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: