer to a specific question, I probably know who to ask to get the answer.
When it comes to explaining the event, my words can only go so far. The rest of the story is in the videos. The first one, a teaser video, is done and uploaded. CLICK HERE
Our plan is to upload at least one video a week until we are out of material…or energy, whichever comes first, so stay tuned, and thank-you for your interest.
—Jim Sayers, Managing Director
