Embracing Change

My last weekend in Bocas flew by. Saturday I met up with some friends at the chili cook-off then hopped a water taxi with Mara & Justin to Bastimentos where I happily third wheeled through a playful little town located along a single stretch of sidewalk that wove its way along the edge of the island, which seemed to be legitimately run by the children who "BEEP BEEP"ed you out of the way of their tricycles. We hiked along hot well-worn forest paths to Wizard Beach and lounged on the yellow sands in between cautiously dipping into the water just out of reach of the barreling wave tubes that make this the surfing spot around Bocas.

uno..dos..tres!

The rest of our day was spent trying to follow seemingly purposely confusing signs to a Mexican restaurant that's known for it's sunset views. After trekking through damp rainforest paths that led to nowhere with a variety of companions from locals to fellow tourists, pacing back & forth down Old Bank's long stretch of sidewalk hoping the right direction might just come to us, & nearly giving up- we found Tacos by Face & put our feet up with the chipper little expat himself to talk cuisine as the sun went down and celebrate the fruits of our determination. It took us awhile in the pitch dark to find someone with a boat to take us back to Bocas, but followed rumors about a guy eating at a popular restaurant who had a boat, & sure enough he zipped us home under bright stars.

The next day I met my twosome again, along with one of the teachers from our school, & a few other familiar faces frm for a beach clean-up in honor of earth day. A decent sized group of us slipped into latex gloves, grabbed a trash & recyclable bag, & got to work undoing litter done. Some of the men pulled whole rusted roofs to the road & after only a couple hours of picking up an interesting assortment of trash we walked back along the path to the Smithsonion Institute admiring the now spotless stretch of Bocas.

Later, in a stroke of fate, I met Alex & Josh, two guys my age from Virginia, while collapsed on the couches at Gran Kahuna. They had a rental car & a Thursday deadline to make their way back to Panama City to fly home. I hesitantly accepted an offer to ride along- & then prepared to leave Bocas behind.

In an attempt to ease myself out of my attachment I tried to remind myself that this place is not perfect.

.The ex-pats who choose to defy reality & permanently park themselves here have to struggle with daily issues of water, electricity, & the massive task of fighting on the behalf of the environment in their increasingly tourist torn town. Who wants to live under the pressures of activism?

.& the chitras, god damn chitras. They're sand fleas & they love me. At the time the girls left me behind I looked like a had a mild case of chicken pox. Determined to stop itching I took the advice of the locals & bought myself coconut oil which I coat on daily. I do not feel safe unless I stink like a macaroon. I also have B vitamins, eat as much garlic as I can handle, vicks vaporub & tigerbalm, hydrocortisone, deet bug lotion... & I'm still itchy.

.Relying solely on water taxis is also equally awesome & nausiating. Many of the boats that transport me from my little island are little more than motorized canoes, some plastic buckets that feel strikingly similar to a jet ski. Ok, I love the water taxis. I love how sleepy the town is on Sundays, the children that gather at the end of the airport runway at sunset every night to race in the field, how it downpours in the middle of the night... everything. Tuesday morning I will meet the boys, boat over to the mainland, & get on the road towards Panama City.

Indulging my mom's curiosity about the flowers in Panama... just another reason

Bocas es Amor