Spanish version below ;)
So, es ist wieder Zeit für einen Eintrag – auch wenn die statistische Frist dazu bereits abgelaufen ist, wie mir aufgezeigt wurde. ;) Inzwischen war ich zweimal im „Casco Viejo“, allerdings beide Male nur nachts, obwohl dieser Teil der Stadt tagsüber nochmal einen ganz eigenen Charme haben soll. Es gibt hier sozusagen zwei „Altstädte“, „Panamá Viejo“ und „Casco Viejo“. Erstere wurde im 17. Jahrhundert, zu welchem Zeitpunkt sie die wichtigste Stadt Spanisch-Amerikas war, von keinem geringeren als Henry Morgan komplett zerstört, woraufhin sie 8 km weiter wiederaufgebaut wurde (= Casco Viejo), was heute - auch dank besserer Sanierung – noch wesentlich besser erhalten und hübscher anzusehen ist als Panama Viejo. Und es gibt dort eben auch einige wenige Ausgehmöglichkeiten für alle die, denen Stil ein bisschen wichtiger ist als z.B. Besuchern der „Zona Viva“, einer Ansammlung von Diskotheken und Clubs am trendigen „Amador Causeway“. Eine der Bars, die ich mit meinen Couchsurfing-Freunden besucht habe, gehört zu einem Hostel, wodurch dort natürlich viele Backpacker anzutreffen sind (*freu*), aber auch genug Einheimische oder Zugezogene aus anderen lateinamerikanischen Ländern. Sie befindet sich in einem Gewölbe neben dem tiefer als das Hostel gelegenen Innenhof und hat ein recht besonderes Ambiente. Ein anderes Ausgehziel war eine von Ruinen umgebene Tanzfläche unter freiem Himmel direkt oberhalb der Meeresküste mit einer Bar, zwei DJs und ein paar Tischen und Stühlen. Mir wurde gesagt, dass spät in der Nacht der Meeresspiegel so weit ansteigt, dass die Bar direkt im Meer zu schwimmen scheint (aber noch durch die Mauern davor geschützt ist), was ich allerdings nicht mehr selbst gesehen habe – meine innere Uhr hat sich in Sachen Nachtleben noch nicht den Einheimischen angepasst.
Ausserdem habe mich ich mit einem neuangekommenen Praktikanten zum „Parque Metropolitano“ aufgemacht, jedoch stellten wir irgendwann fest, dass wir im falschen Bus gelandet waren (surprise surprise! ;) ), der allerdings eine hübsche Strecke entlang des Kanals fuhr. Zu unserem Glück erklärte uns dann eine Einheimische, dass der Bus beim „Parque Summit“ enden würde, der ohnehin viel schöner sei. :) So langsam habe ich minimal mehr Durchblick im hiesigen Bussystem und versuche wann immer möglich die Gelegenheit zu ergreifen dieses Transportmittel zu nutzen, da ich das Fahrtgefühl einfach liebe! Sie werden hier „Diablos rojos“ (rote Teufel) genannt, wobei sie eigentlich eher „bunte Teufel“ heißen sollten, denn jeder der ehemaligen nordamerikanischen Schulbusse ist individuell von oben bis unten (zum Teil mit berühmten Persönlichkeiten) bemalt, und die Innengestaltung erinnert irgendwie an eine Mischung aus Bordell und Karneval, mit jeder Menge Federboas und Glitzerpapier, das um die Stangen gewickelt ist... Jede Fahrt kostet 25 Cent (18 €-Cent), unabhängig von der Distanz, die man beim Aussteigen bezahlt. Bevor man aussteigen will, muss man – wenn dies kein anderer tut – „parada!“ (Haltestelle) schreien, und das umso lauter, wenn man dabei auch noch Latino-Musik übertönen muss. Bei meiner ersten Fahrt, bei der ich auch noch ganz hinten saß (ungünstig angesichts des üblichen Füllungsgrades an Passagieren!) hatte ich zum Glück die Hilfe meines Sitznachbarn, der den Beginn einer „Parada!-Schreikette“ bis nach vorn zum Busfahrer machte. Die Fahrten sind meist ziemlich holprig und in der „hora pico“ (peak hour :) , einer der hiesigen „spanisierten“ Anglizismen) unermesslich langwierig - aber Zeit spielt hier ja ohnehin keine Rolle -, meist wird mit offenen Türen gefahren (ist bei heißem Wetter angenehmer und beschleunigt die Ein- und Aussteigprozesse) und je nach Alter des Busses kann man durch die Löcher in dessen Boden gespannt die Qualität der Strasse beurteilen... ;) Was ich sehr nett finde, ist dass die sitzenden Leute den stehenden oft jegliches Gepäck von Taschen bis hin zu Kindern abnehmen. Zu meiner Trauer habe ich erfahren, dass die Diablos rojos in ein paar Monaten durch „moderne“ Busse ersetzt werden sollen, aber ich bin froh, dass ich sie noch erleben durfte!
Die letzten zwei Wochen habe ich dann entweder in der Sprachschule oder bei meinen Gasteltern verbracht. Ich war überglücklich, als ich endlich all meine Fragen loswerden konnte und schwelgte voller Begeisterung in Grammatik, was den meisten anderen Kursteilnehmern eher unnachvollziehbar war. :) Die erste Woche war ich sogar nur mit einem anderen Mädchen in unserer „Klasse“, Justine (aus Frankreich), da es für sehr viele verschiedene Niveaus verschiedene Klassen gibt und wir ungefähr dasselbe hatten, wie sich durch den Einstufungstest herausstellte. In der zweiten Woche hatte ich abwechselnd Gesellschaft von einer Italienerin, einem Franzosen, einer Amerikanerin, einer Holländerin und zwei Koreanerinnen. Bei den Nachmittagsaktivitäten war ausser mir und Justine noch eine sehr nette Kanadierin dabei, die nur für zwei Wochen Sprachkurs nach Panama gekommen war! Dazu gehörten unter anderem ein Besuch zu „Mi Pueblito“ („mein kleines Dorf“), wo je ein Dorf der drei Kulturen Panamas (Latino/Campesino, Afro-antillanisch und Indigen) nachgebaut wurden, ein Besuch des anthropologischen Museums, in dem wir dank Klimatisierung fast erfroren wären (die Angestellten trugen Anoraks!) und eine Patacones-Kochunterweisung („Patacones“ ist der Name des fertigen Gerichts aus frittierten Kochbananenscheiben). Einmal nahm ich an einer Gratistanzstunde in einer nahegelegenen Tanzschule teil, wo wir in den Rumba eingewiesen wurden, was gar nicht mal so schwer war! :) Und auch von uns durften unsere Sprachschullehrerinnen etwas lernen, zum Beispiel, dass Füchse nicht in Bäumen leben, wie eine von ihnen immer angenommen hatte :D , was ihr aber nachzusehen ist, weil hierzulande mit „zorra“ (wörtlich „Füchsin“) eine auf Bäumen lebende Tierart bezeichnet wird. Ein Satz, der mir wohl – im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes – zum Ohrwurm geworden ist, ist „Estoy feliz como una lombriz“ (ich bin glücklich wie ein Regenwurm) - irgendwie passt er ja auch perfekt zu unserem Studiengang –, Frau Papaja hätte ihre Freude daran (du sicher auch Moni :) )!
Apropos Papaja (welch gelungene Überleitung ;) ), in den letzten zwei Wochen bin ich definitiv im Obsthimmel geschwebt! Ganz nach dem Motto „A papaya a day, keeps the doctor away“ (so heisst das doch oder? ;)) kam ich jeden Morgen in den Genuss frisch zubereiteten Papaja-Ananas-Salates, dem ich stets schon beim Aufstehen entgegengesehen habe. Das war aber nur eines der Dinge, die mich an meinen Sprachkurs-Gasteltern komplett von den Socken gehauen haben! Denn obwohl sie schon seit Jahren Sprachschüler beherbergen und ihnen dabei noch nie auch nur ein Vegetarier untergekommen ist, hat Marina, die Ehefrau, die ursprünglich aus Kolumbien stammt, schon am ersten Tag sämtliche vegane Produkte im nächsten Supermarkt aufgetrieben, von denen ich nicht gedacht hätte, dass sie hier überhaupt zur Verfügung stehen! Braulio, ihr Ehemann, der schon seit langer Zeit im Ruhestand ist, hat früher in Colón im Bereich Verkehr gearbeitet und ist im Rahmen seines Berufes viel nach Süd- und Nordamerika gereist. So sehr ich Fürsorge zu schätzen weiß und auch befürworte, war es mir bei meinem Gastvater manchmal etwas zu viel – er hielt mir zweimal täglich sowohl vor, dass ich mehr essen sollte als auch, dass ich seeehr vorsichtig sein sollte, wenn ich abends allein unterwegs bin. ;) Die Stadt Colón, die am atlantischen Ende des Panamakanals liegt und nach Kolumbus (spanisch eben „Colón“) benannt ist, bietet übrigens ein gutes Beispiel für den krassen Gegensatz zwischen arm und reich. Dort befindet sich die nach Hongkong zweitgrößte Freihandelszone der Welt, doch in den 60er Jahren führten politische Aufstände und die damaligen Diktaturen (Torrijos/Noriega) zum drastischen Verfall, sodass die Armutsrate heute über 40 % beträgt und die Stadt als gefährlichste Lateinamerikas, von manchen als der Welt (was ich mir allerdings schwer vorstellen kann) bezeichnet wird. Schon unglaublich, wie sich all das nur wenige Kilometer von der gedeihenden Hauptstadt abspielen kann!
Nach unserer ersten Sprachkurswoche sind Justine und ich zu einem weiter östlich gelegenen Teil der Karibikküste gereist und machten uns nach einem kurzen Aufenthalt in dem Dorf „Portobelo“ zur „Isla Grande“ auf, wo ich tapfer gegen meine Strandphobie ankämpfte! ;) Ich muss natürlich dazu sagen, dass sich diese hauptsächlich auf touristenüberladene 08/15-Strände bezieht, und ich nichts gegen verlassene Naturschönheiten habe (zumindest zum Anschauen, Sonne muss ich mit meiner Haut ja ohnehin tunlichst vermeiden). Woran wir allerdings nicht gedacht hatten (nein, ich lerne nichts aus meinen Erfahrungen! ;) ), waren die Moskitos, die uns die komplette Nacht unseres Schlafes beraubten! Somit kehrten wir am nächsten Tag nach Portobelo zurück, was mich mit seiner piratigen Atmosphäre ohnehin schon am Tag zuvor völlig begeistert hatte! In der Kolonialzeit war dort der wichtigste Handelshafen der Spanier für das in Südamerika eroberte Gold, was natürlich haufenweise Piraten anlockte (nicht zuletzt unseren alten Bekannten Henry Morgan) und noch heute kann man die Ruinen ihrer Festungen besichtigen. Mein Glück war perfekt, als wir ein relativ neugegründetes Hostel fanden, das von keinem geringeren als Captain Jack betrieben wird! :) Da es sich um einen echten Kapitän handelt, bietet er regelmäßig Touren nach Kolumbien auf dem Seeweg an, was mir als perfekte Lösungsmöglichkeit für mein Visumsproblem vom Himmel fiel! (Ende November muss ich ausreisen um das dreimonatige Besuchervisum zu erneuern und fühlte mich bislang mehr in den Süden als in den Norden gezogen, wohin es aber ja keinen durchdringbaren Landweg gibt...) Recht begeistert habe ich mich wie üblich auch auf die Essensstände des Dorfes gestürzt, die abgesehen von ihrem üblichen „Alles was essbar ist – Frittier“-Angebot (ob ihr es glaubt oder nicht, hier wird sogar Eis frittiert! Googelt mal nach „helado fritto“) auch „Batidos“ hatten, die panamaische Variante von Fruchtshakes, zu denen ich nur immer dazusagen muss, dass ich sie ohne Milch möchte. Als wir am Sonntag noch einmal dort vorbeikamen, fragte mich eine der Verkäuferinnen sogar „¿Hoy no batido?“ (Heute keinen Batido?) – ich war mir meines Bekanntheitsgrades gar nicht bewusst gewesen. :D Eigentlich hatten wir auch noch zu einem Strand mit dem kreativen Namen „Playa Blanca“ gewollt, aber die Bootsfahrt dorthin hätte 15 $ (knapp 11 €) gekostet, was uns dann doch zu teuer war. Dafür war es uns gelungen den Preis für die Fahrt zu einer der Festungen von 20 auf stolze 5 $ für uns beide herunterzuhandeln. :)
So, dann werde ich mal die Gelegenheit nutzen dass sowohl Strom als auch Internet funktionieren und versuchen diesen Eintrag und ein paar Bilder hochzuladen!
Gaaanz liebe Grüße an euch alle!
Eure Johanna
PS: Für alle, mit denen ich diese Diskussion schon hatte – Justine hat laut eigener Aussage Übung darin Menschen als Hunde- oder Katzentypen einzuordnen und hat mir eindeutig die Katzenkategorie zugewiesen! ;)
PPS: Da ich letzter Zeit über erstaunlich viele Sätze verschiedenster Quellen gestoßen bin, die mir im Gedächtnis geblieben sind, dachte ich, ich lasse euch daran teilhaben, vielleicht haben sie ja gerade für mehrere Menschen eine Bedeutung.
Sich daran zu erinnern, dass man sterben wird, ist der beste Weg, um die Falle zu vermeiden zu denken, man hätte etwas zu verlieren.
In zwanzig Jahren wirst du enttäuschter über die Dinge sein, die du nicht getan hast, als über diejenigen, die du getan hast.
Reise weit und schnell, reise leicht. Lass all deinen Neid, deine Unnachsichtigkeit, deine Selbstsucht, deine Vorurteile und deine Angst zurück.
Ich werde nur einmal diese Stelle des Lebens passieren. Lass mir also nichts verschieben oder unterlassen, denn ich werde diesen Weg nicht mehr passieren.
Deine Aufgabe besteht darin, die Menschen, die du liebst, von dir unabhängig zu machen.
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| Unsere Bleibe auf der Isla Grande - den Preis haben wir übrigens auch auf die Hälfte runtergehandelt :) Our place to stay on Isla Grande - whose price we'd also beaten down to its half :) |
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| Piratenfeeling in Portobelo Pirate feeling in Portobelo |
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| Die Bar meines neuen Lieblingshostels The bar of my new favourite hostel |
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| In "Mi Pueblito" |
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| Meine Gasteltern (rechts) und eine weitere ganz liebe Mitbewohnerin des Hauses (Onelia, links) - Marina hat sich übrigens extra hübsch gemacht für das Bild :) My host parents (to the right) and another lovely tenant (Onelia, to the left) - Marina had made herself look pretty for the picture :) |
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| Verkehrte Welt - Sind Exportbananen nun besser für das Gewissen? ("guineo" ist die hiesige Bezeichnung für "gelbe", also nicht Kochbananen) Topsy-turvy world - Are export bananas morally more acceptable? ("guineo" is the name for yellow bananas here, as opposed to plantains) |
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| Ein typischer "Diablo Rojo" A typical "diablo rojo" |
Just kidding – English version follows :)
Well, it's time for another entry - even though the period has already expired statistically, as has been pointed out to me. :) By now I have been to "Casco Viejo" twice, but both times at night, although this part of the city seems to have its very own charm during daytime. There are two "old towns", "Panama Viejo" and "Casco Viejo". The first one was completely destroyed in the 17th Century (at which time it had been the most important city of Spanish America) by none other than Henry Morgan. After that it was rebuilt 8 km from there (= Casco Viejo), which today looks better preserved and prettier than Panama Viejo, also thanks to better rehabilitation. And there are also a few locations for going out for all those to whom style is a bit more important than, say, visitors to the “Zona Viva”, an accumulation of discos and clubs in the trendy “Amador Causeway”. One of the bars that I visited with my Couchsurfing friends is part of a hostel, so that you come across quite a few backpackers there, but also enough locals or people who have moved here from other Latin American countries. It is located in a vault next to a patio subjacent to the hostel and has a very special ambience. Another place we went to was an open air dance floor surrounded by ruins directly above the sea coast with a bar, two DJs and a few tables and chairs. I was told that late at night, the sea level rises so much that the bar seems to swim right in the sea (but is protected by the sorrounding walls), which I haven’t seen personally though – I haven’t adapted my circadian rhythm to the local nightlife here.
Furthermore, I headed to the “Parque Metropolitano” with a newly arrived trainee, but we soon found out that we had ended up on the wrong bus (surprise surprise ;) ), which however did a nice route along the canal. Luckily a local passenger told us that the bus would terminate at the “Parque Summit”, which were much nicer anyway. :) I am beginning to see through the local bus system, and I try to take the opportunity of using this means of transport whenever possible, because I just love the feeling! They are called “Diablos Rojos” (red devils), however they should rather be called “colourful devils”, for each of the former North American school buses is individually painted from top to bottom (some with famous people), and the interior somehow reminds of a mixture of a brothel and carnival, with lots of feather boas and glitter paper that is wrapped around the poles... Each ride costs 25 cents (18 € cents), regardless of the distance, that you pay when exiting. Before you want to get off, you have to shout "parada!" (stop!) - the louder the more Latin music you have to drown out -, if no one else does. On my first trip, when I was additionally sitting in the back (not a good idea considering the usual amount of passengers!), I luckily had the help of my neighbour who initiated the chain of “Parada!”- shoutings up to the bus driver. The trips are usually quite bumpy and immensely time consuming during the “hora pico” (peak hour :), one of the “spanicized” anglicisms) - but time does not matter here anyway -, they usually run with open doors (pleasant during hot weather and accelerating the entering and exiting proceedings) and depending on the age of the bus the road quality can be judged by looking through the holes in the bottom... :) What I quite appreciate is the fact that the sitting people often relieve the standing people of any luggage from bags to children. To my sorrow I learnt that the “diablos rojos” will be replaced by “modern” buses in a few months, but I'm glad I'm experiencing them before that!
The last two weeks I spent in either the language school or with my host parents. I was over the moon when I finally had someone to pelt with all my questions and I indulged myself in grammar with an enthusiam which was a bit hard to comprehend for most of the other students. :) During the first week there was even only one other girl in my “class”, Justine (from France), because there are so many different classes for different levels and we had about the same level as had turned out in the placement test. In the second week I had alternately company of an Italian, a Frenchman, an American, a Dutch and two Koreans. As for the afternoon activities, there was a very nice Canadian woman taking part in them (apart from me and Justine), who had come to Panama only for a two week course! Among these were a visit to “Mi Pueblito” (“my little village”), where each village of the three cultures of Panama (Latino/campesino, Afro Antillian and indigenous) has been reconstructed, a visit to the anthropological museum in which we almost froze to death due to the air conditioning (the employees were wearing anoraks!) and a patacones cooking class (“patacones” is the name of the meal of fried plantain slices). Once I took part in a free dancing lesson at a nearby dancing school where we were instructed in Rumba, which was actually not that difficult! :) And the language school teachers also learnt new things from us, for example that foxes do not live in trees, as one of them had always been convinced :D , however this is comprehensible knowing that “zorra” (literally "female fox") is the name for a local arboreal species. A sentence that has become a catchy tune for me is "Estoy feliz como una lombriz" (I'm happy as an earthworm), well, it does fit perfectly with our field of studies – Mrs Papaja would surely delight in it (you certainly too Moni:))!
Speaking of papaya (what a smart transition ;) ), during the last two weeks I was definitely flying in fruit heaven! According to the motto “A papaya a day, keeps the doctor away” (that’s the way it reads isn’t it ;) ) I came to enjoy freshly prepared papaya and pineapple salad every morning, which I had always been looking forward to already when getting up. That was only one of the things that really flabbergasted me about my host parents! For although they have been hosting students for many years and there has never even been a vegetarian amongst them, Marina, the wife who is originally from Colombia, chased down all vegan products in the nearest supermarket on the first day, some of which I had not even thought would be available here! Braulio, her husband, who has long since retired, had worked in transport in Colón and had been travelling a lot to South and North America for his work. As much as I appreciate care, it was sometimes a bit too much from my host father - he explained to me twice a day that I should eat more and that I should be very careful when walking alone in the streets in the evening. ;) The city of Colón, situated at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal and named after Columbus (“Colón” in Spanish), offers a parade example of the stark contrast between rich and poor. It has the second largest free trade zone in the world after Hong Kong, but in the sixties political uprisings and the former dictatorships (Torrijos/Noriega) brought about a significant decline, so that the poverty rate today is over 40% and the city is considered the most dangerous in Latin America, by some even in the world (which I can’t really imagine). Quite incredible how all this can be taking place only a few miles from the thriving capital!
After our first course week, Justine and I traveled to a more eastern part of the Caribbean coast and headed for “Isla Grande” after a short stay in the village of “Portobelo”, so I bravely fought my beach phobia! :) I must say of course that this mainly refers to run-of-the-mill beaches which are overloaded with tourists, and I have nothing against abandoned natural beauty (at least looking at it, because of my skin I need to avoid sun as much as possible anyway). What we hadn't considered, however, (no, I do not learn from my experiences ;) ), were the mosquitoes, which robbed us of our sleep the whole night! So we went back to Portobelo the next day, whose pirate atmosphere had already filled me with enthusiasm the day before! In the colonial era there was the most important trading port for gold conquered in South America by the Spaniards, which of course attracted loads of pirates (not least our old friend Henry Morgan) and you can still visit the ruins of their fortresses. My happiness was complete when we found a relatively newly established hostel, run by none other than Captain Jack! :) Since he is a real captain, he regularly offers affordable tours to Colombia by sea, which fell into my lap as the perfect solution for my visa problem! (I have to leave the country in the end of november to have my three months visitor's visa renewed and felt drawn into the south rather than into the north, however facing the problem of impermeable jungle...) As usual, I was also excited about the food stalls of the village which in addition to the usual “fry everything that is edible” offer (believe it or not, they even fry ice cream here - google for “helado fritto”) also offered “batidos”, the Panamanian version of fruit shakes, and I only always have to say that I want them without milk. As we passed there again on Sunday, one of the sellers even asked me”¿Hoy no batido?” (No batido today?) - I hadn’t been aware of my renownedness. :D Actually, we had also wanted to visit a beach with the inventive name “Playa Blanca”, but the boat trip there would have been $ 15 (around 11 €), which was too expensive for us. But we managed to beat down the price for the trip to one of the fortresses from $ 20 to impressive $ 5 for both of us. :)
So now I'm going to make use of the availability of both electricity and working internet and will try to upload this entry and some pictures!
Lots of love to all of you!
Johanna
PS: For all those with whom I’ve had this discussion as well - Justine claims to be well-experienced in classifying people as a “dog” or “cat types” and has clearly assigned me to the cats category! ;)
Furthermore, I headed to the “Parque Metropolitano” with a newly arrived trainee, but we soon found out that we had ended up on the wrong bus (surprise surprise ;) ), which however did a nice route along the canal. Luckily a local passenger told us that the bus would terminate at the “Parque Summit”, which were much nicer anyway. :) I am beginning to see through the local bus system, and I try to take the opportunity of using this means of transport whenever possible, because I just love the feeling! They are called “Diablos Rojos” (red devils), however they should rather be called “colourful devils”, for each of the former North American school buses is individually painted from top to bottom (some with famous people), and the interior somehow reminds of a mixture of a brothel and carnival, with lots of feather boas and glitter paper that is wrapped around the poles... Each ride costs 25 cents (18 € cents), regardless of the distance, that you pay when exiting. Before you want to get off, you have to shout "parada!" (stop!) - the louder the more Latin music you have to drown out -, if no one else does. On my first trip, when I was additionally sitting in the back (not a good idea considering the usual amount of passengers!), I luckily had the help of my neighbour who initiated the chain of “Parada!”- shoutings up to the bus driver. The trips are usually quite bumpy and immensely time consuming during the “hora pico” (peak hour :), one of the “spanicized” anglicisms) - but time does not matter here anyway -, they usually run with open doors (pleasant during hot weather and accelerating the entering and exiting proceedings) and depending on the age of the bus the road quality can be judged by looking through the holes in the bottom... :) What I quite appreciate is the fact that the sitting people often relieve the standing people of any luggage from bags to children. To my sorrow I learnt that the “diablos rojos” will be replaced by “modern” buses in a few months, but I'm glad I'm experiencing them before that!
The last two weeks I spent in either the language school or with my host parents. I was over the moon when I finally had someone to pelt with all my questions and I indulged myself in grammar with an enthusiam which was a bit hard to comprehend for most of the other students. :) During the first week there was even only one other girl in my “class”, Justine (from France), because there are so many different classes for different levels and we had about the same level as had turned out in the placement test. In the second week I had alternately company of an Italian, a Frenchman, an American, a Dutch and two Koreans. As for the afternoon activities, there was a very nice Canadian woman taking part in them (apart from me and Justine), who had come to Panama only for a two week course! Among these were a visit to “Mi Pueblito” (“my little village”), where each village of the three cultures of Panama (Latino/campesino, Afro Antillian and indigenous) has been reconstructed, a visit to the anthropological museum in which we almost froze to death due to the air conditioning (the employees were wearing anoraks!) and a patacones cooking class (“patacones” is the name of the meal of fried plantain slices). Once I took part in a free dancing lesson at a nearby dancing school where we were instructed in Rumba, which was actually not that difficult! :) And the language school teachers also learnt new things from us, for example that foxes do not live in trees, as one of them had always been convinced :D , however this is comprehensible knowing that “zorra” (literally "female fox") is the name for a local arboreal species. A sentence that has become a catchy tune for me is "Estoy feliz como una lombriz" (I'm happy as an earthworm), well, it does fit perfectly with our field of studies – Mrs Papaja would surely delight in it (you certainly too Moni:))!
Speaking of papaya (what a smart transition ;) ), during the last two weeks I was definitely flying in fruit heaven! According to the motto “A papaya a day, keeps the doctor away” (that’s the way it reads isn’t it ;) ) I came to enjoy freshly prepared papaya and pineapple salad every morning, which I had always been looking forward to already when getting up. That was only one of the things that really flabbergasted me about my host parents! For although they have been hosting students for many years and there has never even been a vegetarian amongst them, Marina, the wife who is originally from Colombia, chased down all vegan products in the nearest supermarket on the first day, some of which I had not even thought would be available here! Braulio, her husband, who has long since retired, had worked in transport in Colón and had been travelling a lot to South and North America for his work. As much as I appreciate care, it was sometimes a bit too much from my host father - he explained to me twice a day that I should eat more and that I should be very careful when walking alone in the streets in the evening. ;) The city of Colón, situated at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal and named after Columbus (“Colón” in Spanish), offers a parade example of the stark contrast between rich and poor. It has the second largest free trade zone in the world after Hong Kong, but in the sixties political uprisings and the former dictatorships (Torrijos/Noriega) brought about a significant decline, so that the poverty rate today is over 40% and the city is considered the most dangerous in Latin America, by some even in the world (which I can’t really imagine). Quite incredible how all this can be taking place only a few miles from the thriving capital!
After our first course week, Justine and I traveled to a more eastern part of the Caribbean coast and headed for “Isla Grande” after a short stay in the village of “Portobelo”, so I bravely fought my beach phobia! :) I must say of course that this mainly refers to run-of-the-mill beaches which are overloaded with tourists, and I have nothing against abandoned natural beauty (at least looking at it, because of my skin I need to avoid sun as much as possible anyway). What we hadn't considered, however, (no, I do not learn from my experiences ;) ), were the mosquitoes, which robbed us of our sleep the whole night! So we went back to Portobelo the next day, whose pirate atmosphere had already filled me with enthusiasm the day before! In the colonial era there was the most important trading port for gold conquered in South America by the Spaniards, which of course attracted loads of pirates (not least our old friend Henry Morgan) and you can still visit the ruins of their fortresses. My happiness was complete when we found a relatively newly established hostel, run by none other than Captain Jack! :) Since he is a real captain, he regularly offers affordable tours to Colombia by sea, which fell into my lap as the perfect solution for my visa problem! (I have to leave the country in the end of november to have my three months visitor's visa renewed and felt drawn into the south rather than into the north, however facing the problem of impermeable jungle...) As usual, I was also excited about the food stalls of the village which in addition to the usual “fry everything that is edible” offer (believe it or not, they even fry ice cream here - google for “helado fritto”) also offered “batidos”, the Panamanian version of fruit shakes, and I only always have to say that I want them without milk. As we passed there again on Sunday, one of the sellers even asked me”¿Hoy no batido?” (No batido today?) - I hadn’t been aware of my renownedness. :D Actually, we had also wanted to visit a beach with the inventive name “Playa Blanca”, but the boat trip there would have been $ 15 (around 11 €), which was too expensive for us. But we managed to beat down the price for the trip to one of the fortresses from $ 20 to impressive $ 5 for both of us. :)
So now I'm going to make use of the availability of both electricity and working internet and will try to upload this entry and some pictures!
Lots of love to all of you!
Johanna
PS: For all those with whom I’ve had this discussion as well - Justine claims to be well-experienced in classifying people as a “dog” or “cat types” and has clearly assigned me to the cats category! ;)
PPS: Since I’ve come across an amazing number of statements lately which have remained in my mind, I thought I’d share them with you, maybe they have a meaning to more people right now.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.
Travel far and fast, travel light. Leave all your jealousy, unforgivingness, selfishness, prejudice and fear behind.
I shall pass this part of life but once. Let me therefore not defer or neglect anything, for I shall not pass this way again.
It is your task to make those whom you love independent from you.
