Heading Home, Again

It started getting very rainy in Bocas and there was little I could do. A visit to trash dump to see people living on buzura was one of the most productive things I did with one of my days, so I needed to get out. Brighton Mike and I caught a ferry and a bus to David where there was absolutely nothing to do, though we did have the best and worst hamburger lunch from a stall (we were starving, but it was crap). We caught another bus to Boquette to see the volcano and, frankly, be anywhere other than David. After that we hit Playa Santa Clara, a very Panamanian beach spot.

To kill time in Santa Clara we snuck into the all inclusive resort to laugh at the fat people and swam several times to a buoy for no reason. We also walked to a truck stop and had chicken while the locals watched porno. Ironically, as little as there was to do, it still was more exciting than being in DC. Then again, we only spent a day there.

I saw the canal, which was a check-the-box activity, and spent the evening in Panama City with a few travelers. At dinner, Steve, a 49-year-old Buddhist from Australia, shared his insights on life and reincarnation. He believed many of us have met before and that explains the crazy connections we can share with people. He believed lazy people had full lives before and are now just resting. He believed there was something to learn from every failure and when there wasn't anything to learn, it simply wasn't a failure. To every judgement and idea on the way people should be or the way the world should be, there was a response that neutralized it. It was both defeatist and comforting.

And, so, I await my cab to the airport to return to DC. I'm fearing it, but then again, this week is going to be interesting and in many ways, so I do want to go home.