whims

7 days

One week left. That’s not much. I’m on the final leg and still feel like I have quite a bit ahead of me.

I finished my interviews last week with the Kuna. Generally, they went well. I felt very welcomed and everyone agreed to do the interview, which apparently is uncommon for Kunas. Obviously, the fact that I was accompanied by Kunas that already knew the majority of the people I spoke with (not the most randomized way of selecting participants) help a lot. One family even served me lunch one day and another sold me a mola. The woman that served us lunch was a founder of one of the communities and laughed to herself that if I were a Latina they probably wouldn’t receive me so well, that’d they’d be more inclined to reject me. That’s quite interesting and one of the few examples in the world when being American helps improves how people treat you. I’m not sure about this, but the Americans may have helped the Kuna in their rebellion. Anyway, the interviews are done. Today I went and spoke with the inspectors in Paraiso, the last of my official interviews. At this point, I’m sure I could have done a better job… but it was a learning process and I’m going to produce something of decent quality, so I’m happy with it. I made it work.

Beaches. This is the best part of the Panama experience. Last weekend I went with a group of people from the UN to a beach in the Caribbean. It was amazing, the best place I’ve been in Panama so far. The water was finally that color that everyone associates with the Caribbean, the turquoise/blue/green. Phenomenal. And the people were wonderful, so open and kind. It was exactly what I needed. It seems like I’ll go to another beach this weekend, either to another island or to a beach resort. And, I’m actually going to go with people from McGill. *gasp. I’m looking forward a final beach visit. I was so looking forward to some good beach time this summer and I actually have managed to get a bit of a tan.

Dog. Right. So after so many ups and downs, I’ve decided not to keep her. There is a woman who wants to take her and so I’ll let her. My parents don’t want her in the house. It’s not wise for me as a whimsical traveler. And, my roommate in Montreal finally said she doesn’t want her. Okay, it’s not possible. It’s too bad, but I feel good about this woman and am happy to have given Vera a better life. In the end, that’s the whole point.

The last week has put me in more contact with good people. It’s made me realize what a pity or how unlucky the situation with my peers from McGill was. It wasn’t just that we were so different and probably wouldn’t have been friends otherwise, which made for mediocre encounters at best, but also because we were stuck out in the Ciudad del Saber, in one house, we overdosed of each other and grew even more distant. On top of that, no one really took any of us by the hand to show us Panama, which happened all the time for me in Peru. Now, people are saying to me, “Oh, if only you had more time, I’d invite you to my house for dinner.” I guess there are three conclusions to be drawn from all of this 1)Things take time 2)The situation was just unlucky and 3)The people you experience things with make or break the experience. It’s been a challenge for me here socially and I’ve had to rethink somethings about who I am and why I am how I am. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt socially outcast and even though it’s not a nice thing, the reflection process it inspires is.

I’m looking forward to my last week and then to being in Nebraska for a month. I’ll get to spend quite a bit of time with my family, which I love.

posted by Marielly @ 9:18 PM