whims

Sweat in Panama

I’m here! Arriving, it finally all sank it; if it wasn’t going to happen then, it probably never would. I honestly felt like I had been told as a child that someday I would go to Panama, and upon arriving that distant prophesy came true. Que emocion! It’s quite the tropical paradise. I woke up on Friday morning, the first time I’d seen the place in daylight, and allowed my eyes to soak up the splendor of all the trees in view. …then, I sat up and saw the US-style military base houses …but, that’s what this place seems so far to be: a tropical paradise that has been dominated by greedy world powers and has soaked up the consumer mentality of the plastic life we in the “north” incorporate into every aspect of our lives. La Ciudad del Saber, otherwise known by its American name “Clayton”, is home to the UN, the Nature Conservancy and other global NGOs, as well as the most expensive school in the country and as many oversized cars and SUVs as any Midwestern suburb. It is clearly a military base and gives me the same impression as the western outposts/forts I’ve visited in Nebraska: blocky single floor standard homes surrounding the central green, which is bordered by larger, more regal buildings, which obviously served a more formal purpose in the days of the gringos. We visited a new “hot spot” they’ve created for tourists and going out and I thought I was in Disneyland. Sticking out into the Pacific, this man-made peninsula (rellenos) boasts many clubs and restaurants, all with a great view of the ocean. But, their plastic canopies reveal how unnatural the experience they offer actually is. Our caretaker here in Panama, a woman who works with McGill, explained her point of view, which wasn’t very favorable and said that Panamanians want badly to be like the US. Today, we went into the city, the five of us. My goodness! I’ve never heard so much honking in my life. It was slightly obscene! We have 4 girls in our group, all wearing summer clothes…and 5 foreigners together. It seems men of this country are slightly more forward than Peruvians and that’s saying something. The trip to city also made Panama’s enormous gini coefficient (a measure of inequality) make sense. Many parts are very “developed” and they’re working to do more. The parts that reminded me of Lima at all were in much worse shape. I actually found myself missing my first Latin American home. Maybe it was poorer, but the wealth wasn’t so ostentatious, and again that’s really saying something. I still remember the Mariot’s chandelier in Miraflores. The group of roommates seems to be getting along pretty well. We’re all at very different places right now and have quite different approaches to this whole thing, but we’re working through it. It’s kind of nice to have each other, but again it’ll be harder to integrate. Apparently, I have become the go-to girl, the mama… or, at least that’s how I feel. I am the oldest, but not by much. Maybe I just feel comfortable faster. I suppose this will stay the same, though, because I’m the only one with an internship in the city; the rest are working here in the Ciudad del Saber!! Speaking of work, my supervisor asked me to be at work at 7am on Monday! Yikes! That’ll be a challenge for sure! I’m excited and a bit nervous – both good things.

One last thing: the humidity has turned my hair into something fit for Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. Who knew I had so many curls?!? J


A shot of our street.

The girls of the house.

posted by Marielly @ 5:52 PM