one of my professors from IWU shared this today. 


".. if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, whom I claim to be my Savior and Lord the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken." 


Rich Mullins

soon we will be coming home...

Phil Wickham's song, "You're Beautiful," has been stuck in my head lately.   


Thinking I need some time in nature.
to reflect.


His mercy is new every morning.
His love never fails.

soon we will be coming home.


amen.

Happy New Year!

Honky Tonks on Broadway - Music City.

take me where the people are!

music note drop

Happy New Year!!!

 One of my resolutions for 2012 is to practice photography more.  This goal got off to a rocky start when my camera decided to break :( .  So while it is in the shop getting repaired, I'm left with my $60 point and shoot, my dad's old film camera, and the Holga.  I decided to use the cheap digital for these images, and while they turned out pretty blurry I liked the effect.  I took some with the Holga too...verdict still out on those.  


I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday!  Let's make 2012 the best one yet!

to see the world

Move.  Learn.  Eat.
3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....

= a trip of a lifetime.


These films exemplify part of the essence of travel.
It is important to invest in seeing the world
to build an appreciation for diversity
to learn from one another
to be humbled
to grow

spend the next 5 minutes watching these films.

and hit the road people.

another trip in the books

I'm home.  In Nashville.  Panama was amazing and I wouldn't trade that experience, but it is good to be home with my husband and my dogs.  I'm done with the physical unpacking, but the mental looks like it will be quite a process as I begin to organize and think through my research findings from the summer.  Panama has earned a special place in my heart, and while inequality and discrimination are still persistent, as they are everywhere, every day I witnessed this tiny country work to overcome its historically imposed divisions through cultural understanding and mediation.  Panama's population is very mixed; the white, or Spain-descendant population still maintains their position in the upper echelons, but there are large and influential populations of indigenous, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese, eastern European, and hispanic populations. Since the 1970s, the country has rooted its national identity in the idea that "todos son panameños - we are all Panamanians", and while this sentiment is definitely not universally accepted or practiced, the general Panamanian populace seems to embrace and enjoy their diversity.  I found this inspiring for my own country that is also culturally and ethnically mixed yet these days often so opposed to the outsider and the immigrant.  Diversity is rich, sensitivity brings understanding, and appreciation and respect for differences achieves solidarity and strength.

Here's some pictures to summarize, and the Panama chapter is closed.

For now.

Well, besides the thesis I still have to write :)

I got to enjoy the architecture of the city, where I lived, researched, and spent most of my time.

Panama City is very cosmopolitan; the newspapers often referred to it as the Dubai of Latin America.

My research studies the relationship of the Kuna indigenous group and the Panamanian state during the 1970s.  Despite the continuous challenges presented by assimilation, modernity, tourism, capitalism..the list goes on and on, the Kuna have managed to preserve many of their cultural traditions.

Of course I went to the canal and saw ships larger than I thought existed.  It gave me a new appreciation for global shipping and transportation.

I made a great friend - Robin - a PhD student at the University of Arizona

Trip to Boquete - waterfalls&rivers, coffee farms, flowers, mountains&volcanoes

And of course I found the time to take some weekend day trips to the beach -
Taboga, San Carlos, Kuna Yala.

$2 taxis, termites, and worms

Every time you get in a cab in Panama, you better be prepared to meet your Maker.  Today my driver was a mix of all the worst elements (or best I guess, depending on how you look at it) of Ballard, James Bond, and Jeff Gordon, and the entire time, he sang love songs in a falsetto, with lyrics such as "cuando estás contigo, me siento 'fly'".  (when I'm with you, I feel fly).  Yes that's right..."fly" has now become a global adjective. What an amazing contribution by American popular culture.

This week I've been working with some documents in the Congreso General Kuna office here in Panama City.  The "library" is basically a room in a house covered in shelving that is crammed with documents, books, and folders with random assortments of papers within.  In addition, there are several garbage bags filled with documents.  Nothing is sorted much past year, if that.

Yesterday I found a folder covered and half eaten by termites, and today it was one with worms.  Not to mention the mold...I think I need to invest in some gloves and possibly a mask.  But other than these few inconveniences, it has so many great documents that I can use, and that obviously haven't been used by anyone in years, if ever.  Maybe somewhere down the road I can get a grant to come catalog and preserve all this stuff, because without it, it'd be pretty impossible to study indigenous Kuna history from their perspective.

This is why I love studying history.  I get to travel back into time, trying to make sense of the random documentation of the past and interpret what happened.  I'm learning every day how doing history is creative because I could be using documents in a way that no one has ever thought of before or looking more in depth at stuff that has always been overlooked in the past.  One really has to be creative and original in how the investigation is conducted to make sure that instrumental sources aren't overlooked.

It's often tedious, but the process is a lot like a puzzle, and the more pieces I find, the clearer the whole picture becomes.  Almost like being a detective...maybe this is the substitute for the FBI career I dreamed of as a kid.  

bienvenidos a Panamá

I love to travel.  Interaction with other cultures causes me to reflect a lot on my lifestyle, values, and my often too complacent and overly complex American life.  I can honestly say that I have learned something significant on each one of my journeys, domestic and international.  This trip so far has proved to be no exception.  To make up for not writing at all about the three weeks I've been here in Panama, I'll try to share a little each day, both about my experiences and my thought process along the way.  Please feel free to comment on my thoughts, as I'm daily processing what I'm learning here and would value your opinion.

To start off, let me just explain this summer:

1.  Where am I and why:  I'm spending 8 weeks in Panama, doing archival and primary research for my master's thesis.  For those non-history people, this kind of research involves LOTS of hours in archives and libraries, examining all sorts of documents to try to make sense of history.  My topic focuses on the 1970s in Panama, studying indigenous relations with the national government.  More on this later.

2.  Where I live:  I found a great room to rent in an apartment in Panama City, the capital.  I have two roommates, Clara from Spain, and she is here for 5 months working for the UN, and Mayrin from Venezuela, who now lives here and is studying interior design.  And the apartment complex has a pool :)

3.  What I do all day:  I spend time researching; this involves a lot of reading of censuses, newspapers, legislation, electoral results, congressional minutes, conducting interviews, networking with university professors, and following any leads I get on potential sources or collections here.  And then on the weekends I become a tourist :)

Here's some photos from my trip so far:

night skyline view from my window

view of the city from Casco Viejo

 stay tuned...more to come.