I had a wonderful and much needed vacation in Panama with
the best guide in the world … my lovely daughter Lila. I am her 6th visitor from the
states. We spent two nights each in
Panama City, El Valle de Anton, Gamboa, and the tiny village of El Harino. We explored city life, then gorgeous trails
in the jungle and rainforest. I spent
time with some of the people Lila serves as a Peace Corps volunteer and got a
taste of the joys and hardships she’s experiencing during her 27 months of service. I have greatly increased my understanding of
the lives of people here by witnessing their patience, generosity and love of
family.
 |
| Panama City |
 |
| Horseback riding in Valle de Anton |
 |
| Air-tram in Gamboa |
 |
| Sloth sighting in Gamboa |
Though I speak no Spanish, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her
interact with everyone, then interpreting for me. Some things just don’t make sense to us, like
how calm and serene people are even when put in extremely annoying
situations. For example, our chiva (a
pickup truck with benches in the back) allowed a man and his sons to jump off
to run errands, leaving his 6 year old daughter with us. We all sat back there baking in the heat for
a very long time. Lila knows this
family, and after we finally got going, had a fun conversation with them. Then we stopped again so they could jump off
and buy a 6 pack which they shared with us.
I had to stop being mad about the delays!
 |
| Getting on the chiva before 15+ other people joined |
No photo can sufficiently represent what it feels like to
sit on her front porch, with chickens walking by, fireflies at night, other
animals in view, neighbors yelling out greetings. At my own home I could never sit so long
doing nothing. But out here, this “nothing”
defines these people and they are calmer because they can and do sit still.
 |
| Hanging with kids from Lila's previous host families |
 |
| Playing with animals and cameras |
 |
| We were gifted a purple root vegetable called Nampi for lunch |
I will miss Lila terribly during her last six months in Panama but am relieved to witness her extremely meaningful life and the people around her who care very much about her.
 |
| Spending New Years Eve with Lila's neighbors, which involved a lot of fire crackers and the Panamanian tradition of blowing up a life-size, scarecrow-like doll |
 |
| A home vegetable garden Lila helped this young man start |
 |
| Spending more time with kids |
 |
| Eight-year-old Yeni learned how to use Lila's camera |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.