In September, I had the opportunity to visit Lauren and Alex (I’m going to refer to them as Lalex) at their new home in Panama. What an experience I had! I give them mad props for what they are doing and how they have adapted so well to the Panamanian lifestyle. I am so grateful that I was able to get a peek at what they do/ have been doing for the past year and a half.
Right after meeting up with Lauren, it was like we were back in college again, talking about the meaning of life and catching up on the past year and a half. Underneath this new Spanish speaking, program creating, independent jungle woman, I found my best friend that I met 6 years ago. We talked the whole 2 hour bus ride to Penenome ignoring the stares from the local people when we broke in to an uncontrollable laughter. I got to meet Lalex’s old host family from their first few months in Panama. Such loving and caring people who think the world of them.
Lauren and I spoke to each other in Spanish! This was an incredible experience for me; to be able to speak in another language to someone that you have only ever spoken English to.
After Lauren showed me a bit of the city of Penenome, we hopped on a “bus” (and hopped is an ambitious word...more like we waited 45 minutes on the street then waited another 30 minutes in the van) to their little jungle village of San Juanito! We made the trek to the mud hut! I got to meet sweet little Goma and Lauren gave me a tour and then we visited with the abuelos for a while. It was really amazing to see Lauren speak Spanish so easily and naturally with these people. She is going to come out of Panama speaking perfect “campasino” (farmer) Spanish. We went to sleep shortly after the sun but our sleep was soon interrupted by the pack of dogs fighting on the doorstep. Poor little Carmencita was in heat and she had many eager suitors. This is one occasion where Lalex’s kind heartedness came back to bite them. Carmencita likes to hang out around them because they are the only ones in town who don’t hit her and occasionally give her scraps of food to nourish her skinny body. So she wandered over to the mud hut in the middle of the night and brought all the noise with her. This went on all night! Growling, fighting, howling. Lauren had to get up multiple times to try and get them to go away but it just wasn’t happening.
Alex got back the next day from the city and we all walked down to the river together to do laundry! I couldn’t believe that this is how they get laundry done! It is pretty amazing. Although I do have to admit that although it is a bit of a trek to do laundry and who knows how “clean the clothes really get, it sure is a nice view and an incredibly beautiful and tranquil place. After this we relaxed in the hut for a bit and I got to see just how popular Lalex’s library business is with the local children. They love it! There were kids coming by all afternoon to get more books! What a great program that they started, just out of the goodness of their hearts. Lauren and I hiked across town to a local farmer’s house to visit and deliver seeds. This is a farmer that Lauren works with and has educated about sustainable farming techniques. It was great to see how he relied on her and really enjoyed working with her. After this we went for a much needed dip in the river and returned to the house where Alex had made a delicious meal of rice and sausage! The dogs were at it again all night but this time we had Alex to try to handle them. I’ve never heard him sound so scary!! However it is pretty incredible the amount of noise that a group of about 9…eager…male dogs can make. Poor Carmencita.
The next day I got to see the beautiful local school that Lalex have worked with. They do lunch at school with chickens that are raised just a few yards away. There is a beautiful garden full of vegetables and even a small pond where they are raising fish! I was so impressed.
The next day we left San Juanito (and the pack of dogs followed us all the way out of town which is about a 45 minute hike…). We made the journey to the Comarca Ngobe Bugle an indigenous community in Panama and stayed with a friend of Alex’s who lived with his mother. Alex’s friend Ruben surprisingly is very passionate about rock climbing and hiking and hopes to be able to make a living from it someday. This is another good hearted pursuit that Lalex are trying to do. They are trying to get Ruben’s name out there into the climbing community in the US and hopefully get some donated equipment sent to him. Alex has written letters to climbing magazines in hopes of getting an article about Ruben published. The next day, Ruben led us on a beautiful hike. It was long, (and I was incredibly out of shape for hiking as Lauren can attest to after witnessing my 5 or more falls on the way down), but it was full of beautiful views nonetheless. After staying 3 nights at Ruben’s house, we headed on our way to a very touristy yet beautiful part of Panama called Boquete.
It was a weird feeling going from dirt floors and bucket showers to a completely beautiful and luxurious bed and breakfast located on the top of a hill on a coffee farm. We took advantage of all the amenities like hot water, water pressure, delicious coffee, and restaurants with pizza and beer! We had no problem indulging like the good Americans that we are. The next day Lauren and I toured a beautiful coffee farm and learned a bit about all that goes into enjoying a hot cup of coffee.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Mañana Madera Estate ( and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone planning on visiting Panama). We headed back to Penenome and stayed the night and I was off to the airport the next morning!
This really was an incredible experience for me and I am beyond words proud of Lauren and Alex for what they are doing. San Juanito is incredibly lucky to have them and it couldn’t be a more perfect match. They are making such a huge impact and are going above and beyond what is asked of them just because they are good, ambitious, kind hearted people that I am proud and honored to call my friends.
Gracias a Lorena y Alejandro por la experencia y que sigan haciendo que están haciendo. El pueblo de San Juanito les va a extrañar cuando ustedes salgan pero sus amigos y familia en su hogar no pueden esperar hasta que regresan. Les amo mucho y estoy tan orgullosa de ustedes. (DEMASIADO BENADO!!)
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