Thursday, July 5, 2007

Panama


Panama—
I was on duty the first day, and I did get several phone calls—two staff members had been detained by Panamanian police b/c their passports were not stamped…and we had an intoxicated student come back on board at 2am that I followed up on. This was also the day that we were tendering, which was quite an ordeal as large swells came and went with no pattern. I began my next day (Saturday June 30th) a bit sleep-deprived. Tania and I were going on a S * A * S sponsored trip to the Embera native people’s village, and I was a bus leader for the trip, which really means that I just take people’s names as they get on the bus and make sure they come back with us. Theoretically our trip was supposed to end at 4pm, at which point we were supposed to meet up with friends at the mall to travel across Panama to the Carribean side, so we had to pack for three days. This trip was amazing—it was definitely a peak experience. We drove to one of the national parks where the Embera live, we boarded 20-25 foot dug-out canoes (with motorboats), steered by the Embera. The male Embera basically wore loincloths adorned with beaded belts. We were driven up a beautiful river in an open valley with hills & jungle-y forest on both sides, and it was cool (in the temperature sense of the word). We passed by several villages on either side of the river, and saw lots of kids playing in the water & moms doing laundry in the river. Along the way we saw several bright blue & black iridescent butterflies fluttering by—they were the size of a large hand. We stopped a ways up, and then went for a gorgeous sun spackled muddy & wet hike to a large powerful waterfall. I am continuing to appreciate my new Teva shoes, which are good for hiking and designed to be water shoes as well. The first stream we crossed was only about ankle deep, and I just strode in—others carefully took off their shoes and we helped them across. The second stream was a bit higher, between ankles & knees, and so we stopped and rolled up our shorts/pants and then crossed. Oscar, Jill, Emma & Kyla were on the trip and we occasionally passed Emma up and over some of the larger rocks, and finally we got to the waterfall, at which point pretty much everyone jumped in the water in various states of dress (which was funny since for the first 30 minutes we were all being so careful about not getting wet). Unfortunately, I had left my bathing suit on the trip bus, but I was not necessarily going to be at a waterfall in a Panamanian jungle any time again soon, so I just went in because clothes do dry eventually—this is why I am wet in all the pics of me afterwards..

Afterwards we went to the actual village, where we were welcomed by a group of Emberan men playing a variety of instruments (including turtle-shell). The Embera are great weavers & bead-makers, and they had several stalls set out to sell their work. There was also a little nine year old girl (the daughter of Riquierdo, the man in the photo) who was doing Embera henna tattoos on people’s arms, which were beautifully geometric designs. The Embera also cooked us lunch—fried tilapia fish with plantains, served in banana leaf cups—best fried fish I’ve ever had! There were large wooden bowls filled with water & herbs (mint & others) to wash our hands afterwards. Throughout the course of the afternoon I was just really drawn to Riquierdo—he and I had a connection—I had bought some things from his wife, and I met his son & daughter. I gave him the photo of Tania, Jeremy & myself—my line on this is since I take so many pictures I also like to give a picture as well (yo tomo fotografias, y entonces me gusta dar una fotografia—still working out the best translation). We got to talk a bit and tell one another about each others’ families, and Riquierdo asked if I’d come back someday. As we were leaving, one of the life long learners (Gail) was really touched by the whole experience, and so she just started hugging people, and one of the women gave Gail her woven hibiscus head piece, which started Gail crying, and I teared up too, and then one of Riquierdo’s daughters gave me a hibiscus head piece, and then Tania & Jill got one as well. We were the last 4 to leave the village to get back on the canoes, and there was much to be thankful & wonder-filled for.

We had a damp bus-ride back, stopped briefly at a supermarket, handed off some of our purchases & cameras to Jill and Oscar, and then Tania and I jumped into a taxi to try to meet up with Anne, her partner Nate, and Mario at the mall to begin a journey to an idyllic beach (in our minds) on an island in the Caribbean. Amazingly enough, we were dropped off at the mall, and within a minute we found each other—meeting up without phones and with 24 hours between plans is always a minor miracle. We figured out that we shouldn’t try to head to the Caribbean at night without knowing where we were going, so we spent the night in Panama city. We went to the casca Viejo, the old colonial area of the city, and wandered around the waterfront for a while. Nate had brought a guidebook, and we found a restaurant recommendation—Manolo Carcuso (might need to change that later, basically it’s Manolo’s spiral shell). This was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life. It was a set menu with 13 courses, and it was all fresh food artistically presented. My two favorite dishes were the sashimi on a pineapple slice with a sprinkle of passion-fruit sauce, and the inverted ravioli with thin slices of roast beef wrapped around a type of heart of palm. Mario took pics of all of the courses and took notes, so I will link to his blog too. Ok, I’m going to end here so I can get this chapter posted. The next post will be about our Caribbean adventures. Much love, Lisa

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