Kuna Yala was amazing! We had such an incredible time there. It was by far our most intense cultural immersion on the race. The island was so small that you can walk from one end to the other in two minutes or less. We slept in hammocks, drank river water, and did our business right over the ocean. Too much information? Sorry, but it was all a part of the experience. The island that we were on had roughly 1000 native Kuna inhabitants, probably three quarters of which were children.
We stayed with Pastor Canto’s family and made a home of the small church building.They were so friendly and hospitable toward us, and the kids were a riot. They were always hanging around–not a moments peace–but they were fun. Most of them spoke only Kuna, with a handful speaking broken Spanish. That went along well with the little Spanish that I know. Isn’t it amazing though, that communication with children super cedes language barriers. Instead of struggling to speak to them with words, we showed them with hugs, smiles, and tickles exactly what they meant to us. Other than hanging out with the children, we did some garbage pickup on the island, helped put up new [reed] walls on one of the churches, and helped the Pastor out by chipping paint from one of his boats for a day and a half.
After only ten or so days I fell in love with that place–the families, the children, the location, everything. We had a few opportunities to share testimonies or messages. I spoke to one of the churches on worry and doubt vs. trusting God when a trial comes our way. Seth translated it into Spanish, and Pastor Canto translated the Spanish into Kuna. I have no idea what was actually said on the Kuna end of things, but I am still praying that God spoke through all of the translations.
More to come…
