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"Panama City" ?Posted by devon on Saturday, April 5, 2003
Long time no talk. This may be my last post before I head off, but I doubt it. I had some thoughts as Pete and I hopped on a crowded bus (busses here are elaborately spray painted school busses that cost 25 cents a ride) and soaked in a little bit more of the culture. There was a 15-16 year old girl with two beautiful babies and the grandmother, who couldnt have been more than 45. As the babies were testing there vocal cords and getting a feel for them, other couples on the bus looked at them fawningly. In the west, we put out personal prosperity as our number one priority, so only when the conditions are right, will most of us allow ourselves to bear fruit. But down here, It seems as if the conditions are always wrong, and always will be, so people say fuck it, lets just have the kid and stumble forward as we always have. People have no reason to wait to have children here, because there is nothing to wait for. its hard to find a kid over twelve years old bagging the groceries here, I once saw a kid around 7 doing it. 5 year olds hawking choclate bars on the busses, and middle aged men, just sitting around, all day long. To me there nature is as mysterious as there means for survival. I cant think of it as conventional unemployment like we have in the west ( this is geographically west, but not typical western economy). Nobody seems to be aping out about how they will feed themselves next month, or trying to find a job, or having to worry about welfare, as I doubt it exists. Its just a lifestyle, men in their prime just seem to kind of... hang out. All together it seems to work alright, people get along, have their blessed catholisism, their salsa music, and their beautiful women. even if thats all. It seems to work OK.
The boat is nearing completion, were just getting the long range HF radio set up, the Auto Pilot calibrated and a few minor adjustments together. We did all the food provisioning yesterday and I believe we will be well fed. All together, I´m getting a large portion of the globe crossed for around 60 dollars! So in any case, I will not complain. I took a picture of the boat on the request of my recently aquired sister. Its nothing special, but it holds its weight in swell and its going to be a downwind sail all the way there. Weve made a few friends heading down the same way with whom we will keep in touch with over the aforementioned radio and will meet in the marquesas. They are stopping in the galapagos, but we are not, so we should be there before them. I will put up all the contact information on the *contacts* portion of the site, along with an HF frequency provided anyone has a powerfull enough transmitter. If you plan on emailing me, please send it either today or tommorow, and then not after, because calling things expensive in Polynesia would be a gross understatement, and the less time I will have to pay for the internet there, the better. Enjoy the pictures, I hope I will be able to get the thumbnails sorted soon. Wish me luck.
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