Monday, December 19, 2011

El Fin

I keep seeing mountains. In the reflection of the floor in a wall of tile, the way objects interrupt the flow of light through windows, casting shadows, in the clouds passing under each other outside the airplane window. I want to see them; I want to forever have engraved in my memory the landscapes I saw, each one taking my breath away.
The word repeating in my head throughout the trip was “incredible.” How incredible it was that the geography of a country could have characteristics of tropical places with its rainforests, palm trees, and Miami-esque high rises, and also look like something out of New England, with ascending hills and mountains, and beaches with huge chunks of beach glass scattered among the colorful rocks (Chrissy understands…). I had the best of both my worlds at opposite ends of the East coast in the U.S. in a place that was so foreign to both of them. That kind of vision has a foothold in my mind. In a way it started to feel like I was home, but I had only spent 8 days in Panamá.
I learned so much about Panamá through everything we did; every hospital tour and visit to FANLYC, the hours spent with the children at Nutre Hogar, the trip to the Canal, El Valle, Casco Viejo, Panamá Viejo, the Embera, going out to club People on Calle Uruguay, Tinajas, and dinners and drinks at la Taberna del Canal and the Irish Pub just outside la Ciudad del Saber each contributed a special emotion and were all small pieces of a puzzle that when complete with all the others we weren’t able to see in our short time there depicts what is the Panamanian culture and people. Not all of it was appealing to see; we saw struggle, hardship, and sickness, but above all we saw a population that amidst all that could still have faith and be content with what they have. That to me is beautiful. It shows that you can appreciate life no matter what you’ve been handed or where you find yourself.
On the last night we were there before we had to return to the States, Chrissy, Ladonna, Alexandra and I decided that we had to pay one last visit to la Taberna to get some food. I had the privilege of meeting the owner of the restaurant, and we conversed about how we both found ourselves here in Panamá. He told me he was from Spain, and had visited Panamá for the first time when he was 29. He fell in love with the sights and people just as I did, and said that upon returning to Spain he felt out of place, even though Spain had always been his home. He felt like he was a tourist in his own country and that something was missing. He decided to return to Panamá, and 14 years later has a family there and is the owner of a restaurant that overlooks one of the seven wonders of the modern world, the Panamá Canal.
Being back in the States now, back to the daily grind, I’ve experienced that culture shock that Rene from Education Abroad was warning us about before our trip. I thought it would have occurred the other way around, but upon returning to the States it felt odd to have to make the switch back to using English as a primary language, and I began to have that feeling of being out of place that the restaurant owner told me about. It was even more strange that I had to fly 4,000 miles north and end up in the snow sprinkled city of Boston. In a place where I have always felt more at home than anywhere else, something feels missing.  
My trip to Panamá was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. I am so thankful to have been given such an amazing opportunity and to have been able to experience it with such amazing friends. I think that was the hardest part, saying goodbye to everyone so soon. Although it was the end of the trip, it marked what I hope to be the beginning of many great friendships. No matter how much enthusiasm I put behind each retelling of the story of how we discovered the closeness of the Panamá Canal, how beautiful the buildings in Casco Viejo look, or how hilarious moments like the trip to “Enderun” (On the Run. Yea, like the gas station.) that some of my classmates took were, no one else gets it like we do. What we shared and are left with is something truly incredible.  
Until next time, I’ll just keep looking for mountains.







 -Christie Emigh

No comments:

Post a Comment