Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Time does fly...
9 days left and I can't believe it's gone by so fast. Saturday Maru leaves for Bocas del Toro, so I have only 3 days left with her. Then comes the impossible task of goodbyes, to all of these people who have changed my life and place upon me the mantle of having transformed theirs. Weird to think I will soon be in a place without raspao vendors, without a thousand panaderias, without old men proposing marriage in the park. I am seriously torn about leaving. On one hand... I miss Santa Cruz, I miss my home, I miss my friends and family. On the other, this place is finally a part of me, I am finally learning to fit in it with less awkwardness. I'm not ready to switch to English, to intense studying, to people with money. I'm just not. But I get to, and once again I will grow and shrink and reform to another land, a land as foreign to me now Panama once was.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Feliz Navidad, prosepero año y felicidad...
Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Solistice, Kwanzaa, Jaded Atheistic Nothings, or whatever it is that you are celebrating this time of the year. All is well here in Panamá; I am currently in the lovely throes of a case of bronchitis, which made for a particularly cheery Christmas. It was a pity too, because I was going to play violin for the Christmas Eve mass with Chong, Aleida, Rafito, and various other school friends, but I went to the doctor, who promptly killed that idea. So I spent Christmas Eve mostly just sleeping, until, of course, midnight, when I was woken by a huge and magnificent fireworks display just outside my house and got up to find the family gathered around our cheerfully lit-up Christmas tree, exchanging gifts. I got some jewlery, a set of candles, some Bonny Doon soap, and a magnet for my family, and was kindly recompensated with some brand new underwear (even funnier than it sounds; Maruquel is always on my case about how ugly my underwear is). I don't mind though because more gifts would just mean more stuff I didn't need to have to fit in my suitcase in... just over a month (whaaaa?). As soon as I stop being sick I am going to enjoy summer break to the fullest. My next plan is to watch The Birdcage with Sebastian (I found it at a dollar store!) and bake ¨gay cookies¨ or rather chocolate rainbow chip cookies. Yeah, I love my friends.
I just got back from a super fun AFSy trip to Chiriquí, which is the part of Panamá near the Costa Rican border. We even went into Costa Rica for a few hours. Their side of the border is just as gross as ours! Whoopie! I loved Chiriquí because it was foggy, cold, and gorgeous, although the enjoyment of the cold part was dampered (ha. ha.) by the decided lack of sweatshirt and hot water. It was a good chance to bond with my AFS peeps, although by the end I did want to kill them a little, and I'm glad I went. On the way back at the zoo in El Valle de Anton, I saw a crested caracara, tapirs, and an ocelot! I was so happy. As my mom will tell you, I have been waiting my whole life to see a crested caracara. In a souvenir shop I bought a beautiful wooden braclet with beads carved like roses and leaves with a picture of an angel in the middle. Yay Jesus.
I miss all of you very much but I love Panamá, it is my second home and I feel more at ease here than I ever thought possible. I don't know what I'll do without the rhythms of salsa and merengue and bachata on the radio, or without friends who can dance them with me. I know a lot of you know salsa, but that is the thing we hardly dance here... merengue and bachata are both easier and more popular.
Til next time!
Love,
Laurel
I just got back from a super fun AFSy trip to Chiriquí, which is the part of Panamá near the Costa Rican border. We even went into Costa Rica for a few hours. Their side of the border is just as gross as ours! Whoopie! I loved Chiriquí because it was foggy, cold, and gorgeous, although the enjoyment of the cold part was dampered (ha. ha.) by the decided lack of sweatshirt and hot water. It was a good chance to bond with my AFS peeps, although by the end I did want to kill them a little, and I'm glad I went. On the way back at the zoo in El Valle de Anton, I saw a crested caracara, tapirs, and an ocelot! I was so happy. As my mom will tell you, I have been waiting my whole life to see a crested caracara. In a souvenir shop I bought a beautiful wooden braclet with beads carved like roses and leaves with a picture of an angel in the middle. Yay Jesus.
I miss all of you very much but I love Panamá, it is my second home and I feel more at ease here than I ever thought possible. I don't know what I'll do without the rhythms of salsa and merengue and bachata on the radio, or without friends who can dance them with me. I know a lot of you know salsa, but that is the thing we hardly dance here... merengue and bachata are both easier and more popular.
Til next time!
Love,
Laurel
Monday, December 10, 2007
It's been awhile...
So how is everyone? I am quite well; writing in an internet cafe because my computer is persnickety, and also chatting on MSN with a cute guy I met with Maru's group at a resort.
Which reminds me, the resort. It was most completely excellent; HOT SHOWERS. Also, I ate a ton of delicious food and drank many virgin piña coladas, because they were free. How nice. The food included such delicacies as eggplant tempura, something distantly resembling pad thai, and fish fillet in tamarind sauce. My friend Casper from Norway was there too, randomly, so we hung out some. In the evening everyone went to the discoteca, I danced a ton. I danced bachata, merengue, hip-hop, and, uh, reggaeton. Please shield your mental images for your own protection.
For Mother's Day on Saturday, I went to my aunt Dora's house with Maru and la abuela, which was uneventful, kind of boring, and involved a really gay cousin (although no one says anything). The next day I went with Kate and her host sister to a Christmas parade in Panamá, and it was pretty fun, although it involved a lot of waiting, buses, and walking furiously. Also, they are so obsessed with beauty queens here, even beyond the US.
I am currently in the middle of exams. I had my math exam today and it was very easy. School ends, finally, Friday, so I will be free for the summer! Yay! Sebastian has been lending me lots of books in Spanish, so I have at least something to read.
I'll leave you with this short post.
Love,
Laurel
Which reminds me, the resort. It was most completely excellent; HOT SHOWERS. Also, I ate a ton of delicious food and drank many virgin piña coladas, because they were free. How nice. The food included such delicacies as eggplant tempura, something distantly resembling pad thai, and fish fillet in tamarind sauce. My friend Casper from Norway was there too, randomly, so we hung out some. In the evening everyone went to the discoteca, I danced a ton. I danced bachata, merengue, hip-hop, and, uh, reggaeton. Please shield your mental images for your own protection.
For Mother's Day on Saturday, I went to my aunt Dora's house with Maru and la abuela, which was uneventful, kind of boring, and involved a really gay cousin (although no one says anything). The next day I went with Kate and her host sister to a Christmas parade in Panamá, and it was pretty fun, although it involved a lot of waiting, buses, and walking furiously. Also, they are so obsessed with beauty queens here, even beyond the US.
I am currently in the middle of exams. I had my math exam today and it was very easy. School ends, finally, Friday, so I will be free for the summer! Yay! Sebastian has been lending me lots of books in Spanish, so I have at least something to read.
I'll leave you with this short post.
Love,
Laurel
Saturday, November 24, 2007
4 new kittens!
Tiny, fluffy, beautiful mewling balls of love, they are.
I had a really great Thanksgiving; Wednesday Kate and I went to Leonardo's, the Italian/pizza place, and had very good food, and a sad attempt at an apple pie. The next day was my school's Thanksgiving dinner, so Maru and I went, in semi formal dress (do you even KNOW how much I hate heels?), and I chillaxed with my homies, as it were, for a very nice evening. The turkey was good too.
Last night I went to a nighttime parade/fireworks display (antorcha), with Carlos. We met up with a bunch of others and spent more than three hours running about the dark, people-filled streets of Chorrera, watching the marching bands play and the various students marching with beautiful, candlelit torches. It was definitely my favorite parade that I've been to so far, and the fireworks were actually pretty enough to nearly justify the horrific noise. Also, I played Super Smash Brothers, which has been the only homesick point for me lately. Yes, you can laugh.
Today I am going to meet with Candice, my AFS friend who is living in Colón, to hang out around Chorrera. I will do my duty as a proud Chorreran and make sure that she tries both chicheme and bollo, unique to my city.
Love!
Laurel
I had a really great Thanksgiving; Wednesday Kate and I went to Leonardo's, the Italian/pizza place, and had very good food, and a sad attempt at an apple pie. The next day was my school's Thanksgiving dinner, so Maru and I went, in semi formal dress (do you even KNOW how much I hate heels?), and I chillaxed with my homies, as it were, for a very nice evening. The turkey was good too.
Last night I went to a nighttime parade/fireworks display (antorcha), with Carlos. We met up with a bunch of others and spent more than three hours running about the dark, people-filled streets of Chorrera, watching the marching bands play and the various students marching with beautiful, candlelit torches. It was definitely my favorite parade that I've been to so far, and the fireworks were actually pretty enough to nearly justify the horrific noise. Also, I played Super Smash Brothers, which has been the only homesick point for me lately. Yes, you can laugh.
Today I am going to meet with Candice, my AFS friend who is living in Colón, to hang out around Chorrera. I will do my duty as a proud Chorreran and make sure that she tries both chicheme and bollo, unique to my city.
Love!
Laurel
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Copied from my journal... tengo pereza.
The heat tongiht is dense, at once dead weight and live animal, not quite mass over volume but just the same exerting some strange force that pushes my molecules closer together. It is la Mes de la Patria now, and while I, the anti-reptile, am warmed into lethargy, the sharp booms and bangs of drums and fireworks sound out endless parades. My classmates were right when they told me that Panameños are a party people.
My host mom knocks on my door, and sees me sprawled American on the bed; one earbud jammed in awkwardly as the other hangs loose, iPod in hand, solitaire on screen. "Ya vamos," she says, immediately exiting as if to underline the urgency in "ya." There is no need to state the obvious- of course we are going to see the parade. I do not bother to change from my pink snoopy flip-flops- in house wear only, por favor- to something more suitable for going out. I am too enveloped in a sleepiness that in most of the world would belong past 1 am, not 7:30 on a beautiful winter evening (those latitudes have never been this warm).
Once in the car, Maru, the host mother, presses radio buttons at random until she´s selected one that chooses a station she likes. Raw, rich lovesongs tumble forlornly from the speakers, the heartache lacquered brightly in mellow pop tonality and trite lyricisms. She rolls down her window, and we are on the one way road, hot wind in our faces, only billboards in sight.
When we´ve turned onto the main drag, the exhiliration and freedom of a rural drive, facade though it may be, is abruptly dispelled by the gaudiness of neon fast food signs, here the token golden arches, there a giant spinning cup of popcorn chicken emblazoned KFC with kindergarten name tag boldness. Judging by our turn signal and Maru´s greedily pointed eyes, MacDonald´s is our pre-parade stop. Every once in awhile we make this our custom, with one specific purpose, to eat ice cream. The thought of calorie laden, cold deliciousness spreads through my sweat-drenched body like an elixir. "Un cono, muchas gracias," is my anxious, grateful, overheated reply to the What do you want? that I have been waiting for.
As the car crawls slowly toward the drive through window, progress slowed by the SUV in front of us ("Mira Laura, cuatro por cuatro!"), Maru asks "No quieres un sundae?" and in politeness I respond no- she is paying so I must not burden her. My eyes, however, betray me, lingering a moment too long on the perfect specimen pictured on the lit up menu, drenched just so in caramel sauce, the soft serve ice cream forming a cute little point.
When the server takes our order, Maruquel decides on two sundaes, one caramel, on strawberry. The wait for the orders to be completed is agonizing, silent. Maru and I look at each other with twin expressions of hunger and impatience, and as each moment brings me closer to a spoonful of bliss, another bad love son blasts from the station on the radio, the singer´s voice letting me know that he loves me, that I am home.
My host mom knocks on my door, and sees me sprawled American on the bed; one earbud jammed in awkwardly as the other hangs loose, iPod in hand, solitaire on screen. "Ya vamos," she says, immediately exiting as if to underline the urgency in "ya." There is no need to state the obvious- of course we are going to see the parade. I do not bother to change from my pink snoopy flip-flops- in house wear only, por favor- to something more suitable for going out. I am too enveloped in a sleepiness that in most of the world would belong past 1 am, not 7:30 on a beautiful winter evening (those latitudes have never been this warm).
Once in the car, Maru, the host mother, presses radio buttons at random until she´s selected one that chooses a station she likes. Raw, rich lovesongs tumble forlornly from the speakers, the heartache lacquered brightly in mellow pop tonality and trite lyricisms. She rolls down her window, and we are on the one way road, hot wind in our faces, only billboards in sight.
When we´ve turned onto the main drag, the exhiliration and freedom of a rural drive, facade though it may be, is abruptly dispelled by the gaudiness of neon fast food signs, here the token golden arches, there a giant spinning cup of popcorn chicken emblazoned KFC with kindergarten name tag boldness. Judging by our turn signal and Maru´s greedily pointed eyes, MacDonald´s is our pre-parade stop. Every once in awhile we make this our custom, with one specific purpose, to eat ice cream. The thought of calorie laden, cold deliciousness spreads through my sweat-drenched body like an elixir. "Un cono, muchas gracias," is my anxious, grateful, overheated reply to the What do you want? that I have been waiting for.
As the car crawls slowly toward the drive through window, progress slowed by the SUV in front of us ("Mira Laura, cuatro por cuatro!"), Maru asks "No quieres un sundae?" and in politeness I respond no- she is paying so I must not burden her. My eyes, however, betray me, lingering a moment too long on the perfect specimen pictured on the lit up menu, drenched just so in caramel sauce, the soft serve ice cream forming a cute little point.
When the server takes our order, Maruquel decides on two sundaes, one caramel, on strawberry. The wait for the orders to be completed is agonizing, silent. Maru and I look at each other with twin expressions of hunger and impatience, and as each moment brings me closer to a spoonful of bliss, another bad love son blasts from the station on the radio, the singer´s voice letting me know that he loves me, that I am home.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
No dormimos en Panamá (pero no me importa!)
Things are incredibly awesome here; it´s hard to take the time out to write entires like this. Last Monday Aleida (who has come to be my best friend here) and I baked cookies at my house for an English presentation. The first time around, we added a rotten egg, and it stunk so badly... all of us, adults included, were laughing so hard. We went back to the supermarket and returned the eggs for full refund and bought new ones. At least the cookies were great.
Thursday Kate and I ate Chinese food at the local restaurant, and it was pretty good, although I have to say I am a little disappointed by the thickness of the chow fun noodles here, and the lack of vegetables. Yes Mom, now I want my chicken chow fun with vegetables- novel concept!
Friday Aleida and I perused the department stores in Chorrera trying to find her something to wear for Gina´s impending quince años. We were not successful, but we ate slurpies and laughed hysterically and all was well.
Saturday during the day I went for a tour of Panamá with the other AFSers in Chorrera. It was really fun and I quite enjoyed connecting with the other exchange students in my town. Almost all of them speak German and I am learning to like that language. Now if only I could speak it...
That night I went to Gina´s quince años, which was an enormous party and the most fun I´ve had in a long time. I was out until 3 am, totally safely and soberly, dancing salsa and bachata and hanging with my school friends. Also, if you are trying to dance "modern," it is easier to do so to reggaeton than to techno. Can´t do anything with techno other than beatbox and spin some glowsticks.
Today I woke up at 7 (ouch!) for a big AFS meeting with everyone from Chorrera, Panamá, Colón, Chepo, and Arraiján. It mostly consisted of chilling by the poolside and looking at monkeys, as well as talking to AFS volunteers about how we were faring with our families. I made a new friend, an American in Colón, and had a good time talking about Dragonriders of Pern fandom...
Anywho. Hasta luego!
Thursday Kate and I ate Chinese food at the local restaurant, and it was pretty good, although I have to say I am a little disappointed by the thickness of the chow fun noodles here, and the lack of vegetables. Yes Mom, now I want my chicken chow fun with vegetables- novel concept!
Friday Aleida and I perused the department stores in Chorrera trying to find her something to wear for Gina´s impending quince años. We were not successful, but we ate slurpies and laughed hysterically and all was well.
Saturday during the day I went for a tour of Panamá with the other AFSers in Chorrera. It was really fun and I quite enjoyed connecting with the other exchange students in my town. Almost all of them speak German and I am learning to like that language. Now if only I could speak it...
That night I went to Gina´s quince años, which was an enormous party and the most fun I´ve had in a long time. I was out until 3 am, totally safely and soberly, dancing salsa and bachata and hanging with my school friends. Also, if you are trying to dance "modern," it is easier to do so to reggaeton than to techno. Can´t do anything with techno other than beatbox and spin some glowsticks.
Today I woke up at 7 (ouch!) for a big AFS meeting with everyone from Chorrera, Panamá, Colón, Chepo, and Arraiján. It mostly consisted of chilling by the poolside and looking at monkeys, as well as talking to AFS volunteers about how we were faring with our families. I made a new friend, an American in Colón, and had a good time talking about Dragonriders of Pern fandom...
Anywho. Hasta luego!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
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