The First Week

          Before this trip, I knew very little about Panama and the people. Having never been to a country with a noticeably different culture, I was not sure what to expect. I had an idea that the Panamanian people would be living very conservatively and that the resources would be very outdated. I thought that the community would be small, tight knit, and very rural but what I found out in this past week is that although Panama has numerous differences, noticeable similarities do exist.
          When I first arrived at the airport in Panama, I immediately became aware of the language barrier and already how difficult it was to say the simplest things. We picked up our luggage and then met our Panamanian contact who was very happy to see us. Everybody has been so welcoming here and they go out of their way to make us feel comfortable. In general, I think the people here are much nicer to strangers than back at home. While driving through the rural areas to get to where we were staying, it was easy to see how beautiful it is here; the colors and vivid and the people are lively. Our first night here we stayed at an old Army base and were met with modern amenities such as air conditioning and flat screen TV's; if this is how all of Panama will be, then this won't be bad at all! Needless to say, it wasn't, and this perception changed quickly as we entered Chitre where we're staying for the majority of our time here. One of the first things you notice about Panama is the heat and humidity. When we arrived at the house we're staying at, we noticed is that there is no airconditioning. It is very common for the people to have little to no air conditioning and when there is, it only provides cool air for one room. Living here shows me how many of the things we have at home are merely luxuries, and these people live like this every day. The community itself is fairly large and segregated. It appears that divisions are divided by class much like America and it has been surprising to see median levels of poverty within walking distance from a beautiful three story mall. Some people here live in huts made from crude materials and make their livelihood selling homemade crafts and goods. We were able to visit one of these areas during some free time and these people made beautiful things and took pride in their work. Some of them were even working on pottery or sowing while we were walking by. Laundry has been an interesting experience here as rain is frequent and the clothes line is outside. To counter this, we used some American ingenuity and have rope strung from pillars and door frames creating a maze which may not be aesthetically pleasing but gets the job done. As far as the community goes, there are many events to take a part in. Tonight we've been invited to the homecoming for the University of Panama in which is a major event and is advertised. There is also a parade and festival that we can already begin to see the preparations for. We just finished a day at Nutre Hogar which is a place for young children who are malnourished and I had a great time playing with them. Another thing I noticed is that many people are concerned about the well-being of others and devote much of their time and resources to developing a program that benefits the children and their families.
           While the resources here may be outdated compared to the U.S., there are still many similarities such as the importance of family and community. I have been surprised here in the past week and have not only come to realize how much I can learn from the people, but also understand how valuable my American education has been and how it has prepared me to be a better nurse who is now more sympathetic about cultural differences.