Wouldn't be air travel without a bit of a kink in what seemed to be a solid schedule. I woke up to a voicemail at 1 am the morning I flew out notifying me my flight out of Cedar Rapids was cancelled. So, logically, I rolled over with a disgruntled "ugh" and got a few more uneasy hours of shut-eye. They were able to re-route me through Chicago then on to Dallas and finally in Panama City. While I shivered on the jet bridge in Chicago and Dallas, I was overwhelmed by the humid ocean air upon arrival in Panama City. A driver from U Latina picked me up and brought me to Toscana Inn (my home for this week). As soon as I started speaking with the driver I realized, "Holy crap I haven't spoken any Spanish since the first week in May and this accent is crazy difficult to understand." I was feeling a bit nervous about my language abilities but as today went on and I got to talking more and more I fell right back in to the swing of things.
Today was such a rush of emotions. When I woke up at 7am I forgot where I was and was slightly panicked with a sense of loneliness and isolation. Luckily I had the contact information for Christine, the English Language Fellow who is in the process of starting a Bi-National Center here in Panama City. She and I made a plan to meet later in the afternoon so I decided to do a bit of exploring around lunchtime. I went to a local place near the hotel and, of course, ordered a local specialty: ceviche de corvina. It was loaded with onion and celery and not quite what I was expecting but delicious nonetheless. I overheard an American guy order at the adjacent table and immediately started to chat with him. Andreas was there just for the day so we shared a car and went to Casco Viejo (the old colonial area of the city) and walked around in the pouring rain. Despite the overcast rainy weather, I could see the canal from afar with a huge ship passing through; can't wait to check it out up close! It was great to hang out with someone for the afternoon even just for a few hours. I felt much less anxious/nervous about being here after that.
I don't know how to put in to words my appreciation for Christine. She's an incredible woman who has done so many amazing things around the world and she's such an inspiration. She helped me get a cell phone and took me to the mall and showed me her place and just listened and answered questions and offered advice. I did an emotional 180 between 7am and 9pm today and most of that positive change was due to her support.
So, that's all I've got for now. Check back in later in the week to see my first impressions of the university and my apartment.
Cuídate.
PS For those of you stuck in the craptastic winter weather, it was in the upper 80s here today ;)
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