Panama Perm: Panama Nostalgia on Friendship Day

I’m home about two months now (sob), and so I've been meaning to do this for a while!

My time in Panama came to an end, as I knew it would, but that didn't make it any easier, even knowing I was hopping on a flight to Cuba didn't change that (more on that to come!).

Panama is just the best. I want to BE Latino! I want to be fluent in Spanish, live where it’s weird not to ass-dance (officially known as Freak Dancing I've recently learned) on nights out, where I can listen to the fantastic music all the time and LOVE taking the bus!

I knew I’d miss my Mamma Rutí and Paul and his friends that I’d robbed so the week before I left I watched like four ‘sad’ movies to get the ‘sadness’ out of my system before I had to say goodbye for real, incidentally, Brokeback Mountain nor Captain Phillips are apparently sad enough, but in any case I said my goodbyes to Mamma Rutí and Paul and the few friends I’d made.

Paul, Shivs, Me, Mamma Rutí

Life is all about the people you meet along the way.

I felt at home in Panama thanks to the people…even if I was acutely aware of being a foreigner every time I stepped outside the door (I’ll never be tanned enough to pass for Latino)!

So I want to tell you about some of the people that made Panama so special for me.

Most importantly my Mamma Rutí, she is the best lady ever! She was like my own mammy, and I can only hope I'm like her and my own mammy by the time I hit my fifties! My Mamma Rutí is a lady I just loved to spend time with. We used to have our chats in the car when she’d take me home from the pool, out on the veranda at night-time and, of course, in the kitchen. She’s a great cook, I loved her dinners, so much that I didn't even miss chocolate and desserts! My favourite was this fantastic garlic and coriander prawn dinner she would do, I've yet to attempt replicating it here.

Mamma Rutí helped make my time in Panama so so so memorable. I am eternally in debt to her. She was the busiest lady but she always had time to chat and her house always had people calling in every hour of the day. I was always invited to whatever she was up to and she took me to the Patron Saint’s Festival with her in the town one evening where we gave little kids sweets and threw out confetti! She shared her culture (remember my yucca story?) and I learned so much from her. My idol.

That takes me on to my little friend Juan-Jose or JJ, which is actually pronounced Hota-Hota, so that was fun to say!

He wasn't a big poser!

Little Hota-Hota was only two and a half and he’s Mamma Rutí’s grandson. He was so adorable I just wanted to steal him!!! He would never talk to me when I first arrived, not even a hello but by the time I was leaving we were playing games together (which is how I bashed up my laptop- totally worth it) and he’d make me sit down and watch TV with him. I made a friend! Yay!! Even if he did spit at me sometimes! :D

Paul, hey Paul if you’re reading this, please don’t kill me!

Happy out at Carnavales

Panama would not have been Panama without Paul (pronounced Pa-uuul, also more fun to say!) Paul is Mamma Rutí's son, and what a great son she has! Paul was our gateway to a social life! He invited us out at the weekends and we tagged along at Carnavales (best four days of partying ever), he’s even the reason I now have an iPhone that functions in Ireland (who knew they had to be unlocked?). Paul was great for the chats too, he says he’s ‘just a Latino boy’ but he’s the best! The best stories are the ones that can’t be rewritten!

Arturo, heyyyy! :D ‘Where is the moon? You stole my moon! Give me my moon’

On our way home from Santiago

Arturo was my bestie! He collected us from the airport when we arrived and as a result, for ages I thought he was Paul’s cousin but in Panama ‘tia’ doesn't literally mean ‘auntie’; it’s a term of respect for your friends parents… So that’s why he and Pauuul didn't look alike… like at all!

Arturo is such a great guy! He always invited me to join him hanging out, and so I’d be there as often as I could, he never really go the whole thesis thing- ‘Why do you have to work?’ wasn't uncommon to hear!

He’s one for the quotes though; ‘Do you need to piss or something?’… In reference to my dancing skills, which I can assure you have much improved since!

My last minute road trip with him and his friend Amelia to Santiago was one of the best adventures-because Arturo has great friends just like him! When Arturo comes to Ireland we’re going to find him a lovely red-head! :)

Richo, another friend was hilarious too, a few weeks after I arrived we went cruising around Panama city with Arturo hissing at girls, slowing down the car beside them saying ‘Hola Mamí’, but my absolute favourite was Richo doing his doggie bark at them! The entertainment we got from it belongs on a MasterCard advertisement! He’s a seriously talented guy too, makes clothing, follow his Clip account and check him out!

He also has the curliest longest eyelashes…so jealous!

That’s only half the people that made my experience in Panama something to be remembered forever, coming up next are my Anayansis and Alejandra (the kids I taught English to and their mum), my brilliant nurse Juanita, Julissa my swimming pool friend and my gym coach Jhon! This entry is already long enough!

I might have left Panama but I haven’t left the friendships I've made behind <3

Everyday Extraordinary.