Buenas, Mis Amigos. Hoy es Jueves, el seis de Enero, y la esta mi dia ultima en Pedasi. Manana yo voy a Panama City en bus, pero yo no se a que hora. Este es cinco horas en el bus! Mi pequena aventura comenzo hace dos semanas. El Viernes es el ultimo dia! Yo vuelvo a Oregon en la noche del Sabado. Que triste (para mi)! Ahora es el tiempo para completar este blog. Estoy sentado bajo el arbol de mango en este albergue lindo en el sol de la tarde. Ah, la vida es buena!
(Roughly, I wrote, in my limited Spanish, with only help for three words:
HI, my friends. Today is Thursday, January 6th, and it is my last day in Pedasi. Tomorrow I go to Panama City on the bus, but I don't know what time. It is five hours on the bus! My small adventure began two weeks back. Friday is the last day. I return to Oregon on Saturday night. How sad!! (for me!) Now it's time for me to complete this blog. I am sitting under the mango tree in this cute hostel in the afternoon sun. Ah, life is good!)
This is the area we eat breakfast in, and where visitors meet and trade stories. It's where I was sitting when I wrote most of this. Hammocks, sling-back chairs, tables and chairs, and this is all under the thatched canopy, which is built around a mango tree in the middle.
There is always an expectation I have of myself that when I go away on vacation, I will read (books, not emails), write (in my journal, not email), and sleep. I tell myself I am going to break from my reality at home, and just do what I long to do when I'm at home (read, write and sleep), as well as immerse myself in the life where I'm visiting. When I arrive at my destination, I find myself too exhausted each day to write, I fall asleep reading, and I wake up not wanting to sleep more because I do not want to miss one moment in my new surroundings. Then there's the intrusion of technology: the temptation of email, Facebook, SKYPE, texting, and phone calls. I'm proud of myself for only texting my kids once, wishing them a happy new year, and not calling at all. I wish I had not been mesmerized by Facebook, I am glad that I didn't read or respond to most emails, and impressed with myself for keeping my cell phone off almost the entire trip (except for texting; I did not call one person!). Facebook serves a purpose, however, allowing me to keep in touch with others to a degree, and sharing my journey with those interested, which is really for my own benefit so that I can have an accounting of my memories (until I started this blog, at least). But SKYPE, now that's something else entirely. I have to admit, I loved having SKYPE...I only communicated via SKYPE with a couple of friends a few times in the USA, but it was such fun to be able to walk with the laptop and show the surroundings to those at the other end of the computer line. Talking via SKYPE to my friend, Holly, who is in Costa Rica, has been so much fun, as we've compared notes on solo travel, Costa Rica vs. Panama, and our plans for a future trip together. SKYPE is actually a form of technology that I welcome wholeheartedly (and I actually do like all those other forms too!).
It seemed that I had so much time to keep up with this blog but days turned into nights which turned into early mornings again, and there just wasn't the time or motivation to sit down and write...and I so wanted to. Each day provided me with an opportunity for a new experience and a way to recharge, and I realize how very fortunate I am to be able to do this. Travel is in my bones, my blood, my heart. My passport is my most prized possession. The itch to keep on going needs to be scratched often, quite often. If I let it go, ignoring it, I might become stagnant, and find my life boring (or maybe not...who knows?), Sometime, in the not-so-distant future, I know I'm going to be winding my way through the world more often and in more far-reaching places. Can I wait that long? Can my friends and family bear with me though the waiting process?
I'll be writing in this blog a lot over the next day or two as I try to summarize my trip. There's one thing, though, that I want to include...some of you might remember that when I traveled last February to Vietnam and Cambodia, with my friend Sue from Colorado, we came up with our own list of rules for travel. As each day of this Panama trip went by, I found myself reviewing those rules (had to look them up) and adding a few things to them. So, here below, is the revised list. Some of them, fortunately, have not been applicable in Panama, such as 'don't flush the toilet paper.' Here, then, are some simple rules for travel:
1. Suck it up...
2. Be flexible
3. Have a very good sense of humor and make sure your travel partners do too
4. When walking across the streets of SE Asia, forget what you teach your kids about looking both ways and hurrying across...here, just walk slowly and do not look. It's actually much safer that way. Yes, thousands of motorcycles and cars and bikes are zooming toward you, past you, and around you, but they are watching you intently and will not hit you UNLESS you stop!
REVISED: When walking on the streets in Panama, just be ready to move to the side when a big truck comes blasting through...in Panama City, don't walk on the streets at all...in fact, take a taxi.
5. Every event, good or bad, is part of the experience, and the memories will be so much fun to remember and talk about later
6. Try different foods, but don't ask what you are eating
7. Bring photos of your home and family, not just your dog
8. Same Same but different is a good traveling philosophy
9. Learn to check out rooms before you say yes and move in
10. Everyone smokes...get used to it
11. Forget about bad hair days
12. Say hi to everyone you meet...strangers can become good friends, and often can give you good recommendations for your next hotel, restaurant, or adventure
REVISED: Panamanians are the most friendly people! Every person I pass by on the street, whether walking or bicycling, and even in cars, waves and says Buena, Buenas, or Hola. And when it's time to go, make sure to say 'Ciao!'
13. Don't flush the toilet paper....put it in the basket next to the toilet
REVISED: Not a problem in Panama!
14. When walking down the streets, don't worry about what you step in, as there is always someone waiting to clean your shoes — so no problem!
REVISED: Wash the beach sand out of your sandals each day, or leave them outside the room. Sandals worn in the ocean and through the sand can smell — and not like roses, either.
15. Make sure you use the correct words or phrase when speaking to the locals, i.e., make sure you say Thank You and not 'shut up!'
16. When using a bicycle that someone lends you, in another country or at home, check to make sure the brakes work! Check BEFORE you start going downhill on gravel and dirt.
17. It's ok to eat seafood that still has its eyes in place...
18. Be part of the chorus and say "Salud" when someone sneezes:-)
19. Bugs are everywhere; mosquitoes aren't!
20. Remember this important slogan: Give back to the world we travel!
Off to dinner...let's see, should it be Jumbo Prawns again, or Grilled Tuna? (both fresh!)
Ciao for now,
Judi
(Roughly, I wrote, in my limited Spanish, with only help for three words:
HI, my friends. Today is Thursday, January 6th, and it is my last day in Pedasi. Tomorrow I go to Panama City on the bus, but I don't know what time. It is five hours on the bus! My small adventure began two weeks back. Friday is the last day. I return to Oregon on Saturday night. How sad!! (for me!) Now it's time for me to complete this blog. I am sitting under the mango tree in this cute hostel in the afternoon sun. Ah, life is good!)
There is always an expectation I have of myself that when I go away on vacation, I will read (books, not emails), write (in my journal, not email), and sleep. I tell myself I am going to break from my reality at home, and just do what I long to do when I'm at home (read, write and sleep), as well as immerse myself in the life where I'm visiting. When I arrive at my destination, I find myself too exhausted each day to write, I fall asleep reading, and I wake up not wanting to sleep more because I do not want to miss one moment in my new surroundings. Then there's the intrusion of technology: the temptation of email, Facebook, SKYPE, texting, and phone calls. I'm proud of myself for only texting my kids once, wishing them a happy new year, and not calling at all. I wish I had not been mesmerized by Facebook, I am glad that I didn't read or respond to most emails, and impressed with myself for keeping my cell phone off almost the entire trip (except for texting; I did not call one person!). Facebook serves a purpose, however, allowing me to keep in touch with others to a degree, and sharing my journey with those interested, which is really for my own benefit so that I can have an accounting of my memories (until I started this blog, at least). But SKYPE, now that's something else entirely. I have to admit, I loved having SKYPE...I only communicated via SKYPE with a couple of friends a few times in the USA, but it was such fun to be able to walk with the laptop and show the surroundings to those at the other end of the computer line. Talking via SKYPE to my friend, Holly, who is in Costa Rica, has been so much fun, as we've compared notes on solo travel, Costa Rica vs. Panama, and our plans for a future trip together. SKYPE is actually a form of technology that I welcome wholeheartedly (and I actually do like all those other forms too!).
It seemed that I had so much time to keep up with this blog but days turned into nights which turned into early mornings again, and there just wasn't the time or motivation to sit down and write...and I so wanted to. Each day provided me with an opportunity for a new experience and a way to recharge, and I realize how very fortunate I am to be able to do this. Travel is in my bones, my blood, my heart. My passport is my most prized possession. The itch to keep on going needs to be scratched often, quite often. If I let it go, ignoring it, I might become stagnant, and find my life boring (or maybe not...who knows?), Sometime, in the not-so-distant future, I know I'm going to be winding my way through the world more often and in more far-reaching places. Can I wait that long? Can my friends and family bear with me though the waiting process?
I'll be writing in this blog a lot over the next day or two as I try to summarize my trip. There's one thing, though, that I want to include...some of you might remember that when I traveled last February to Vietnam and Cambodia, with my friend Sue from Colorado, we came up with our own list of rules for travel. As each day of this Panama trip went by, I found myself reviewing those rules (had to look them up) and adding a few things to them. So, here below, is the revised list. Some of them, fortunately, have not been applicable in Panama, such as 'don't flush the toilet paper.' Here, then, are some simple rules for travel:
1. Suck it up...
2. Be flexible
3. Have a very good sense of humor and make sure your travel partners do too
4. When walking across the streets of SE Asia, forget what you teach your kids about looking both ways and hurrying across...here, just walk slowly and do not look. It's actually much safer that way. Yes, thousands of motorcycles and cars and bikes are zooming toward you, past you, and around you, but they are watching you intently and will not hit you UNLESS you stop!
REVISED: When walking on the streets in Panama, just be ready to move to the side when a big truck comes blasting through...in Panama City, don't walk on the streets at all...in fact, take a taxi.
5. Every event, good or bad, is part of the experience, and the memories will be so much fun to remember and talk about later
6. Try different foods, but don't ask what you are eating
7. Bring photos of your home and family, not just your dog
8. Same Same but different is a good traveling philosophy
9. Learn to check out rooms before you say yes and move in
10. Everyone smokes...get used to it
11. Forget about bad hair days
12. Say hi to everyone you meet...strangers can become good friends, and often can give you good recommendations for your next hotel, restaurant, or adventure
REVISED: Panamanians are the most friendly people! Every person I pass by on the street, whether walking or bicycling, and even in cars, waves and says Buena, Buenas, or Hola. And when it's time to go, make sure to say 'Ciao!'
13. Don't flush the toilet paper....put it in the basket next to the toilet
REVISED: Not a problem in Panama!
14. When walking down the streets, don't worry about what you step in, as there is always someone waiting to clean your shoes — so no problem!
REVISED: Wash the beach sand out of your sandals each day, or leave them outside the room. Sandals worn in the ocean and through the sand can smell — and not like roses, either.
15. Make sure you use the correct words or phrase when speaking to the locals, i.e., make sure you say Thank You and not 'shut up!'
16. When using a bicycle that someone lends you, in another country or at home, check to make sure the brakes work! Check BEFORE you start going downhill on gravel and dirt.
17. It's ok to eat seafood that still has its eyes in place...
18. Be part of the chorus and say "Salud" when someone sneezes:-)
19. Bugs are everywhere; mosquitoes aren't!
20. Remember this important slogan: Give back to the world we travel!
Off to dinner...let's see, should it be Jumbo Prawns again, or Grilled Tuna? (both fresh!)
Ciao for now,
Judi
Hi Judi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun blog! Enjoy the rest of your trip:)
John Raskauskas