Coming into this trip, I saw the possibility for adventure. I dreamed of venturing into the rain forest, witnessing the beauty of nature, and being in the presence of a rich Latin American culture, all the while having a blast with the other 24 individuals on this adventure with me. While I was not thinking about it at the time, this trip was to be full of challenges, both big and small, that would help to shape my first out of country experience. For my submission to this class project, I have tried to compile a list of some of the challenges I faced on this trip with a comment on my level of success for each one.
Challenge: Showering
Try not to freeze: Fail
-I had my share of complaints and whimpering when it came to dealing with the cold water. On days when the sun was out for awhile, especially if I had just come back from a long hike, the water actually felt pretty nice. The worst times to shower, when I tended to do it most often, were in the morning or the afternoon/evening of a rainy day. I could not sense any amount of warmth in this cold water as, stepping under the faucet, the bitter cold stole all the air from my lungs.
Try to wash the soap off before the water goes out: Success
- Never had the water go out on me while in the shower! (Sorry to Kelly, Denyse, and all the other people who got to experience this one)
Try not to launch the shower head 50 feet down the hill: Success (it only went about 23 feet by my count)
Try to avoid flashing others: Success (as far as I know)
Try to tie down the shower curtain: Success
-Though I probably added my fair share of wear and tear to that thing trying to get it to stay in place, I was always sure to tie the curtain as best I could to the shower door frame. (Seriously, how annoying was that wind?! It is very frustrating, not to mention difficult, to shower while the curtain keeps trying to stick to your body)
Try to keep clothes dry: Fail
-While I succeeded in this endeavor a majority of the time, it has been labeled a ‘fail’ due to the fact that my clothes were blown onto the ground at least 5 times (resulting in partial dampness and filth coverage).
Try not to be attacked by bugs attracted to toiletries: Fail
-For some reason those little non-stinging bees just loved to shower with me, no matter how many times I swatted them to the ground. Must be my animal magnetism…
Try to make idle chit-chat with shower buddy: Success
-Some of my most entertaining conversations happened while I was in the shower. I mean, I was forced to answer the question: “If I told you to shower with a complete stranger, or I’d kill you, would you be more comfortable with a male or female?” Why this person asked me this, I’ll never know, but it was an interesting conversation to say the least.
Try to stay clean for at least 10 minutes after shower: Fail
-I rarely went too long after showering without getting some type of dirt, sweat, etc on me (probably didn’t help that I was in the habit of walking to the shower barefoot or the fact that I liked to shower even when I knew I’d be hiking soon after)
Try to stay relatively clean and odor-free overall: Success
Challenge: Staying Clean
Try to keep sweating to a minimum: Success
-While I may have had my moments (even on the final day walking out of La Mica, face dripping in sweat), I feel like this task can be marked as a success. Going into this trip I was very aware of how high the humidity and temperature would be, and I thought that perspiration would be more of an issue of discomfort. In reality, the high temperature and humidity outside did not usually register in my mind unless it could be directly compared to a controlled, air conditioned environment.
Try to distinguish between a tan line and a dirt stain: Success
-One of the most interesting problems on this trip was trying to figure out whether or not skin discoloration was an effect of sun exposure or mud layering. I cannot count the number of times that I took off my hiking boots or rubber boots and socks to expose a clear line; my pale white foot was on one side of this line while my ‘tan’ leg was on the other. The question of tan v. mud stain is best answered by vigorous scrubbing.
Try not to let dirty clothes collection become overwhelming: Success
-Following any extended trips we made during this Panama adventure, the biggest issue upon returning was often the amount of dirty clothing that had been accumulated. Whether coated in sand, soaked and smelling of salt, or smelling as if they had been shoved into the bottom of suitcase dirty (and probably wet) and allowed to ‘ferment’ for a few days, the clothing items pulled out of my travel bags were always quite disgusting. In addition to these trip accumulations, the daily build up of dirty clothing (dirty either meaning coated in mud/sweat or having been worn to the point of exhaustion) contributed to a sizeable amount of items that were usually in need of a good wash. It was thanks to my questionable laundry skills, the help of some awesome local women, and my over-packing of clothing that I was able to make it through this trip without running out of things to wear.
Try not to run out of underwear: Success
-Always had a clean pair and never had to buy more! (Though it was good to know that Joey would probably have my back if an underwear need ever did arise. Now that I think about it, he could’ve given a pair of underwear to everybody on the trip and still had a pair for himself).
Try to not have dirt everywhere: Fail
-Whether on my body, in my bed, on my clothes, or in my suitcase, it seemed as if everything I owned was coated in at least a light dusting of dirt. The fact that dirt seemed to coat my luggage was entertaining when I was in public, especially at the airport, when I was able to identify my suitcase by its distinctive foot prints, hand prints, and dirt patches.
Challenge: Spending Time in ‘The Studio’
Try to ignore the smell: Fail
-There is no way that a person could ignore the smell emanating from our pit toilet, as you could even sense it hiking into camp. Apparently 25 people and 2 months is not enough time or input to start an effective compost (I don’t think the gasoline poured in helped at all).
Try to appreciate the prime reading material available: Success
-The baby advertisements, ads for prostitution, etc posted on its walls made visiting the studio much more entertaining.
Try to avoid making the trip downhill: Success
-Whenever it was possible to avoid making a trip down to use the toilet (never a completely fulfilling experience without the sound of a flush or immediate access to running water), I would. This of course meant finding a few good trees to hide behind (a method employed most frequently at night when lighting was at a premium and laziness was at its height).
Try not to enter an occupied stall: Success
-Everyone seemed to have their own style of asking whether or not the stalls were occupied. I personally relied on “Is anyone down here?”, but one of my personal favorites was Will who had a habit of saying something to the effect of “Ding-Dong”, as if ringing an imaginary doorbell.
Try to become less awkward about discussing bodily functions: Success
-Sharing too much was just a trend of this trip. I doubt my friends back home would be nearly as comfortable with the sheer volume of bowel movement discussions, etc as my Panama people were.
Challenge: Avoiding Being Eaten Alive
Try to keep mosquitoes at bay: Fail
-So... Believe it or not, there are A LOT of mosquitoes in Panama. I feel comfortable making this statement based solely on the passive observation of the arms/legs of myself and my fellow travelers. As the final remnants of my bites are finally beginning to fade, I’m reminded of how bad it was just a couple of weeks ago. When you can count over 40 bites on just one calf or accumulate another 40 bites from just 30 minutes of sitting outside, you know that mosquitoes are a problem.
Try to be unappealing as a host of ticks, fleas, etc: Success
-Happy to report that I found no ticks, etc on my body! This is a great feat in my book as I have always had a bit of a lurking fear that I will have a tick hiding somewhere on my body, and not realize it.
Try to wake up with the same number of bites you went to sleep with: FAIL
-As the trip went on, this problem seemed to worsen. I would frequently wake up covered in many more bites than I had when I went to sleep. This issue was most prevalent when visiting the Shaman and his family near Coclecito. Chiggers seemed to be the biggest culprit at this location as it would not surprise me to find 20 new bites on my torso in the morning. I guess you could say that sleeping was always an adventure, especially when you’re unintentionally sharing your bed with some sneaky creatures.
Try not to give in to the temptation to scratch: Fail
-This task was nearly impossible to succeed at, considering the sheer volume of bites that we had covering our bodies. A slight tap or scratch would set off an obsessive impulse to keep scratching, hoping that this would relieve the annoyance. Of course, scratching a bite only makes matters worse. Either the urge to scratch is intensified tenfold or the bites are torn open and subject to pain and possible infection. While I seemed to be able to avoid the latter problem, I could not help but fall victim to the former.
Challenge: Hiking
Try not to fall off a mountain: Success
-This only seemed to be a legitimate concern when making the Chiva ride to Santa Marta, but still.
Try to climb a mountain: Success
-Climbing a mountain was one of my biggest accomplishments on this trip. This happened while in Santa Marta, hiking up a trail to find where Omar Torrijos’ plane crashed. Most of us were completely unprepared for the task ahead of us on that hot, sunny day. Even though the concerned questions and expressions on the faces of our Santa Marta families should have clued me in to the difficult task ahead, I did not take the warning signs to heart. I only brought a Gatorade bottle full of water for what turned into a nearly 10 hour roundtrip hike. By the end of the hike (which was comparable to climbing stairs the entire time), my level of dehydration nearly caused a mental breakdown. The final 30 minutes were particularly treacherous as my level of dehydration was at a high, and the sun beating overhead did not help at all. On the brink of tears and defeat, I finally reached the end of our journey, full of relief. It was interesting to feel the effects that physical exhaustion can have on my mental state. While it was overwhelming and scary at the time, I came to appreciate the challenge my body had overcome in completing the hike.
Try not to fall into a river: Fail
-This gets its own special category as, on one occasion, I plummeted into a river carrying my laptop. While my brand new net book came out of the ordeal fine (after being given ample time to dry), it was still a frustrating experience.
Try to avoid injury: Success
-Disregarding some minor aches and pains sustained from random trail falls.
Try to keep falling to a minimum: Success
Try not to be bothered by needing to hike to get anywhere: Success
-While I’ll admit to my fair share of complaining about the need to hike 15 minutes or so to simply leave La Mica, followed by another 15-20 minute hike to reach El Copé, I eventually learned to take it all in stride. The physical activity made the arrival at your desired destination seem more deserved than if you had simply been able to drive there.
Challenge: Living in an Overcrowded Room
Try to keep noise level to a minimum: Success
-Even though I was not always the quietest person when it came time for lights out in the dorm (I always seem to lose some grace and skill when I have more pressure to try to not make noise), I believe that I kept the noise down to an acceptable level. My biggest challenges on this front were trying to find a non-obnoxious way of sliding my suitcase from under my bed, trying to avoid stepping on the squeaky boards on my way to/from bed, trying not to curse loudly when I slammed my toe into the rock used to hold the door open during the day, and trying to lay as still as possible during the night (as my bed creaked obnoxiously with every move I seemed to make).
Try not to take up too much space: Inconclusive
-This question is difficult for me to answer myself. While I do not feel like I took up an obscene amount of space with my items, I do have a terrible habit of being unorganized. This lack of organization tended to express itself in the form of my suitcase constantly being open and overflowing, possibly encroaching upon the space of others.
Try to get some sleep: Success
-I was not bothered at all by noise in the dorm. I often slept through the snoring, dream yelling, etc of others and rarely did I ever wake up when people would come back from the park in the middle of the night. I would like to thank the past years of falling asleep with the T.V. and lights on for my noise tolerance and ability to sleep anywhere I wanted if I was tired enough.
Challenge: Adapting To a Simpler Lifestyle
Try to live with limited electricity: Success
-This was not at all difficult to adapt to. The only time electricity was needed or missed was at night, or when needing to charge something. Rarely was lack of access to this utility an issue. Interestingly enough, it was, at times, annoying to have electricity at La Mica, as the deck where we spent all of our time was placed directly above the noisy generator.
Try not to be disheartened by the lack of internet access: Fail
-While I naturally missed internet access, as I was forced to face my Facebook addiction, I did not miss the World Wide Web simply for the ease of access to trivial pursuits. I yearned for access to all the information that it had to offer. Conducting our research project would have been much more simplistic if we could have tapped into this great resource more often. As it stood, we would need to hike for at least 30 minutes and board a cramped bus for an additional hour before arriving at a location where the internet could be accessed. By this time, we would all be so behind in answering emails, etc that research was often pushed to a back burner (the cost of internet and bus schedule always on our minds).
Try to drink the water regardless of what may be floating in it: Success
-I never thought I’d ever see the day where I’d be able to look into my glass of water, see it as foggy, discolored, and littered with dirt particles, and not be thrown off by that at all. I can proudly say that I drank my fair share of this ‘mineral enhanced’ water.
Try to adapt to a life of public transportation: Success
-I personally love going for rides on buses, and the Chivas always were an adventure in and of themselves.
Challenge: Working While Abroad
Try to keep up with assignments: Fail
-While I was able to keep up with most of the readings, I could not make myself focus enough to write any of the papers or excursion reports while in Panama. There’s just something about being in the middle of the rain forest, being unable to ever be alone, being unable to find silence, and being stressed about completing a time sensitive research project that fed my procrastination habit when it came to History and JINS.
Try to stay on top of Biology project: Success
-Regardless of the innumerable issues we faced while carrying out our survey of local flora, with a focus on medicinal plants, I could not label this task as anything but a success. We had to fight the elements to keep our press dry, carry plants through treacherous hikes (sometimes in our mouths), struggle with balancing the slow paced nature of collecting with the quick movements of our fellow travelers/guides, struggle with a limited knowledge of proper collection and pressing techniques, deal with an inadequate drying oven, and face the harsh reality that a third of our specimens needed to be thrown away due to issues with molding. Even when everything seemed to be going wrong, we were still able to collect and adequately preserve 150 specimens, receive aid in identification down to family (sometimes even species), learn more than we ever thought we could about plants in a 2 month span, and embark upon countless journeys into the wild on a quest to find as many beautiful flowers and exotic plants as possible. In short, the problems we faced completing this project only served to make the successes taste that much sweeter.
Try not to be overwhelmed: Fail
-It’s hard to avoid feeling overwhelmed when you have so many tasks/projects to complete and so little time.
Challenge: Finding the Adventure I Desired
Try to travel: Success
-From visiting the indigenous community of Kuna Yala, to camping on the beach of a dreamy island in the Atlantic Ocean, to spending a week of home stays in Santa Marta, to frequenting Omar Torrijos National Park, to seeing glorious waterfalls, to visiting Panama City, to spending time in the home of a Shaman, to stepping into the Pacific Ocean right off of an all inclusive resort, and more, we were never left wanting when it came to being able to travel the country and see the beautiful scenery and rich culture it has to offer.
Try to attempt Spanish: Success
-One of the aspects of this trip that excited me most was being able to finally practice Spanish, which I have spent the past seven years learning, in real life situations. I looked forward to seeing if I was at a level where I could interact with native speakers. Even though I sometimes shied away from using Spanish, as I feared appearing slow or foolish due to lack of understanding, I did step out of my comfort zone. I tried my hardest to employ the vocabulary that I did have, and often found my attempts at communication to be successful.
Try to take time to enjoy surroundings: Success
Try to meet interesting people: Success
-Shout out to Julie Ray, Pablo, Niño Mac, Tio Mac, Joel, Ander, the wonderful people of the Santa Marta community, the people of Kuna Yala, everyone who helped to coordinate any of our trips, the Shaman’s family in Coclecito, anyone who helped run La Mica, and anyone else who helped to make our time in Panama as enjoyable as possible. I would also like to give a shout out to all of my fellow Truman travelers. Here’s to spending nearly 2 months together 24/7 without killing each other. I made some great friends on this trip, and was so happy for the opportunity to get to know each and every one of you!
I could probably go on forever about all of the challenges I faced in Panama. From adjusting to living my day to day life Panamanian style, to facing emotional, physical, and mental hurdles, this trip turned out to be the adventure I expected and so much more. This experience offered me a unique opportunity to grow and find myself, all the while doing something that I loved. Below is an excerpt from one of my first blog posts made upon arriving in Panama. It was written following a visit to Omar Torrijos National Park. While everything was not always as dream-like and perfect as it seemed on that first day, my time spent in Panama really was an awe inspiring experience that was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I really wish I could think of the words to describe what this experience meant to me, but the only words coming to mind right now are words such as awesome, majestic, and beautiful. I’m not particularly eloquent right now, but this journey into the rain forest was all those words and much more. Just witnessing all the beauty of nature while hiking through it, feeling a bit rugged and BA at the same time. As we were walking back up the slippery/mossy trail, it started to rain, and, in all honesty, that only made the walk back even better. I got rained on in the rain forest... How perfect”“From our journeys into town, to the excursions into nature, I'm finding that I'm falling in love with this place. While I do worry a bit that I might still be in the 'Honeymoon' stage, I do not see myself really having any reason to leave this bliss. I have always loved nature, and it’s so fulfilling to finally spend this much time getting more in tune with it. From showering under the open sky, to falling asleep to the sound of crickets, to doing homework with the rain forest as my backdrop, I am just so content with life right now.”
