At home, in the great melting pot of America, at least in our southern corner of the country, there is a wide variety of skin colors: “red and yellow, black and white.” While we do have this wonderful variety, there does not seem to be a lot of in-between. In Panama, I have noticed that while a huge majority of the people have dark hair and dark eyes, the color of their skin is somewhere in-between ivory and dark chocolate. It is a beautiful color spectrum, a beautiful blend of people.
Panama City is a fascinating city, a true clash of wealth and poverty. We drove past high rise condos overlooking the ocean and seconds later passed areas that could have been seen in Slumdog Millionare. Today was a very gray day with rain “sprinkled” throughout the day, so I’m not sure that I got the full effect of the city, but I wouldn’t classify it as a beautiful city. While the grand high rises’ view of the ocean is perfect, the ocean waters that surround the city are gray and murky in large part because of the sewage that is pumped into them. The interior part of the city has bars up, protecting windows and homes, some brightly colored, but many old and falling apart. As I watched the city pass by through our bus windows, I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of, how do you even begin to “fix” this?
We received a wonderful tour of the city, stopping at a small museum, a craft market and many ruins. Don’t worry, when we came across an ancient tower, I climbed it; I’d hate to leave one unclimbed!
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