Our last destination was the San Blas region, which is owned by this indigenous group called the Kuna Yala. They fought off the
There's only one flight a day to Porvenir, so in order to make the 6am flight, we woke up at 4am. The flight itself is only 20 min, so the whole waiting to board and take off takes longer than the time it takes to get there.
Once we touched down, we had to pay a small fee BUT they gave us this customs like stamp on a sheet of paper, almost like going to a different country but not really. As usual, we didn't have reservations, but there was a place called Robinsons Cabins in the LP. The Aussie tried to call the number but some person kept picking up and talking in a mix of Spanish and English and something else (probably Kuna). There were old men offering to take us to an accommodation (who we later found out took you to an place and then charged you more than they originally told you), but luckily there were three ppl from PC who had a reservation at Robinsons Cabins so he was on his way... apparently the number in the bible was the wrong phone number anyway.
So this smiling Kuna, whom we called Senior Robinson, agreed to take us along with the three tourists, so on the boat ride out there (which took forever because the motor was too small for the boat) the Aussie made small talk with Sr. Robinson and told him I was an anthropologist student and that I was looking for more of a cultural experience. We both thought he would just bring us to an island for an hour and that would be all the interaction I would get, but instead he said "Oh, okay! You can stay with me and my family."
So he dropped the tourists off at the small island cabins and then took us to a Kuna Village where he lived.
As we pulled up, I was winded at the sight. I think we were told that there were 1400 ppl on this one island, and 50,000 Kuna spread across the 300 small islands. And the island was TINY! I could walk across it under a minute, and around it in under 4min. Thatch huts littered the island, not to mention the litter that clung to the shore. We were told that there was no running water, just pipes from the mountains to certain huts. There weren't bathrooms, only some houses had little straw huts that jutted out over the water, and you just squatted and peed/pooped into the ocean.
Sr. Robinson bought lunch (what a nice guy!) for us at the "restaurant" and told us about some general Kuna things. The conversation continued in his home, which was one hut divided by thatch into three rooms and one kitchen. The Aussie translated everything for me again. Some Kuna know Spanish along with Kuna... and we lucked out because Sr. Robinson had to learn Spanish in order to run his business. We sat for hours in his hut as I asked all kinds of ridiculous questions... which he would then extend into a ten minute answer which the Aussie had to try to remember and translate back at the end of the ten min. I can't believe he actually did that for me, and he wasn't lazy with the translation either. I don't think I can even describe how much he had to translate for me, because Sr. Robinson was very thorough in his answers. And thank heavens because the two of us learned SO MUCH that I could probably write an honors thesis about it! Make up for not going to
The men on the island wear pretty western clothing, but the women who have gone through menstruation wear intricate ankle bracelets made of one incredibly long strand of beads. In addition to this, they wear colorful traditional clothing with these puffy sleeves. Most people must pay a Kuna if they want to take a pic of them, and since I was trying to be respectful and build rapport I just didn't take any photos. Another thing I gave up in order to maintain rapport was no drinking... alcohol (although I didn't drink much water either). Not that I was craving any more crappy Panama beer (think Bud... but worse).
We discovered that some Kuna drink, as we saw it in a "shop" on another island. Oh ya! We were on another island because we got to follow this woman around as she went around doing political campaigning. She wasn't really pushing an agenda, but really teaching people how to vote (some of the older Kuna can't read). You could tell that she truly cared, because I watched her sit and listen to this man ranting and raving about how the last campaigner came around and stole money from them and disappeared. He was going on and on, I don't know how she sat there for so long listening. The Aussie and I had to get up, and Sr. Robinson took us to see the school on the island. At some point I fell in the mud, yum. We noticed that this particular island was much more organized, bc island had burned down so some of the huts were remade with concrete floors.
When we got back to Sr. Robinsons, the kids swarmed us and began to interact with us. And when I took my hair down, they went ape shit. One of them took a bunch of my hair and shoved her face in it, not to blow her nose in it, but to smell the shampoo in it. The Aussie said it was pretty funny, and since I couldn't see it I'll have to take his word for it.
Sr. Robinson has four kids, but it seemed like half the village kids were just chillin' in there. Apparently they always come there to hang out, it's the place to be (probably because they have a TV.. that's run off of solar power!!!!!!). At one point, they started playing a soundtrack from High School Musical and all the kids knew the words. What is this movie that everyone and their father (aka T-Bubes) knows about? I can't believe it made it's way to the Kuna village! Anyway, we probably played with the kids for a few hours, and the Aussie was constantly crowded by the kids because lets face it... he's just so amiable. I think I fell for the Aussie just a bit at that moment. Just a tiny bit.
Sr. Robinson's wife made dinner for us, but they didn't eat with us. It didn't seem like meals were a communal thing, probably because there's no room for dining. There's just hammocks, that serve as couches and later at night, beds. Speaking of which, one of divisions of the hut as Sr. Robinson's room, which he gave up for us to sleep in, even though there were over 7 ppl that had to sleep in his house anyway!!!! How nice is he?! There were two hammocks, one for me and one for the Aussie. I was a little bummed I couldn't snuggle up against him, since the nights I have with him are limited, but I settled for a little hand holdage as we listened to some crazy music that played all throughout the night.
When we woke up, I realized that I really had to pee, but no one else was up and I didn't know where the bathroom was. So I went to pee by the shore which was really someone's front yard, but I didn't have a choice! The whole shore line is SOMEONE'S front yard. So as I'm peeing, this lady walks out to enjoy the sun rise and instead sees my cooter. Oooops!
Later that morning we went to pick up the tourists and snorkeled at this sunken ship site, which was so cool! The Aussie showed me this little plant thing that disappears if you stroke it. He also informed me that tourist sleeping under the coconut tree was an idiot, because the tree looked half dead and the coconuts about to fall off. Silly tourists!
As we were leaving the ship site, we saw a real isolated tstorm right over one of the islands. It reminded me of cartoons where a rain cloud follows that one single person. We traveled toward it in the little boat, through the lightening... which makes me laugh because at the lake we clear the water at the slightest rumble of thunder. The most awesome moment, maybe one of my big highlights of the trip, was when it was just the 3 of us in the boat and a pod of dolphins with a baby popped up right by us! I've never seen dolphins like that, and they were just chillin' on top of the water.
I mean, the whole experience on the island was amazing, but I didn't feel well most of the time I as there because I still couldn't poop. I think my body was so freaked out by the "not bathrooms" that it didn't want to let out the days of meals that accumulated in my body. It may have also been that we hadn't really drank any water, and all of their food was saturated with salt.
There wasn't much else to do on the island, and I didn't want to keep Sr. Robinson occupied by my annoying questions, so the Aussie and I sat out on the dock and watched the sun set, trying to imagine it without all the rubbish in the water. Someone who can rough it and was willing to stay on the village over a nice bungalow for me is someone that I don't want to let go. Because that's rare. I think that was the next point where I fell for him a little harder, because as I was thinking all this, I said to me self "oh fucking shit." But then as distracted by the dudes from the Columbian boat (docked on the island because they were buying thousands of coconuts from the kunas), as one of them caught an eel and then smashed it's brains with a hammer. We walked away and ventured off to the other half of the island and saw a huge sea turtle tied up on it's back. I walked up to and it took a deep breath and I realized it was still alive. It made my heart feel like it was going to explode, and Sr. Robinson said that although sea turtles were a protected species... some people don't listen to the rules and there aren't any police to enforce the rules.
That was kind of it for me, as it sort of made me insanely angry, so we went back to the hut for more culture talk, and the Kuna women decided to dress me up in their traditional wear. And then the Aussie... but his just looked like a magenta shirt that was 3 sizes too small for him. I took pictures, of course, but I'll never forget how silly he looked. We took pics with the kids as well, and a bunch with one of Sr. Robinson's kids that they called "china" because she had asian eyes hahaha! they also gave us a gift of the quilt pieces that they are famous for, which now hangs on my wall above my desk. After that, it was bed early bc we had to wake up at 4am for the slowest boat ride ever to get the tourists and then to the "airport" for our 6:15am flight back to PC.
The flight out of San Blas was ridiculous! There weren't enough seats on the first plane, and ppl were getting on w.o anyone checking tickets, so when the second plane touched down, the pilot said that he could only take three more (and there were four of us). After the Aussie talked with the pilot and sorted things out, we took off with all four of us on the plane. I guess the problem was that we had to make another stop and by another stop I mean three more. It was more like a bus than a plane! The "20 min" flight probably took an hour, because we kept picking ppl up. At one point, the Aussie and I were squeezed in the three person back seat with five other people. And then everyone in the seats in front of us were standing up and what not. Oh, and one of the girls I was sitting with was from NJ and almost went to Bucknell! And then she told me she had a ton of friends at Marist. Small world!!
Once we arrived in PC and we headed straight to Robert's for a SHOWER and to try to poo. We just f-ed around for the rest of the day until Robert came home. Robert made some AMAZING pizzas, we drank real beer, and I chit chatted with Keyra who is really inspirational because she is a doctor when the odds were against her. I like her.
I had a 10am flight back to the States, and the Aussie had a 5pm flight to Guatemala, but he still came with me even tho it meant he had to wait around for HOURS after I left. I think we wanted to just spend as much time together as possible. Some of that time was taken away bc all the backed up poop finally came rushing out for both of us, but I didn't care because I just wanted to look at that scruffy face. It was different leaving him this time, much different from the NY departure. That time, I cried because it felt like the next time I saw him (if i did see him again) he would be changed and we wouldn't mesh. This time, even though we hadn't even booked the next trip, I didn't panic or cry. Because deep down I knew that I'd see him again, and if I didn't see him I'd have the best memories in Panama with him. Corny, but so true.
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