Ultimo Post

Well better late than never. Here's my last post so I can wrap this all up. Par for the course I'm going to be all reflective and maybe impart some wisdom on some fellow travelers (though I guess some of it is specific to Panama). So here’s to hoping that’s not a complete disaster. I've picked up a few things, learned a few lessons. Some of it is from personal experience, some of it is from personal non-experience and things I’ve heard from the other students. Here's what I think is important.

1. When walking down the street follow Pokemon rules.

Comfy AND easy to wear. That's the dream.

This one is for the ladies. Men are going to try to get your attention when you’re just walking around.  They will cat-call and wolf-whistle and beep their horns, call out to you, sing etc. That’s just the kind of culture it is. Try to avoid eye contact, because they play by pokemon rules, where eye contact is some sort of obligation.

So I know, it's silly, but really eye contact can easily be interpreted as interest so if you just want to be left alone, don’t go microscoping people’s eyeballs.

 

I think I’ve pretty much mastered this since I had to walk in my daily commute (past several construction sites even). First I had my mp3 player on full-blast and keep the headphones visible (though if you’re going to do this determine if your neighborhood is safe enough for you do so).

If someone does try to get my attention (often they just want to whistle and let you go about your day) I never break my stride. 

Also you can just sort of make faces too. 

2. Realize the importance of taxis

Taxis are going to be pretty essential to your getting around. Try to get the numbers of one or two that you like so you don’t have to stand around waiting all the time. 

The taxis here drive even worse than everyone else so try not to freak out about that.

Also some of the taxis are really nice, they look new and shiny and have air conditioning, while others look like they’ve been being driven around since 1960. It’s really just luck of the draw, and you shouldn’t freak out about that either.

If possible, try to talk to your taxi drivers. I mean some of them are quiet and stone faced the whole time, but plenty of them are talkative. So do that, it will make the ride go by faster (which you’ll need given the amount of time you spend in traffic) and may help determine your rate. Also it will make them more likely to actually come get you if you need a ride somewhere else.

Also no tipping

Tip in general for services and what not, but the taxis more often than  not are going to overcharge you. Yes, it is because you are a foreigner. No, there isn't much you can do about it. So my advise is not to tip.

3. Talk to strangers

This is something that made me uncomfortable, as I'm not big on talking to strangers. But it's a foreign country, everyone is a stranger. You're gonna have to talk to people.  Obviously use your discretion, but part of your experience should be meeting people, getting to hear stories and what not. So talk to strangers, but don't take candy obviously.

4. Try everything

Try everything, the food, the places the activities. Try it all. Take in as much as you can, because it's new. You won't like all of it, that goes without saying, but you'll be glad you tried, I know I was.

5. Pack less; bring more money

If there was one thing I could go back and tell pre-departure Tiffani is that she didn't need three suitcases. You don't need a lot of clothes and things. You do need money. If I could do it over, I would bring a few items of clothes and buy the rest at the mall. There are plenty of places to get cheap and cute clothes, and this is coming from someone who doesn't even like shopping. Once I was able to get something like 10 new outfits for about 30 bucks. You don't need to bring a lot of things either. There are few things you can get in America that you won't be able to get in the city, as parts of Panama are pretty much little USA.

6. Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)

There will be opportunities to dance. Take them, even if you're a bad dancer (like moi), you're in another country. What's the worst that can happen?

7. Creep (Oh I, Oh I, Oh I)

Sometimes you just gotta creep on people. Just go to a cafe, take a book or your laptop and just people watch. Listen to people talk, see what you can pick up in body language. Take time to just observe the culture around you. All that jazz.

8.  Don't feel obligated to stick with the first jerks you meet

I cannot stress this enough. I think there is a sort of misconception that when you go abroad everyone you meet is going to be super awesome and friendly. There are jerks just like in the US. Jerks are universal. So please, don't cling to people just because you happened to run into them first or because you see them often. I know it's an easy trap to fall into, especially in  a new place. Everyday is a new opportunity to make friends. I mean did you really fly hundreds or thousands of miles away from home not to be with something less than awesome?

9. Take lots and lots of pictures

10. It's not going to be what you plan or expect

I'm not saying it's going to be better than what you expect or worse, I'm just saying it will be different. But it's what you make of it when you get there that matters.

So that's the end of my blog. Hope you've enjoyed the ride. Panama was definitely an experience I won't forget, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go. I didn't get to do everything I wanted, but that's just an excuse to come back (currently planning a shorter trip for next summer). I learned a lot about myself, my family, and strangely the world in general. And I had the best program director in the land.

Also I've got the traveler's bug and I want to go all over the world now. Mexico, Sweden, Italy, Japan! Though I guess I've got to get this graduation thing out of the way first. 

No next time (at least not in this blog) but here's the first picture I took in Panama: 

I Miss/Strange You

Hello again!
So I wanted to do a couple of post about things I've learned and my feelings and what not. But with finals and packing I don't think I'll have enough time to do that this week. So instead you get a quick post about all the things I'm going to miss about Panamá and all the things I missed about the EEUU.  But don't you fear, I will be writing up a post sharing all my wisdom with you as soon as I get back.

Missing  Panamá: Cats

As far as I know there is no place in the states I can go and cats will just be everywhere. I loved getting to see cats all the time and making new kitty friends. I'm going to miss one cat in particular. An orange cat, who you may recall I once mistook for an ocelot. That cat lives in one of the houses close to my host house, and was always waiting for me when I walked home from school. I don't know her name (and it's a girl because she has a pink collar) but she's super awesome and super friendly. She runs up and greets me when she sees me. My cat at home does this.

 LET ME LOVE YOU!

Missing  the States: Junk food

This is partly because I'm in another country and partly because my host mom is health conscious, but I didn't eat a ton of junk food while I was here. I could have gone out and got a bag of chips, but it just wouldn't be the same. Mostly I missed the sweets and just having them be a walk downstairs or a vending machine away.

Missing Panamá: Dogs

We are a little stricter on dogs just going about willy nilly in the states. So I will miss that as well. Though my actual dog is much nicer than my cat.

Who's a good boy?

Missing the states: Complaining (about the internet)

What do the blinking lights mean?

I know, I know, I complain about the internet all the time. But in the states, if my internet was on the fritz you can bet I'd be calling the phone company, and I wouldn't have to wait a month for them to actually come to the house if necessary. Not being able to complain or be spoken to condescendingly by some voice on a phone was almost as sad as not having internet itself.

Missing Panamá: Taxis!

About the same as if I actually took the picture.

As a non-driving person, I appreciate public transportation, or I would, if I actually lived in a place with reliable public transportation. (Cannot wait to live in NY again) So I'm really going to miss all of the taxis even if they did usually overcharge me.

Missing the states: My cellphone

How happy I'll be when I get back to using my actual cellphone. This whole phone card thing is a hassle. And the actual phone, was so simple it wound up being more frustrating. Also yesterday, I had 26$ on it and today I have zero for no reason. I am going to miss my Spanish alarm clock though.

Missing Panamá: Junk Food (con queso)

Junk food makes the list twice. Most of the food here is fried, or has cheese or is fried cheese. I will miss Panamá's unique deep fried goodness.

Missing the States: Streaming

I cannot fully articulate how devastated I was the first time I tried to stream something here and was informed I was in an "unsupported region". I went into full on entitlement mode when Netflix wouldn't play for me. "BUT I'M AN AMERICAN!" I cried at the screen. But yeah, Netflix, NBC, ABC, Comedy Central, etc. etc. don't stream here. Also Pandora didn't work either. If it's a legal streaming site, chances are it won't work. Some websites that aren't streaming also are unavailable or are different sites altogether but it was the streaming I yearned for.

 Missing Panamá: How You Doin' ?

I'd don't really know how to explain this one, besides like self esteem boosts. The wolf whistling is a bit annoying but part of me will miss it. Along with strangers telling me I'm pretty. It's not something I get a lot in the states. Maybe if I did, I'd be in a better mood?

Missing the States: My Friends!

 I used to wonder what friendship could be

Obviously, this wasn't so bad because I did keep in touch with some people using the Skype and Facebook, but what I'd give to just be able to hang out with my friends again! Even if we weren't doing anything special, just being around my friends again would be enough. It was lonely not to be able to just call someone up and say lets go eat lunch or something.

Missing Panamá: Bilingual conversations
I'm going to miss having conversations in a mixture of Spanish, English and Spanglish. Also sometimes, I'd find myself in conversations where I'd be speaking only Spanish, and the Panamanian would be speaking only English, like some bizarre game of chicken. Fun times were had.

Missing the States: My family!

Pretty accurate depiction. 

I love my family more than anything. I cannot wait to see them all again. I did a good job keeping in touch I think, but I was still crazy homesick. They are in for some major hugs.

Missing Panamá: Legally drinking

I mean obviously. It's been a treat getting to drink in public and buying my own alcohol. But what I'm really going to miss is all the wonderful, girly cocktails. Going from Cosmos and Tequila Sunrises to Admiral Nelson and store brand Cola might just kill me (you know, on the inside).

Missing the States: My name

 Something about this appeals to me but I can put my finger on it.

Tiffani is not a common name over hear so pretty much everyone just calls me Stephanie or Stephie. It will be nice to actually hear my name again. Though people will probably continue to spell it wrong in my e-mails and on my Facebook, even though my e-mail address is my name, and it is plaster in huge ass letters on Facebook.

Missing Panamá: Spanish Media

 How do I tell her she has something in her teeth?

I figure I'd just do one post about how much I'm going to miss Spanish commercials, Spanish/Panamanian soap operas, and watching American movies in Spanish or with Spanish subtitles. All of those things, are awesome. Spanish commercials are so bizarre, but they have crazy catchy songs. (Fun fact: it took me about two month here before I could really distinguish actual songs on the radio from elaborate advertisements) I never really know what's going on in the soap operas, but I do know it's a lot of people being outraged by one another's behavior. Even if I saw a character doing something that seemed reasonable at the time, once another character was outraged about it I'd be right there with them yelling, "Por Que!" Also all of the actors looked like other celebrities who's names I didn't know. Though one man was clearly just a Colombian John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever. Also I recommend everyone see an American movie dubbed in Spanish, it's like entering another world (the older the movie the better).

Missing the States: Looking forward to going abroad

 My excitement face.

I know this seems silly but I am going to miss the anticipation and excitement I had about coming here, especially now that it's pretty much over. What do I look forward to now? Graduation? Pa-shaw.

Missing Panamá: Not being an obvious minority

Most of the people here are just different shades of brown and black. Even the lighter toned Panamanians still probably have some black in them. So walking around and not feeling like the odd one out (especially compared to the very white boys in the program) was something else. I'm not saying racism doesn't exist here. But at times, I felt more comfortable in my own skin (pun intended) walking around here, than I do in certain places in the States.

Missing the States: Not being terrified that I was going to lose my passport and be stuck in a foreign country forever.

Missing Panamá: BLOGGING
I've had such an excellent time with this blog even if only like 2 people read it. I've already entertained thoughts of continuing blogging when I get back to the states. I mean, I don't think I'm funny enough or interesting enough things happen in my life to just blog about my life, like Allie Brosh or Adam Ellis, but I do sometimes have opinions about topics that I'd like to share. So I may be starting or collaborating on other blogs in the near future.

Also the title of this post is a pun, because I miss in Spanish is the same word for strange (extraño)

Getting close to the end guys. This is my last blog in Panamá (though only my second to last post). So until next time, here's a picture of my favorite thing at this moment:

I'm like the Hugh Hefner of flowers.

EDIT: This was to be published on Wednesday, but there were difficulties and now it's delayed and the videos are gone. :(

This past weekend, we left at a reasonable hour to go to Anton Valley. This is back up in Coclé. The drive wasn't too bad. Shortly after we got on the road we stopped for food. I shared a pizza with the guys, so I continued my trend of failing to get Panamanian food at restaurants.

In addition to not leaving at the crack of dawn, we were also staying overnight at a hotel, which purportedly had wi-fi. This was great because I had my computer with me. I wouldn't normally take my computer but I was planning to go to my great aunt's house again, after the excursion, and wouldn't be stopping back in my host house.

The hotel was in the country side again. It was weird, because the area seemed really rural with little bursts of something more urban. Overall it kind of reminded me of one of those after the end stories, where society has started anew, so you've got the cool mix of modern, antique, and alien.

The hotel was very interesting. I think we or at least I was expecting more of a Holiday Inn kind of hotel, this place was more like a jungle resort type thing. The rooms were very simple (and I didn't have to share with anyone), but the actual hotel part was pretty fancy.

There were lots of animals which I loved.
There were turtles.

A koi pond (with more turtles)

And giant bunnies!

There were also birds in cages, but as those are less interesting to me than giant bunnies I didn't get pictures of them. I did get pictures of the geese that are just roaming around though.

Anyway, even though we finally left later, the boys, as always, were tired and they wanted to nap. Vanessa was a bit annoyed, but we made the best of it and went exploring without them. First we went to the downtown area. We went to a little souvenir store, so Vanessa could look at a map. Everything in the place was very nice but it was also crazy expensive. So then we went to a partially indoor, partially outdoor market. I was able to buy reasonably priced souvenirs and made a little friend.

Then Vanessa wanted to go to an orchid reserve. So I guess the boys being lazy bums worked out for us, because we wouldn't have gotten to go otherwise. That was pretty cool and I got great pictures. I don't take enough time to do things like just look at flowers. I wasn't expecting us to have a guide, visiting gardens always seems like the sort of thing you do independently so you can look at what you want in your own time but we had one. I suppose it wasn't too bad, we were probably shown things I would have overlooked.

First she showed us pictures of flowers which I thought was redundant, but took pictures of regardless. Then she showed us preserved insects. I think it's a testement to my professionalism that I took pictures of the gross, icky, bugs in addition to the pretty butterflies.

After that we actually got to walk around and see real orchids. So I'm going to spam you with pics of those. I took my inspiration from those coffee table books, with the detailed, close-up, pictures like you're looking at some sort of flower porn. I hope I did a good job with it. Toward the end there are pictures of more traditional looking orchids.
But first! In addition to the orchids, they had these trees with some kind of melon on it that was the size of my head.

And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't actually prove they were the size of my head.

Pictures I try to take of myself are usually even worse than this.

On to the flowers.

 I call this one Treenus

 I call this Treenus 2: Electric Boogaloo

 This plant is angry.

I call this one, potted plant.

Also check it out. Panorama!

So that was our quaint little trip to see the orchids. Then we went to pick up the boys. Well first we rallied the geese so that they would be outside the door when the boys came outside. Then we let them in the car before they would be mauled, because we are good people.

We ended up going on two hikes. The first one was at a place called Canopy Adventure! (emphasis theirs). There were actual rope bridges and they give you a cool walking stick before they send you out there on your own.  So that was great, I was pretty much like a real adventurer.

There was a waterfall, we could have swam, but I don't think any of us had bathing suits.

And if you look closely around the middle of this picture you can see zip lines.

The next place was hard to find because that's how the middle of nowhere works. But eventually we got to it. It was operated by these two big ladies with a tired dog. The actual tour guides were kids though.

Ours was this adorably serious short kid. He was all business and he explained the history of the area. Here's a video of him talking about this fancy rock back there.

There was another waterfall and pool area here. And it was at this point our guide remembered he was like 7 and he sort of abandoned us to go swimming with his friends.

After that we left to get food. We ate at a place called Brushetta and got...well brushetta but we got other food too, and wine. I made friends with another dog and everyone got mad and me for feeding him.

And that was pretty much all that happened. At some point after we got back at the hotel we had a night cap with Vanessa. Apparently alcohol makes Vanessa sleepy so she bought a Kahlua so she'd be able to sleep that night. And she drank like literally a quarter of it before she had enough. It was adorable.

We didn't do much the next day. I think we were supposed to do some more hiking after we checked out, but ended up leaving after breakfast. We fed the turtles and koi part of our breakfasts so there's that.

I got some choice pictures of the landscape on the way out.

After that I went to my Aunt Bobbi's house again. And later that night my grandma flew in from South Carolina. It's her first time back in the country in something like 39 years. So that's been pretty nice. Her birthday was this past Tuesday!


Anyway that's all for now. I'm not sure what I'm doing this weekend. I assume ISA will have another excursion, but I haven't heard anything for now. Somehow I don't think I'll be doing anything particularly exciting for my birthday, considering how little I've gotten out so far. But that's okay, I suppose that just means I'll need to have an actual celebration when I get back to the states.
Alright guys. Until next time here's Rarity