It is funny how I’ve been in Panama City for a week now and
it feels both like forever and no time at all. My home-stay with a couple in the neighborhood of Villa de las Mercedes is perfect and homey. Here’s
the front of the house, the view of the sunset from their street, and their lovely patio. We spend most of our time out there
because it’s much cooler!
After dinner we usually watch TV for a while, and it’s
interesting because they often watch Italian programs, since Tina is Italian
(she promised me I’d learn some Italian words before I left). Of course, the
food is superb (As her husband said, “Si tenga sangre italiana, siempre puede
cocinar bien.”) This was our first dinner at their house: rice, beans, and
zucchini. Since then we’ve had the best pasta and cheese I’ve ever had, plus
some new root vegetables, yucca and another called “napo,” whether that’s the
Italian or Spanish word for it I have no idea but it is delicious!
Here are the other inhabitants of our house: a timid and beautiful cat, Danny (who Tina addresses as if she were a human, which is adorable), and two “loros” who appear innocent enough in this picture but boy can they make a ruckus when they want something!
We get on the Metrobus as a group every morning at 7:30 to
go to classes at USMA (La Universidad Católica Santa Maria de Antigua). To get
to the bus stop, we need to cross a street called “Tumba Muerto.” Yes, I cross
a street called “Dead Tomb” every morning. Walking to the bus stop is always
interesting because of the amount of cat-calls we get on the way. They are
common here and are called “pirpopos.” They’re harmless and amusing, but a
little annoying! The Metrobus is pretty self-explanatory, but it’s slowly
replacing the traditional Diablos Rojos (school buses that blast music and are
painted with intricate murals and graffiti). There are still some left and
we’re all determined to ride one at some point once we’re more acquainted with where
we’re going. One day my Metrobus was super late and I was very close to getting
on this Diablo Rojo with its music blaring and Mohawk-ed driver, but I didn’t
have exact change. But one of these days…
Practicing my Spanish skills have been a welcome challenge.
I can’t even begin to image what some other students in our program are feeling
not having any background in Spanish language, but Panamanians speak fast even
for me! In my opinion, the language barrier is one this that makes it
especially difficult to feel completely comfortable here. No matter how
comfortable I feel at our home stay, every time I walk out onto the street I
feel clueless. By now I know my way around the neighborhood, the university,
and the local mall, but I think it’s the stares from the locals that prevent me
from feeling like I know what I’m doing. Being short and brunette helps me
blend in and I can pull off being Panamanian for a solid 2 minutes in
conversation before they realize I’m a fraud. It’s great to practice my Spanish
language skills, but I always feel inadequate. Simple things like buying stamps
and mailing letters become a group effort: it took about six of us to figure
out how the stamp worked (apparently licking stamps is not a thing in Panama
and you stick it in this container of blue goo instead). I also ended up making
an embarrassing mistake when I was introduced to the priest at the parish of
our homestay parents:
Priest: Good afternoon, I’m glad you are here. How do you
like the church?
What I wanted to say: “Thank you, the church is beautiful.”
What I actually said: “Thank you, I am beautiful.”
But, as my host mom told me, “Making mistakes is to learn.”
So I’m definitely learning a whole lot!
Classes are long and it feels like high school again, waking
up at 6am and staying in class from 8am until 4pm, but the professors are
interesting and personable. On Wednesday we had a nice break from the monotony
of time spent in class with a visit to Panama La Vieja (the original location
of Panama City before it was destroyed by pirates in 1671) for our Human
Ecology class. The ruins of the old city were especially striking against the
backdrop of the new skyscrapers (and a gas station). It was interesting to see
how Panama only recently decided to preserve and restore it – this road was
built straight through the ruins of an old convent in the 1970s!
Thursdays classes were normal classes, but today we visited
the Panama Canal with our Spanish class and El Parque Nacional Metropolitano
for our Tropical Ecology class. The canal was incredible to see up close – here
are some pictures of the locks in action and a boat going through!
The national park was beautiful (a bit of a hike, but the
view was well worth it at the top)!
I spent the rest of the day finishing homework and packing
up for our weeklong stay at Loma Bonita, a rural village about 3 hours away
from the city. There is no electricity there and I’m both excited and nervous
to be without my computer and internet and lighting for a week! We are staying
with homestay families there and I can’t wait to meet them (although I’m sad to
leave Tina and Rolando for the week). Tomorrow also marks the start of Carnival,
when the entire country celebrates for 4 straight days! We’ll be visiting the
town of Penonomé one day next week to see the parade and everything so that
should be really fun! Apparently Penonomé celebrates Carnival right in the
local river! At the end of the week we leave Loma Bonita for Púrio, another
rural town in the interior, and then we return to Panama City to continue with
classes. Sorry if this post felt a little rushed - I wanted to update before I
left for Loma Bonita, but now it’s later than I’ve ever stayed up here and I
have to wake up at 6:45 tomorrow morning! I am also currently playing
hide-and-seek with a tiny bug that won’t stop crawling on my legs and I have
yet to determine if it is biting me or not (and yes, I did coat myself
thoroughly in DEET so I’m not sure why this little guy didn’t get the
memo). Hasta la proxima semana! (Until next week)
PS. Panamanian trees are super cool! Here are some of my
favorites so far :D
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