Chabas

Adventure Time!

My favorite experience from this trip so far was going to the Emberá community located along the Charges River. First and foremost, it was simply beautiful. Looking at the landscape as we gently glided along the river in a cayuco gave me a sense of tranquility and contentment, something that is hard to find at home. It was also exciting, like I was en route to a great adventure in search of hidden treasures. I contribute this last part to my overactive imagination since I am not all that adventurous in real life.

A cayuco ride through the Charges River

Eureka!

The weather was permissible so we got to go on a mini hike to the waterfall. I saw a handful of exotic-looking bugs and animals, which only further confirmed that no, I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore. After scrambling over boulders and crossing streams (okay I’m exaggerating, they were more like big rocks and puddles) we finally got to the waterfall. After sweating up a storm, sitting under the waterfall could not have been more refreshing. I normally never immerse myself in natural bodies of water, but hey, I’m only in Panama once.

Pura Vida

Like a drowned rat.

I learned that when it rains in the tropics, it REALLY rains. Growing up in LA where it’s nice, sunny, and dry pretty much all year long, I was totally unprepared for the downpour of rain. A 10-minute ride to the village in the cayuco was all it took to get us completely drenched. We tried explaining the idiom “like a drowned rat” but it was lost in translation.  

With the leader of the community

A leader of the community welcomed us into his home, showing us great hospitality and calling us chabas, which means “friends” in the Emberá language. Manuel got us to help out right away, which made me feel right at home. Divided into groups of 4-5, we peeled and crushed plantains to make patacones, cut fruit, and made plates out of huge leaves. Sitting in a hut in the middle of a tropical rain forest making lunch while listening to the rain was quite a memorable experience.

Lunch prep!

Watching the rain, thinking about pineapples.

We promised Dr. Cousineau that we wouldn’t blog about daily mundane events, like how many pineapples we ate, but I’m going to have to break that promise and rave just a little about how delicious the fruit, especially the pineapples, are here.  They are simply divine. Just. Divine. They’ve ruined my taste for pineapples for the rest of my life. Sorry Dr. Cousineau…

Lunch was a simple meal consisting of patacones, freshly caught fried fish, and fruit. It was the most delicious meal I have had here in Panama, and I doubt I will ever enjoy fried fish as much as I did that day.

While we enjoyed our lunch, the leader and his family introduced us to their culture and community. I was touched that they wanted to share so much with us, completely ignorant strangers who were at the moment leaving wet stains all around their home. Pride and love for the culture and people were evident in their speech and I could tell they wanted for us to know more. And it challenged me, what do I have to do to sound like that when delivering the Good News?

Isaiah 52:7

 Chabas. 1 John 4:7-21. 

Buenos, Panamá!

I'm not much of a social media person, but this summer has been so full of new experiences I just had to start a blog. Past is past so let's start with the present: Hello Panamá!

My journey in Panama started with checking into the hotel to find that I was sharing a room with Warren --not my roommate and also a guy. Five years of high school Spanish taught me enough tell the front desk woman, "Soy mujer. Él es hombre. No podemos compartir un cuarto." Directly translated, "I am woman. He is man. We cannot share a room." Thankfully a manager who speaks English caught sight of our bewildered faces and came to my rescue. We sorted out the rooms and I finally was able to settle down in my home for the next two weeks. While we're not sharing rooms, turns out Warren and I are in the same group and he offered to pose for this picture after hearing about our almost unfortunate rooming arrangement. Gracias Warren!

Warren. El es hombre. 

 The next day was quite busy, with an orientation at the University of Panama in the morning and a city tour in the afternoon. Manuel, our hilarious, sarcastic, and incredibly knowledgeable tour guide led us through Panama City, Old Panama, and another part of the City I don't remember. The first stop after lunch was of course the Panama Canal. It was a "Walk to Remember" moment as I stood on the Canal, one foot on the Atlantic Ocean side and the other on the Pacific side (okay, not literally but you get the picture). 

Where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic

Driving and walking through the streets was incredible -not because of the infrastructure or anything like that, but because the disparity between the wealthy and poor is so blatant. There was the ghetto of ghettos ("Only the locals of locals can survive walking in the streets, even in daylight") and then the French Embassy and its neighboring newly renovated cafes and restaurants two streets over. Manuel was explaining to us that the workings of the previous government (Panama gets a new government every five years, and the current one just started in July) allowed for the diminishing of the middle class, which in his opinion gives rise to the beginnings of a fascist/capitalistic government. Private opinions aside, it was sobering to see barefoot mothers roam through the ghost town like streets, while two streets down people enjoyed their $27 coffees in cafes situated in a picturesque French alleyway.

Trump Tower rises from the ashes of the Phoenix, or in this case, Old Panama.

Random public health trivia that I learned while walking through Old Panama: In 1881 Dr. Carlos J. Finlay of Cuba was the first person to propose that the mosquito (we know today that it's specifically the Aedes aegypti species -another trivia fact for you non public health people!) as the vector of yellow fever. When he first presented his findings, everyone laughed at him. Well he was right and they were wrong, and he got a memorial to prove it.

Memorial for Dr. Finlay

The next day (today), we went to the 24 de Diciembre community health center, where we will be working for the next two weeks. We met with the "board of directors"who are really the people in charge of the various things the health center does for the community. I am proud to say I understood about 5% of the Spanish that was spoken. Anyway, we learned so much about the work the health center does, and I am still stunned by the impact and importance this tiny health center plays in the entire community.

"Board of Directors" at the community health center for the 24 de Diciembre community

After much discussion, my group and I decided on developing a promotores training program to promote and educate the community on reducing the risk of contracting dengue fever. So far, we've formulated needs assessments for various stakeholders, created a general timeline, and have an idea of our goals and objectives. For tomorrow, we plan on interviewing a couple of directors and shadowing the vector control director, our very own Inspector Franco, as he makes his way around homes in the community.

To complete this productive day, my roommate (my actual roommate) and I braved our way to Albrook Mall by taking the subway. After 30 minutes of gesturing, pressing random buttons, and a trip to McDonald's to get change (and coffee), we finally made it to the 3-mile long mall. Allyson and I figured out the impossible ticketing machine, went 2 stops on the subway, had a jaywalking experience that was crazier than jaywalking in China, shopped, and came back in one piece. I'd say we're getting quite a taste of Panama.

We survived the public transportation. We're now Panamanians. 

Buenos noches amigos! Tomorrow the real work begins. Eep!