Some things you will learn in Panama if you stay a long time, depending of course on your overall experience include a roof and a ceiling can be and are essentially the same thing, you CAN fry that, the bus is never full, and ahora essentially means, maybe eventually.
There is an art to living in Panama, maybe it’s not taking yourself too seriously or maybe it’s taking yourself extremely seriously. It’s either realizing that people are going to make you wait, or making other people wait. Are you worth the wait or are they? As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I’ve realized that I am not the one worth the wait, I am always the one doing the waiting.
The first time I asked about getting my roof/ceiling two-in-one combination fixed was about this time last year, before I moved into my house. I noticed how the rain seemed to pass without much struggle from the outside to the inside of my house. Originally impressed with how much nature my home allowed to pass seamlessly through it’s barriers, this was less than impressive. The second time I asked was maybe a week after I had settled in and paid my first monthly payment of twenty dollars to live in my cozy little shack, surly I thought, this first payment of rent is sure to motivate the necessary repairs. I asked again as I realized the rainy season was coming to an end, possible after all that repairs would have been too risky if a downpour came from nowhere, better to have an extremely leaky roof than none at all. I started asking very frequently towards the end of the dry season, being assured that the repairs would be no problem, I began to imagine a hole-free roof above my head. Asking turned to dropping hints about how everything I owned was getting soaked as the rains had started again with quite a vigor. Now I sit with my feet in a puddle and the complex symphony of raindrops hitting my roof and my floor blending together seeming to sing out, “Ahora.”
My understanding of the Spanish language has recently plateaued.
“Hey Jude”
“eh Jew”
“don’t make it bad”
“don may ih ba”
“Take a sad song”
“Tay a saa esong”
“and make it better”
“an may ih bedda”
“remember to let her”
“rreremer tu le hur”
“into your heart”
“in tu jore are”
“and then you can start”
“an den jou can estar”
“to make it better.”
Tu may ih bedda.”
Juntos, “Amen.”
I finally taught the actual lord’s prayer in English after googling the words and memorizing it so I can avoid the what might have been blasphemy of teaching Beatles lyrics in prayer form.
It’s raining but it’s still hot.
I really miss going hiking all the time, luckily I recently got to go hiking with two pretty great volunteers. I am more of a tree enthusiast than a bird enthusiast, so even though I didn’t see any Quetzales (what even are those in English?) I was impressed yet again with the beauty and diversity in Panama, making a tiny country once again feel gigantic.
I’ve recently been walking around saying, “the mountains are calling and I must go,” both out loud and in my head. So I'm not sure what that means for my sanity.
I think we are our own hardest critics, but I’ve felt pretty slumpish lately both personally and as a volunteer. Luckily I also feel that I am on the upswing again and what is the fun in a life that always goes as planned. I spent most of the day yesterday in a tree watching grown men chase and wrestle cows to the ground in a muddy 20 by 20 square to give them shots and I thought to myself, there is almost certainly an easier way, but what’s the fun in that?
That’s enough metaphors for one day.
