reasons to love panama


1. the lack of professionalism. that may sounds like a bad thing. and yes, it does really frustrate me when people show up to a meeting an hour late or the 3rd grade teacher tells me i look sexy. but something happened the other day to make me like this aspect of panamanian culture. i was in my provincial capital and there was a political rally going on for one of the presidential candidates. there were all these people in a crowd and very large speakers set up. blasting what you may ask? blasting reggaeton. now if you know me at all, you know there was a big smile on my face. and that got me to thinking...imagine a bush or clinton rally blasting 50 cent.

2. recklessness. i know i have written before about the amazingness of a machete. but here's another story that warms my heart. i was walking around a small beach town the other day and saw the 2 cutest little boys of about 3 or 4. they were picking up and eating mangoes that had fallen off the trees that line the dirt road. all very cute, no? then along came their 5 year old brother, swinging a machete at them as their dad sat nearby and said nothing. hmmm...

3. another story of recklessness. back in january i was sitting on the front porch of my host family's house reading a book. my host brother and his cousins were playing out front. and by playing, i clearly mean lighting things on fire. they climbed up a tree and lit it on fire. all the dry palms began to burn, and then dry branches. the fire started to get pretty large when the kids all decided to go swimming down at the river and took off. and there i was, a paranoid little gringa with a potential forest fire on her hands, thinking what am i supposed to do? and then the answer came to me. clearly, i was supposed to ignore it.

so anyway, panamanians are are fearless, i just don't give a $%@*, sort of people. sometimes it drives you crazy, but sometimes you really admire it. or, you're just entertained.

the [bugs] come out at night.

last night as i sat in my house i realized it was under attack. around every light bulb was a swarm of 10-15 bugs. there were also various bugs on the floor, many of which i have never seen before. every 5 minutes i was sweeping them out of the house until i realized i was getting no where. as i fell asleep i heard the constant hum of hundreds of little wings flapping. it could only mean one thing...

summer is officially over. sunny, breezy days are no more. back are the hot and humid mornings and heavy storms. soon, i'll begin to wake up early every morning to check the sky and see if i can wash my clothes. walking anywhere will mean being soggy and covered in mud. everything i own (and i mean EVERYTHING: books, underwear, rice, my bed...) will smell like mold. and with winter come all of these bugs. my legs will once again look like a polka-dot mess. (see one of my posts from november to view a foto of such legs.) basically, life will get harder.

the summer was always my favorite season back home and here i love it even more. summer was like being on vacation from life. i forgot what it was really like to live in the tropics last august-december. now, i am begining to remember again. and it makes me miss home. it makes me remember how lucky we are there. only in coming to live in panama did i realize that living in the tropics isn't always like living in paradise. sometimes (if not most of the time), it's like living in a big swamp.

p.s. i still love it.

and here are pictures from the school's 81st anniversary celebration in my town.

the night before, they have a parade and all the kids have "torchas." they're paper lanterns with a candle inside. some start flaming a bit. kids and fire. very safe.

some of the 7th grade girls at the parade.

day of the anniversary. the conjunto folklorico performing.

girls dancing.

tamales the coop made to raise money.

as promised, more pics




mom at the mall








the beach near my house








on the interamerican - 3 watermelon for $1!








getting indiginous tats








a diablo rojo (bus) in panama city