Life, to great extent untried by me.: Storytime, Part I: Randomness

I realized today, in reviewing my little-used blog, that I never tell you stories about what I am up to. I list where I have been, where I plan to go (and that plan, literally, has changed every single time I blog about it), and that's about it. So you know that Panama is pretty, that people are really friendly, and that I like it here. That's neat. But probably not very exciting, or very telling. And given that it is cloudy and rainy and a chilly 81 degrees, I think its an appropriate time to cuddle up with my earbuds and a computer and tell a few tales.

Honestly, its hard to know where to start. I have been in Panama for nearly 2 months now! I watched a man named Carne Ross speak on ted.com the other day, and I loved this line he said at the beginning of his speech: I don't believe in a life or a history written as decision A led to consequence B, led to consequence C -- these neat narratives that we are presented with, and that perhaps we encourage in each other. I believe in randomness...", with the end of his thought being that he believes how he became what he was, was due to randomness. I wholeheartedly agree with this thought. Every trip I've taken has been random...It has never been "I will work and save money in order to go ________ for ______ weeks." Trips have formed out of seeing airfare deals that were too good to pass up, out of wanting to visit a friend on the east coast using miles and the airline not allowing it, and instead allowing me to use miles to go to Belize, and in the case of this trip, out of a job offer. When I ponder things like, how did I end up here?, it always blows my mind. If last year, at Thanksgiving, you told me that by this time in 2010 I will have visited 6 different countries in a new part of the world and have spent 5 months out of the year abroad, I wouldn't believe you. Nor would I believe you if you had told me that I would move my things back to my parent's basement. And I certainly wouldn't believe you if you told me that I would be a scuba diver, offered a job in a surf school, or speaking spanish as well as I can now. And I love all of that. Life should be random. Risks should be taken!

Now, let me tell a few stories about how randomness dramatically affects my life. Back when I was planning to head to Panama, in October, I figured I would stay in the country for a couple of weeks. I would visit that super popular tourist destination, Bocas del Toro, then head inland to Boquete, onward to Panama City, see the canal, and stay just long enough to square away a spot on a sailboat, and I would hit Colombia. Certainly before November.Well...its almost December. And I'm staying until January, until my brother comes down to visit. And honestly, I might be coming back here when he and I are done tearing it up in Febraury. So, back to randomness. Bocas del Toro: I met all of the key people in my life in Panama sitting there in the party hostel. You would think the party hostel would just be backpackers, in their early 20's, looking to have a good time and then moving on. But I made friends there...and they all have impacted my stay since we met on that little island in the Caribbean. My friend, Tyler (el gringo rojo), is from Idaho and is currently working in Panama City. I met him and his buddy while they were on vacation. Our meeting was one of the funniest ones ever. But I can't recount it on something like a blog...he would not be happy with me! Its a good story, let's leave it at that. So I met him, and a random Ultimate Frisbee player on a different team than Tyler was also on vacation from the city in Bocas. Tyler left early one morning. And I stayed....I met a guy, from the city, who does massage therapy and studied in the states for a few years. Through those two friends, I have stayed in a town in the interior, met other American expats and Panamanians, went to a beach house for a long weekend, ended up in another province for a big parade, played in a frisbee tournament (in which my team won!), wound up in a tiny beach town where I was offered a job at an all inclusive resort and another one in a surf school, celebrated Thanksgiving with 35 people, where I only knew one person, and otherwise have had a really "local" experience. All of that from meeting 2 people!