san blas

back from 4 days on an island paradise. slow paced, hammocks, gentle Caribbean waves, kuna people taking care of us and showing us their village, farm land and graveyard (elaborate, up on a hill, roofs to cover the family plots, much ceremony). along the coast of panama, lots of tiny islands, the vast majority uninhabited. our island was just big enough for 6 sleeping huts, one eating hut, 275 palm trees, and an uncountable number of biting insects (the only downside). during the day, ricardo would take us on some kind of outing, often snorkeling off nearby beach-y islands, and sometimes meeting the kuna.

kuna -- communal, fiercely protective of their traditions and culture. they had a massive revolution to fight off the panamanian spanish, who were trying to slowly take over their lands, develop it in their own ways. the kuna were succesful, and are amazingly maintaining much of their lifestyle. they have resorts, like the one we stayed at, to bring in money (which is shared by the whole kuna nation, who also decides, collectively, if a resort should be built or not) and boats come from colombia with various produce and things. we ate tons of seafood, and locally grown fruits and vegetables.

im hoping to be able to carry back that laid back, no surprises feeling with me home. i can imagine that growing up in that environment, where you can see everything happening from miles away, where you have plenty of time to prepare for events, will allow people to relax and enjoy. as ben said, its like the opposite of dc, where people are so tense and running around all the time, honking at cars who wait for more than a half second at green lights, and huffing and puffing on the metro, knocking past slow walkers. it was an ultimate get away -- so much time to just read and write, no pressure to be anywhere... aaah.