Panama Canal Trivia

Did you know they are planning to widen the Panama Canal? The citizens voted last year and the votes were tallied and the Panama Canal will be expanded to allow bigger vessels access. All I could think about while I was visiting the Canal was how my dad would love to see this-he is such a history buff. Did you know that the US uses the canal more than any other country, and China is close behind. There are 3 locks that barges must pass through to go from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. And did you know that it would take approximately 5,800 trucks/or 570 Boeings/ or 18 trains to accomadate the same cargo that the average barge carries?

San Blas Islands

You know the microsoft screen saver on your computer with the palm tree on the island in the middle of the pristine ocean??? Yeah, I was there. I think it was one of the most beautiful places I have been in my life. I traveled to Panama over Semana Santa and took a small plane to the San Blas islands, about half an hour from Panama City. There I learned about the Kuna Yala, an indigenous community, who live on more than 300 islands off the Atlantic coast of Panama. When a girl gets her first menstrual period, she goes through a ceremony where her hair is cut and she is given her traditonal dress. Most of the women also wear a gold ring through their septum and beads on their ankles and wrists that they call chakiras. Most of the women only speak the indigenous Kuna language, but the men speak Kuna and Spanish. They are fishermen who paddle around in wooden boats carved out of enormous tree trunks. I ate fresh fish (corvina, and tuna) and rice for every meal. The Kuna have their own laws, own police and immigration agents and a chief in every village. They don't believe in prison and are only allowed to drink on special days that have been set aside. Most Panamanians have not visited the islands, however you will find tourists from every country imaginable. The Kuna have grown accustomed to the influx of tourists and charge $1 for each photo taken. They embroidery intricate designs with bold colors on fabric and also carve boats and statues out of wood.

Soap and the 3 T´s

Before leaving the house make sure you have the following:
Soap-because none of the bathrooms have it. It doesn´t make it into the budget here, so I just carry a little bottle with me everywhere...which leads me to my first T...
Toilet paper-also not important enough to make it into the University budget. Always put a wad in your pocket before heading out the door.
Toothbrush-Oral hygiene is very important here. As my friend told me, I have a toothbrush in my car, in the shower and in my backpack. Amazing. I always see people brushing their teeth in the bathroom.
Textmessaging-You always try to avoid talking to someone in person here. First send a textmessage. It is super cheap, and you can do it wherever you are, waiting for the bus, in class when you are bored, in the car, on the plane, when you are sad, when you are mad...

Un día....

Wake-up around 6 am and after a shower have some fresh fruit. Right now cantelope is in season. My Portuguese class starts at 8 am but I usually wait for the bus 30 minutes to an hour on Mondays because the traffic is so bad. It costs less than 50 cents to ride the bus and I get there in 15 minutes. I greet my classmates when I enter the room, even if I get there late and the teacher is talking, because it is respectful here. Class is always very interactive and we do work in parejas (partners) all the time. Class finishes at 10:30 so sometimes I will go have a coffee with some friends at the soda (cafeteria) or I will hit the computer lab. Most businesses and banks close for luch 12-1:00 everyday. I heat up my food at the soda after standing in the microwave line for 10 minutes and enjoy delicious homemade beans and rice and squash and fresh cheese. I study in the library with my friend Andres who is majoring in Chemistry. Most costa ricans have a merienda at around 3pm of coffee and some snack like tortillas with cheese. The campus is beautiful so I usually study outside under the shade of a tree. On Thursday´s I go to the Roteract meeting at 8pm and they usually hang out at a bar afterwards to sing Kareoke or catch a bite to eat. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I run with Eleazer, who is a neighbor in his 60´s . He is trying to show me all of Costa Rica on foot. Last Tuesday we took a bus to Santa Elena and ran home along a beautiful trail that was adorned with mango and fig trees, and stray dogs lying in the shade. I used to watch the telenovela Betty la Fea with Grace everynight before going to bed, but the series finished so I usually try and have a mini English lesson with Grace before going to bed. Most of my classes are on Saturdays: Semantics of Text; Strategy of Translation; Terminology and Lexicography and Spanish Syntax and Grammar.

Roteract

Do not retreat into your private world,

That place of safety, sheltered from the storm,

Where you may tend your garden, seek your soul,

And rest with loved ones where the fire burns warm.

To tend a garden is a precious thing

But dearer still the one where all may roam,

The weeds of poison, poverty, and war,

Demand your care, who call the earth your home.

To seek your soul is a precious thing,

But you will never find it on your own,

Only among the clamor, threat, and pain

Of other people´s need will love be known.

To rest with loved ones is a precious thing,

But peace of mind exacts a higher cost,

your children will not rest and play in quiet,

While they still hear the crying of the lost.

Do not retreat into your private world,

There are more ways than firesides to keep warm;

There is no shelter from the rage of life,

So meet its eye, and dance within the storm.

-Kathy Galloway

La Gloria

The beauty of Costa Rica is indescribable!! This weekend I traveled to a little town called La Gloria about 2 hours from the city. We spent the whole weekend swimming in the river, riding horses and driving around in the jeep. I now know what 4 wheel drive is meant for. You would not believe what we drove through. I think my motto for life after this year will be ´NO FEAR´. The embankments that we drove up and the terain that we crossed was nothing I had seen before. We traveled mostly on red dirt roads and across rivers and under bridges because they were unsafe to cross. I felt like a pinball machine bouncing back and forth in the car as it tried to avoid huge potholes in the road. We were surrounded by lush green mountains that touch the sky and rainbow colored parrots flying in the sky above. Did you know that parrots in the wild are never alone but always with their mate. We encountered the red bitting ants, and got a little too close for comfort to a poisonous snake (terciopelo) that was on the path to a waterfall we swam in.

Pato

My Rotary counselor´s name is Ronald Garcia Solano, but you can just call him Pato. That´s short for duck in English as in Daffy Duck. Here in tikolandia, as my professor likes to call Costa Rica, everyone has nicknames, sometimes endearing, but most of the time a name that plays off of some physical charateristic that the person has. For example if you are skinny, your nickname might be gorda (fatty). And usually the nicknames are used so frequently that the person´s real name is not known. So the lady down the block is named Macha (Blondie) and one of the director´s at school is named Gata (Cat) because she has green eyes. And on the phone, all you hear is mi amor, mi vida, mi cielo, (my love, my life, my sky).
My counselor works in the advertising business. He has been in the Rotary club for 15 years now. The Rotary Club has seen him through some very hard times. The commaraderie, the brotherhood as he likes to call it, is what Rotary is all about. He is currently the President of the Club in Alajuela, which has approximately 20 members. Some of the projects they have completed in the past have been making the sidewalks in their city accesible for wheelchairs, distributing school supplies to needy children, and establishing microloans to the poor who want to start their own businesses. Ronald is a connesieur(spelling)? in meats, loves to Barbeque. He drives a 4x4 jeep, which is great for avoiding all the potholes here, and he loves the local beer which is known as the Imperial. He lives with his mother and loves to babysit for his 2 nieces for whom he bought princess diaries with a locket and key. They sat down and taught me all the Spanish names of the Disney princesses(Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, etc). You never know when this information might come in handy. Don´t you love the picture of Pato with his apron that reads, ¨Boss of the BBQ¨.