Panamá: La Tiera de Mi Sangre

La Isla Taboga
 

Panama. Oh Panama,

You & I were bound to love each other. After all, you are the country where I first opened my eyes to this world; the country where I first took my first breaths & steps. How happy it has made me to finally see you again after all these years. I'd missed you more than I had even realized.

First of all, can I tell you how beautiful you are? I mean you took my breath away with all your vast, lush rain forests, winding rivers, abundance of beaches, array of exotic animals, high mountain tops, untamed countryside, delicious cuisine, richness in history & culture. I went from the chilly, densely vegetated mountains of Boquete to the bustling, 90 degree (plus humidity) weather of Panama City, & I loved every changing degree. You couldn't be more diverse. And so it makes sense that this eclectic girl comes from you. How truly lucky & proud I am to have been born on your soil. 

Love & always yours,
Annie




I have to say after my solo trip to Europe, my trip back home to Panama was a very different experience. In Europe I was alone, in an unknown territory, a stranger among many. And it was wonderful for those reasons. There was incredible beauty & culture to behold, but no substance. I mean don't get me wrong I met some amazing people & made great friends, but the warmth & love that greeted me in Panama was indescribable. I haven't been back in a long time & to feel the love that I did upon my return, well honestly it just melted my heart. Family & really great friends have that ability, to just make you feel at home wherever you are. To be honest it was kind of unnerving at first, because after all, I'm not accustomed to being surrounded by extended family. And boy, let me tell you, do I have extended family! Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, tiny, little nieces, step-aunts & uncles, both great-grandmothers in their mid-nineties-- great genetics for a lengthy life, eh? ;). But it didn't stop there, of course not, I had to meet all the neighbors & the neighbors friends. It was all so different than the States. And oh so wonderful. Because everyone greets one another, both strangers & friends. And if you are friends or close neighbors, well hell, you are family. This is the substance I was talking about. The richest experiences one can have are when you truly connect with other people. It doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing, it's the 'with who' that makes for wonderful memories. Studies have repeatedly found that the number one aspect of true happiness is a sense of belonging, either in a family, with friends or in the community. I had this feeling the moment I stepped off the plane.

The obvious magic of travel is experiencing new & novel things. From the crazy 8-hour bus ride from Panama City to Boquete, to the ferry ride to La Isla Tobago where vehicles are not allowed, to the constant competitive crowing of roosters in the country side-- side note: did you know they crow at all hours of the night? Not just at dawn to helpfully wake you up as most sources would have you believe, but whenever they god damn please & once one rooster crows, the others of course have to rise to the challenge. This city girl had no idea. You also won't go hungry in a Panamanian house hold, that's for sure. I was there for two weeks & I only ate out in a restaurant three times. I've had entire days in SF where every meal is eaten out! This is how it works, you show up at someones house, they greet you with big hellos & hugs, & then ask you if you've eaten, sometimes already fixing you a plate before you've answered! I repeat you will not go hungry there! You would have thought I had my share of plantains, beans & fried eggs while I was down there, but I came back home & those three items were definitely on my grocery list.

Some of the incredible sights I saw were the old ruins of Panama Viejo (the old capitol city of Panama), which was the first Spanish colonized city in the Americas & it was later plundered by pirates! Captain Morgan being one of them. In Casco Viejo there was also a solid gold alter that had originally been in the old capitol city which was salvaged only because the priests thought to paint it black so the pirates wouldn't take it. I mentioned La Isla Tobago earlier, which is an island about an hour ferry ride away from Panama City. I fell in love with this little island. It was like right out of a dream. The houses are all on the hillside, like you see in the coast side cities of the Mediterranean. The other half of the island is untamed jungle that looks like something right out of Jurassic Park. There are no cars allowed on the island & Internet connection is horrible, so it really is like a little place lost in time. It's known as the island of flowers for the hundreds of varieties that bloom there & whose fragrance fills the air every Spring. The island is also home to the second oldest church on the western hemisphere. Talk about history! And back on the mainland, in areas like Casco Viejo, you really do see the massive transition Panama is going through. Right next to the decrepit, run down houses are newly erected condos, hotels, boutiques, restaurants & art galleries where the influence of the economic boom & the wealthy can truly be seen. Not all of it is good, though. I myself tend to prefer the older & antique looking structures to the monotonous, bland facades of the newer building; my opinion being that they they lack history & character. There's also the environmental aspects that are quickly changing the natural beauty of the country. Hydroelectric plants have gone up along the rivers to supply water to an ever expanding population. The indigenous people have put up a fight, as they should, because the rivers are slowly but surely shrinking. It's the story of any nation whose economy & population has a dramatically risen. Panama has changed drastically in the last decade, I can only imagine what it will look like in a few years. I don't plan on staying away for very long this time, so I'm sure I will be witness to a lot of the new developments.

I'm already thinking of what I want to see next. On the list is Bocas de Torro, which are picture-perfect islands near the coast of Costa Rica where one can pursue a variety of water sports, like surfing, fishing, snorkeling, dolphin & whale watching; also on the list is the BioMuseo, a museum dedicated to Panama's ecological diversity, which was still under construction this past trip; on the list as well is the Archipelago de San Blas & the rain forests of the Darien Provence, where numerous amounts of wildlife can be found, including many endangered species. I can't think of a better indicator of an incredible trip then when you're already planning when you'll go back. I feel truly blessed to be from such a beautiful country & even more so to have people who eagerly await my return.


The old church bell from Panama Viejo, the city burned down by pirates.


 



Cocoa fruit. Chocolate comes from this?!
 

Roosters: they're ALL ego



The second oldest church in the western hemisphere



A beautiful friend I made. Her name was Achipoli

 

City by the sea



 

Weird plants everywhere!




Panama viejo: A city once here stood. Pirates are destructive.

 

Baby Moo

 

 

 

BioMuseo in its construction phases

It's truly a jungle out there!

Street art. Those god damn pirates are everywhere!

The skyline

I wanted to bring these two back home with me. Don't think I would have made it through customs.

The old charm of Casco Viejo

Destruction really can be beautiful

A country heavily influenced by faith & religion

Casco viejo getting a face lift

 

 

Panamanian sun sets pack a serious punch.



 

Cheers to Health, Happiness & Being Ballsy!

Just one of the many beautiful sights I was lucky enough to see this year.

 

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better"

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

  

So it's been FAR too long since I've written. Well I actually write almost everyday, but most of my inner most thoughts & feelings shouldn't be broadcast to the general public ... oops, have I said too much? Crap, I have the tendency to do that.

So where have I been you might ask? You might guess somewhere boring & not worth writing about, but that guess would be way off mark. I took a pretty big trip by myself in July to Paris & Barcelona where I couch surfed & navigated my way through the city of lights & later embraced my inner-gypsy in Barcelona. That trip was amazing, because it really proved to myself (& friends & worried family members) how ballsy I can be, I have the tendency to underestimate myself. I should know better by now :s. I mean c'mon, it's Paris & Barcelona! How could the trip not be ridiculously fantastic?! There were a lot of elements leading up to that trip that caused me to doubt whether I should go or not-- I had just landed a job with benefits, my finances weren't in the best order & I was going across the Atlantic Ocean to two countries I didn't know much about except from the reading I'd done in my Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring book. I didn't even have the luxury of people I'd met before, nor did I know a lick of French!

But hey, life is short & we're bound to regret the opportunities & chances we don't take far more than the ones we do. That trip was inspiring in many ways, & that alone deserves it's own entry, but I came back & felt moved, enough so to quit that job with the benefits, which ended up being pretty lame, actually. Yes, benefits are great, but you know what's better? Respecting where you work, admiring who you work for & being able to evolve because of the work you do. Makes for a happier, healthier life. And that may even mean you won't need the benefits provided by the lame job that stresses you out, but you show up to everyday anyway because you're afraid of not having benefits, which in turn stresses you out more to the point of exhaustion or illness. Ahhhh!!! It's a vicious cycle. But hey a sound mind creates a sound body. True story.

The latest chapter was my trip back home to Panama. Now that, that place certainly deserves it's own entry & it will get one. It really did feel like going back home, but to a home I never knew before. Not to get too sentimental or deep, but getting in touch with your roots & where you come from just grounds you in a way nothing else can. It felt like a missing puzzle piece had finally been snugly put back where it belonged. I've gone back before, but this time was different, because I'm different. The prior visit was my senior year in high school, I'd hardly had any life experience & being raised in the States really does create a sense of culture shock. But give me about a decade & I've seen my fair share of the world & dare I say, become more cultured, but also much more street smart. I've become savvy to the fact that though something can be incredibly different or even strange, it doesn't make it any less beautiful. In fact it's because it does take you out of your element that you can fully appreciate it. Experiences like that have the potential to change you & your life. All I can say to those opportunities is, Bring It! There will be more to come, sooner than later. It's fantastic to be back ;). Cheers!

It's 2013. Time to make some sparks fly!