Vlad Is Back!

And, yes, I am that happy.

I picked him up yesterday from the airport in Bocas Town, complete with two bags stuffed with boat goodies. Despite all the boat parts, he made it through Panamanian customs without even a second glance, probably due to the collared shirt my mom sent him and his secret weapon, which is so crafty it deserves its own blog post.

He even survived another cab ride in Panama City. In order to get from the main airport in PC to the smaller regional airport that takes you to Bocas, you have to brave a $30 cab ride through, from what Vlad says, some unbelievably intense traffic. He describes it as like driving in Miami multiplied by Central America. Evidently, his cab driver was barreling down the shoulder of the highway at 160 kilometers an hour in an attempt to bypass the gridlock. You know it's bad when your cabby buckles his seatbelt before you even get out of the terminal.

I'm so excited that he's back, and even though we have a boatload of boat work to do maybe I can convince him to go swimming instead.