Heaven and Hell

We have had an INCREDIBLE past couple days and I'm overwhelmed with the thought of writing it all on the blog, so we will do this cooperatively, because I love cooperative efforts.

I'll begin where I left off. Walking around Santa Fe, we discovered that the entire town is basically a cooperative, which was fascinating to me with my obsession with cooperatives. It is well developed compared to the neighboring communities, mostly because an influential politician is from the area and had a hand in using panama canal resources to develop the town. Our first full day in Santa Fe, we departed for a hike to a waterfall. After walking a few minutes, we passed by a pink, sparkly clean house with a young man sitting outside. He introduced himself as Juan Carlos, age 27, native Panamanian, on vacation at his house in Santa Fe and offered to take us to a different waterfall the following day. He will definitely make a reappearance in this tale, so pay attention.

After thanking him and passing by his house, a pickup truck offered us a ride to the waterfall. 15 minutes later we had still not arrived. I didnt realize how much time had passed, as I was sitting in the front seat next to the driver talking. I learned later that Louisa and Rose, who were sitting in the back on piles of bread, had been yelling my name for minutes, worried that I had been kidnapped. We realized that the waterfall was very far and before getting lost wanted to walk the rest of the way. Finally, we reached a little dirt path, walked another 45 minutes through mud and plants to end at...a trickling river of water. Although slightly disappointed, we felt quite accomplished when we arrived back at Juan Carlos's house over 2 hours later, with aching legs and parched mouths. He invited us in for water and we got to talking. We learned that he is a chef in a restaurant in Panama City and is vacationing here. He owns his own house both in Santa Fe and in the city. After about a half hour of getting to know each other, he invited us over for dinner and offered to cook for us. He immediately struck us as incredibly friendly and unthreatening - he was the first man that hadn't called us beautiful or tried to hit on us. We agreed to return at 6 PM. And it didn't hurt that he's incredibly good looking.

We went back to our hotel, sat in the hammocks enjoying the beautiful weather, and got ready for our 3 way dinner date. On our walk over to his house, we noticed that we each had little red dots all over our bodies, though Rose was hit the hardest, el sangre mas gringa. We began inventing things that could be wrong with us, maybe it was a poisoneous plant we rubbed against, something we ate, malaria! We, mostly Rose, got more and more anxious about our worsening conditions. When we arrived at Juan Carlos's house and began cooking with him, he noticed our red disease and simply said, oh the Chitras found you. Apparently, there is a little bug that only exists in this area that is a relative of the mosquito. You can't feel it when it bites you but the bites get itchy later. 2 days later, we are still itchy, and Rose is proud and horrified to announce that she has over 200 bites. It's probably better you all can't see her right now.

Besides the Chitra, which became the Hell of Santa Fe, we had a really nice time cooking, eating, and having a few beers with Juan Carlos, learning about the country, its politics, natural resources, and his life. He was so generous and kind and we immediately felt comfortable around him. He walked us back to our hotel and on the way showed us all the different fruit trees native to Panama. Our favorite was the mamon, a really small melon type fruit, while Louisa's least favorite was the mango...turns out she's pretty allergic, though she's being a trooper and not letting it slow her down. Finaly, we agreed to meet up with Juan Carlos the next day to do another hike.

That night, we didn't sleep much. We all woke up in the middle of the night itching ourselves furiously. The only possible explanation is bed bugs. Again, Rose was most affected. Literally, the bugs drove us out of Santa Fe a night early. But not before we had an incredible day with Juan Carlos in Santa Fe.

We woke up the next morning, pissed at the world, but ended the day the most happy we've been all trip. We walked by Juan Carlos's house, he got his bag and dog, and we started walking down the road. About 45 minutes later, after he pointed out the houses in the distance of his cousin, his aunt, his uncle, his other cousin, his other uncle, we came to a hidden river. He told us to take off our shoes. He grabbed his machete and started leading us through the river, past little waterfalls, making sure we were safe and never falling, often supporting our complete body weight. Finally, having no idea where we were going and putting our complete trust in our friend, we saw a beautiful water fall and swimming hole. We changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the water. We spent hours here, taking pictures, talking with Juan Carlos, swimming around, and sliding down the waterfall. It was one of the most picturesque places we've ever seen and it could not have been a more perfect day. We had a quick snack of mamons and fresh sugar cane, and started heading back to Juan Carlos's house.

When we got there, he invited us inside for a minute. We sat down and when we looked up, he was offering us jello and ice cream, a snack he had clearly prepared in advance for our enjoyment. Without even asking, he sat us down at the table and fed us tacos filled with deliciousness and fried tortillas and yuca. We couldn't imagine a better friend to make...someone to practice our Spanish with, someone who knew the area like the back of his hand, is handsome, and knows how to cook!

He walked us back to our hotel and said goodbye, offering to let us stay in his house in Panama City when we return at the end of our trip. We exchanged numbers and he said he'll return to the city especially to see us. Then, we hopped on the bus back to Santiago, treated ourselves to an airconditioned hotel room with a flat screen TV, WITHOUT CHITRAS. This morning, we took the bus to David and came to the Purple House hostel, where everything is purple, literally. We'll spend the night here and head off for our next adventure tomorrow. The only thing we've discovered to do here is hang out in the supermarket for hours, and we've already done that.

Our trip already feels like it's almost over. Although we are so satisfied with the last few days, we don't know exactly where we're going from here. We know we'll figure it out and update you all again soon.

Adios.