whims

Interviews!

Yesterday I started my interviews. Just as I had expected, me going with the Cacao group in their transport was problematic. First, Gorgas is currently short on drivers, so they barely got to go. Luckily, they asked the director if he needed his driver and he was kind enough to let us go in the car normally reserved exclusively for him. We were late and the woman that I had arranged to meet in Koskuna had to wait. I only got three interviews done in end because of the delay and then, quite predictably, the Cacao group finished their work before I did and wanted to leave, which we did. There were other delays as well, such as the husband of the first woman I was interviewing, who just kept talking and talking, answering my questions. Of course, it is important to include the knowledge of men in explaining the Kunas’ understanding of Dengue, but that’s not my study. Men know more about it because they go out and women don’t really (at least in the age group I was interviewing, 65+). In two of the three interviews (the two where there were husbands still alive), the husbands felt it would have been wiser for me to interview them, because they know more. One came into room and gave my coworkers a talking to in Kuna, not angry but unhappy that I was talking to his wife not him. It’s true, the women don’t know much, but that’s what I’m here to document. Also, in the middle of the interviews, the woman I was working with as a translator got a call that her son had been robbed. Then it started to rain, so another coworker suggested that it wasn’t a great time to be walking around (I in fact prefer a bit of rain to the intense sun). Anyway, it was good we left because I was already exhausted from the three we had done. I’m going back tomorrow and I’ll have to do seven. Luckily, I’m not going on the Cacao group’s watch.

When I decided to leave at the end of July, my Spanish friend Claudia and I planned all our weekends. Last weekend was Isla Iguana, a small island in the Pacific off Peninsula Azuero. It’s a protected area, so no one lives there, except for the crabs, which are protected by law. Claudia and I left Saturday morning, and got to Pedasí, the town closest to the Island (also home to the first female Panamanian president, Miyrea Moscoso (no one likes her)) around 3. Claudia was tired, so we decided to get some food and then just hang. After amazing shrimp cebiche, I walked around the town while Claudia slept. I was expecting to find the town in full festival swing, as it was a patron saint day, but no such luck. The town was basically dead, although a political party did throw an event later that night…we did not attend. The town was sweet, though, chill, and fresh, unlike the humidity that we’ve become used to in Panama City. The next morning, we got up early and went to the Island. We were hoping to see some whales, as they’re in breeding season, but we didn’t get to. However, the island is great. To get there, you have to take boat, big surprise. It was the first time I had gone out in the ocean like that. I’ve been on a ferry in the Mediterranean Sea, but the ocean is a whole other thing. It was kind of scary, actually. The power of that massive body of water really humbled me. The boat we went out in is the kind that people take off for Europe in from Africa. I can’t imagine being in that little thing in the middle of ocean. We only had about 4 hours on the island as we had to go back for dinner in Panama City, but we did get some snorkeling in. Unfortunately, the majority of the coral off the island is dead from El Nino in ’82 and the US Army using is as target practice…awesome. There are actually craters as a reminder. Even the coral wasn’t so amazing, it was my first time snorkeling and I loved it! There were some fish, beautiful beautiful fish, like Parrot Fish. The high point was seeing a Sea Turtle!!! It made the whole trip worth it. I’m hooked on snorkeling. When we go to Kuna Yala, I’m definitely going to do it again, and there the coral is in better shape. We were supposed to go this weekend, but my coworkers haven’t been paid yet, so we’re waiting until next weekend. I think I’ll go to Chiriquí instead.

posted by Marielly @ 11:05 AM