$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.