Give it Up

Four things have happened in very quick succession over the last three weeks that would make any American flip out with impatience and frustration, and over the lack of control over one's own life.

1. My family got sick on our vacation and our San Blas beach vacation was cancelled. At least, for them. I am currently in the process of trying to reschedule it with some friends in a few months.

2. I lost a check of nearly $2,000 for my latrine project. After 4 hours and visiting 5 different offices at the Panamanian police station, I was informed that I needed to file a legal document, prepared by a lawyer, and declare in civil court, with said lawyer, in front of a judge, that my check is lost. PC is trying to see if there is any support that they can provide for me on the Washington side of things.

3. I have not one, but two different fungi infections on my skin. (yummy) I think I am going to be in the city for another 7 days. The longest I have ever been in the city before this trip was 4 days, so since today is day 9 and my week starts today, let's just say I am going to set a new record.

4. In site, my community was prepared to start working today building the last round of latrines and my cat, Jaguar, had kittens. 4 kitties! One has already died, from what the kids tell me over the phone. So I am antsy to get home. However, due to reasons 2 and 3, that won't be happening for a bit.

A year and a half ago, I would have been flipping out upset right now about all the things listed above. I guess Panama is teaching me some patience though because I am not phased by any of that. OF COURSE the bank wants me to get a lawyer and go to court- it's illogical and ridiculous, that sounds like Panama. (Whoops, that was mean. Sorry Panama, you're pretty.) While my skin infections suck, hey, they were at least able to diagnose them, I am getting meds for them, and they aren't flesh eating bacteria!!!

Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen and I have no control over ANYTHING in this country. It always works out in the end, eventually. Just never in the most efficient or logical manner. It's not worth getting frustrated, stressed out, worried, or anxious. Just give it up. Panama will be Panama.

Meanwhile, I am going to go watch pointless youtube videos and watch football.


Comments

  1. Emilio FernandezJanuary 8, 2014 at 2:18 PM

    Good morning, how are you?

    My name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.

    I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.

    For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
    Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Panama? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Panama in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:

    Emilio Fernandez Esteban
    Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
    28902 Getafe (Madrid)
    Spain

    If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.

    Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.

    Yours Sincerely

    Emilio Fernandez



    ReplyDelete

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