Expectations

Coming to Panama, I was lucky because I have traveled here before. Last year I visited Calobre for one week and worked in the community. This previous experience meant that when I returned on Saturday, I already knew people, was familiar with the area, and had a basic understanding of the culture. All of these factors helped me to comfortably settle in within just hours after arriving. In fact, I was expecting to feel much more alienated than I actually am. Last year I was with a group of people from a similar background to me who all spoke English. As such, despite being in a foreign country, there was always someone near to me that I could relate to on many levels. I knew that this time I would be alone, and thought that it would be more difficult to fit into the society here. Although at times I can’t understand what is being said because of comprehension problems or cultural references that I am not privy to, for the most part I have easily related to the local people.

The more I travel, the more I have realized that people, despite possessing many unique and important cultural distinctions, are fundamentally the same. Everyone has hopes and dreams, enjoys the company of friends, and experiences happiness and sadness. This is even more apparent when working with children. There is no difference in the compassionate and playful nature of children no matter what color their skin is or what language they speak. After spending time with the students in the school, it is hard to understand how adults can be so uncompassionate though in how they treat one another at times. Sadly this also seems to be true of people everywhere. Also, minority groups, or people who appear the ‘most different,’ receive the worst treatment because they are seen as outsiders who do not deserve the same level of respect and civility. If everyone experienced what I have in Calobre though, it would be clear that this is completely groundless. As I stated earlier, most people in fact have more in common than meets the eye. Furthermore, cultural differences do not have to separate us from one another. Instead they can be an immense source of learning and fun, something that makes life more interesting rather than a dull repetition of things we already know. With any luck, I will be able to share this point of view with others when I return, and also represent the US so that the people of Calobre learn this as well, as they have taught me.