This week marks the end of my time in Panama, and the beginning of the next season. We are currently in Spain for debrief, and in a few days we’ll head to Africa. I am going to miss Central America and all it has been for me. Nica, Costa Rica, and Panama were just countries on a map and now they have faces and lives and homes and friends and families.
Dear Panama,
Thank you for your laughter. This giggle that starts quiet and quickly turns into belly laughter. We laughed early in the morning as we sat down to olhadras and scrambled eggs, we laughed riding in the truck on dirt roads surrounded by blue shadows of mountains, we laughed in the evening when we sat around the table. It is your heart that calls to me. There is so much joy in those mountains. People know the richness of a life lived in the waiting. In the afternoons, it rains and we drink tea. The Lord is watering the earth, he is growing his plants, just as he grows His people.
This month, we hiked into your mountains, and I was reminded of home as the wind sang in the trees. Spanish, though still difficult for me to understand and speak, became endearing to my ears. Abeula would hike down the hill and sit quietly with us, her wrinkled face and quiet Spanish. I would close my eyes and smile at the cadence of the words around me. How much I long to be able to speak quickly and expressively in Spanish too. I imagine that I would speak with more intensity and passion as a Panamanian. You make me want to use my voice vibrantly, Panama.
Love,
Katy
