JJ's Travelogue

Am I proud to be an American once again? For the last 25+ years I have, more often than not, been ashamed of my country. Oh, Clinton was a decent president, but even his foreign policy did some damage. It all began with Reagan, went downhill with Bush Sr., then into the shitter with Bush jr. as we all know.

But watching the inauguration this morning gave me such a renewed sense of what America is capable of. The America that my grandparents knew, before corporate greed took over. [Then again, maybe I'm just romanticizing a past I never knew - mom always talks about how oppressive the 50's were.] To have a multi-cultural highly educated intellectual (yet) who is not from the old moneyed ruling class make it to the White House changes everything. I’m still in shock that he made it to the top. It speaks volumes to what is still possible in America, and in very few other places. Our majority white country freely elected a black president – something no other democracy has ever done. Even progressive and multi-cultural  Canada, Holland, the UK have never had a black person in such high office.

It’s been interesting watching the process from abroad. It seems the whole world is as excited as I am. From the local networks to all the world reports I see on CNN’s International Edition, it is clear the entire world views this as a new dawn.

Obama’s speech left me with tears streaming down my face. He is just so eloquent and inspirational. Then there is the fact that he wrote it himself and recited it in total, without once looking down. It’s a new dawn. Even the evil Rick Warren contained his bigotry; I was impressed that his invocation didn’t even hint at divisiveness. Of course all that God stuff got to me – so much for separation of church and state. But did you catch that Obama included us atheists in his speech? A first!

It was great seeing Aretha up there, but the poor girl can’t hit those notes anymore! On the other hand, I thought the performance by Perlman, Yo Yo, et al was beautiful. And I loved Michelle’s outfit.

Who knew that Obama was left-handed?

As Bill Maher said, “I take back every bad thing I ever said about the good old U.S.A.  I feel like a hockey mom at the state fair getting felt up by Hank Williams Jr while fireworks go off and Jesus appears in my cotton candy.”

UPDATE: There is a lovely article here about how Obama’s election bodes well for the future of science, and how it is inextricably linked with democracy.

UPDATE 2: His first week in office has been phenomenal. My favorite quote thus far: “I told him [George Mitchell, Obama's Middle East envoy] to start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating.” Am I dreaming??

I’ve spent the last five days at a lovely spot up in the cloud forest called Lost & Found Eco Hostel. I couldn’t even tell you exactly where it is.. somewhere on the road connecting the coasts, between David and Bocas. The bus lets you off by the side of the road with nothing around but trees and a trail heading up into the forest. After 1000′ of huffing and puffing you come to a little oasis built right into the side of the mountain with stunning views. It’s clear from the moment you arrive that you’re going to be living in the midst of nature, with all that entails. Maybe that’s why the critters didn’t bug me, because I was clearly in their home, whereas when I find them in my home, I feel they’re invading my space. Here, I was invading their space.

The place was built about a year or so ago by a Canadian guy (Andrew) about my age. The design is really smart – most of the hangout space is completely open to the elements, albeit with a roof. The sleeping quarters, bathrooms, and movie/game lounge are all enclosed. It’s amazing to think how all of the supplies for the place were carried by hand up the mountain. Hundreds of bags of concrete, steel beams, refridgerators, beds, metal sheeting, toilets. I stopped being such a princess and stayed in the dorm instead of a private room. It was fine. Their bunks are three high, but built wide and high. I do like my privacy, but since the bathrooms were far and away anyway, it didn’t make much difference. Plus it was much cheaper. Instead of throwing used toilet paper into a trash bin as you do in Guatemala, you throw it into a metal bucket followed by a lit match. It works perfectly – everything, including the smell, goes up in smoke.  Everything is recycled, naturally. It’s in the midst of an organic coffee farm, and is the only private land within a large natural park, so there are tons of wild plants and animals about.

My first afternoon I took a hike up to a lookout and saw a white-faced Capuchin monkey about 30′ away! Another day I saw some crazy looking large birds, but wasn’t able to identify them. My favorite birds of the area are the Harpy Eagles. These birds are so large and powerful that they come swooping out of the sky and carry off monkeys, sloths, anteaters.. pretty much anything that moves. Cool! One of the staff I befriended showed me a banana spider in it’s web and a hummingbird nest, replete with baby hummingbirds. He also caught a jungle crab which I had never heard of (and neither has Wikipedia, so I’m not sure of it’s real name.) Big cats including jaguars, pumas, and ocelots are also known to be in the area, but they’re near impossible to spot. They see you long before you see them.

Biologists from the Smithsonian come around often to study in the area. I came across some of their rain and field gauges in the woods and sent the photos to Eddie, who provided more info. Check this out – a mere two weeks ago they were on a hike right behind the hostel and discovered an entirely new species of snake. How cool is that?! The best part is that they get to name it. I would love to name a new species of snake – I would call it.. Jasminidae. They also discovered a new type of tarantula a few months ago. Amazing that in this day and age there are still so many undiscovered plant and animal species. In Panama alone there are 125 species found nowhere else in the world. Statistics like that really drive home why we need to save the rainforest.

Living on the premises in a large cage is a rescued kinkajou named Rocky. He is sooooo cute! I want one. They’re nocturnal, so you can only play with him at night. Which is good, since he can see much better at night than in the day. He loves people to play with him. The cage is about 10′x10′x7′, so you can get a lot of people in there along with all his branches and toys. He’s only 2 years old (they live into their late twenties), so he’s still very frisky, like a puppy. He nibbles at your nose and ears, and if he’s biting too hard you just pull on the scruff of his neck like mom would. He has a prehensile tail that is amazingly strong, it can swing him around like another arm. His paws are more like hands – five-fingered, they look like a wolfman baby’s hands – human like, but with more hair and sharp nails.

continue reading the rest of this post (and view the photos)…

I am picturing a cartoon forest filled with trees that don’t have leaves but instead have big white cartoon-y clouds on top. But I’m sure that Josh will clarify that. Cause that’s where he is! At some nutty eco-hostel with no internet but lots of other wacky travelers.

He called earlier, and asked me to post to let everyone know that he’s just dandy, but can’t update this blog and can’t send international texts (so no twittering). But it is seemingly AWESOME there, with tons of hikes and previously unknown animals. He is apparently planning on adopting this “adorable” creature that is a cross between a raccoon and ferret. ? But more specifics to come, I’m sure.

He said that he’s going to be in the hippie tree-house for a few more days and then begin making his way east. May not be in touch again until he gets to Panama City, though.

And then I thought that I’d take this blog-hijacking as an opportunity to post some other pictures from our time in Nicaragua. Because Josh only put up pictures where my hair looks bad.

I’m still in David. I just needed a break, to catch up on email, the blog, excercise, sleep, etc. But now I’m feeling the itch, so tomorrow I’ll probably move on.
I moved to a hostel, to be with people and get info about the area. Ironically, it’s more expensive than the hotel I was in (dorm beds are cheap, but I’m just too old for that). Interesting story about this place (Hostel Bambú). The proprieter is a 30-something from New York City. He was the guitarist in a successful rock band for 12 years, touring Europe, appearing on Letterman and Conan, etc. But their last album didn’t sell so well, they got dropped by their label, and he found himself out of work with no work history, no skills, no idea what to do next. So he came down to Panama to hang out with a friend for a while. Eventually, he met a hostel owner who told him how easy it was to open his own. He scraped together $8k from friends and family, found a partner with the same amount, put the down payment on a house (dealing directly with the owners), and opened for business. They’ve done all the work themselves to convert it from a single-family house into a hostel. It’s only been open four months. Having spent five years managing hostels there is a lot I would have done differently, but he’s learning as he goes. He’s just too young to be missing so many brain cells. Actually, it’s a bit what I imagine college dorms to be like. Ping-pong, messy dishes, relaxed vibe, the guitars and bongos even come out at night. Classic.

On my run the other day I met a few locals who invited me back to hang out in the evening. It was good fun although I didn’t understand most of the conversation. The next day one of the girls and I hung out because she speaks English. She’s from Bocas del Toro on the Carribean, where they speak some English. We went to her daughter’s school, then took a bus to a waterfall and swam a bit. It’s always nice being in the company of a local, seeing how they live. Very slow paced – lots of standing in the street and shooting the breeze with the neighbors.

Today I went for a day trip up to Boquete, a town in the Chiriquí highlands. The region is sometimes called “Little Switzerland” because of the Alpine-style houses and the influence of Swiss and Yugoslav settlers. The cool, crisp air is a nice change from the heat of David. To make an analogy to U.S. towns that I know, I imagine Boquete was a bit like Truckee, CA 20 years ago – a pretty Western town nestled in the mountains. But now it’s quickly becoming the Aspen, CO of Panama. I must have walked past 10 real estate shops, all with signs in English. Rich Americans are moving there in droves and driving up the prices. The menus in some of the restaurants would make even New Yorkers blush. So weird – 60km away here in David, the $8 Boquete burrito goes for $2. Someone is getting very rich off all the naive gringos.

Anyway, this week the town is having their annual coffee and flower festival. All the hotels are booked out for this which turned out to be a blessing, since it prevented me from staying there – it was enough to walk around for a day. I had a nice chat with one of the festival workers who was bored. Again, I only understood about 50% of what she said, but it was nice to try for a while. [I've been cracking the language books, but it's slow going].
There is a pretty botanical garden called Mi Jardin Es Tu Jardin that Doug (my father)’s friend recommended. And, I created an adventure for myself by fording the river. Who needs horses, guides, rafts and ropes? Not I!

I would like to do more in this region, but the tour prices are insane, and it’s not clear whether I can do a lot of it on my own. Trying to figure out where to go next. Chloë and I visited Bocas del Toro for a quick vacation years ago and it was beautiful, but I hear it’s pricey and touristy now. Hmm, where to go..

A lot of the locals here call gringos “G.I.’s”, including myself. I assume it’s left over from when the U.S. occupied the Canal Zone, and anyone looking like a gringo probably was in fact a G.I.

Speaking of GI’s.. this past weekend, I had a similar experience as in La Ceiba – I’m waiting for the weekend to roll around when the town will light up, the weekend comes, and.. the discos and everything were all closed on Friday and Saturday. Turns out it was Martyrs Day, when they commemorate 22 student protesters getting gunned down by the U.S. Army in 1964. Reading the history makes me ashamed of my country (as if I need another reason).

Saw my first movie in a theatre since leaving the States – The Day the Earth Stood Still. Good fun, although I thought the ending was a bit wimpy. Thank dios they didn’t overdub it, or I would have surely walked out.

It’s difficult to find a healthy meal. I see vegetables in the market, but they’re rarely put into the food. Where do they go? Lots of fried meat and starches instead.

Here is a video of the kid shaving ice to make a local snow cone.