November-December Update

Desde la entrada anterior, mi español ha mejorado, pero todavía estoy preocupado del dialecto de panameño.

I feel more comfortable in my weekly conversations with Rosmery and José, but they do not speak at the rapid pace nor with the swallowed speech pattern common of Panama City. (For an example, here is a link to a Panamanian comedy skit show, La Cáscara). I’ve been told by other people who have lived in Panama, and who speak Spanish, that the dialect is pretty tricky to grasp.

My second concern once I get there is learning public transportation. For my interviews I will need to travel around the city to various sites. Additionally I will be making multiple trips out to Kuna Yala and I will want to travel around the country in-general. In Uganda it took a while to feel comfortable with the taxi and bodaboda system, but once I got it down, those 14*-passenger vans and motorcycles took me everywhere I wanted to go.

 *14 was the suggested number of passengers, I have been in one of those taxis with as many as 20, not counting chickens).

To top my list of pre-trip preoccupations, I am still figuring out my housing situation. At this point I believe I will be staying at Luna's Castle (picture from their website shown right). Said to be THE place for backpackers who want to have a good time. I figure I can spend the first few weeks getting my bearings and looking for an apartment while meeting some friendly folk.

The great news is that all the advice from former student researchers says do NOT try to start interviewing or seriously working on your research within the first 3 months. The reason being that it takes about that long just for you to get accustomed to the new city you are living in, and to mold your research plan to the people and the places you are going to come in-contact with. When I think about being in Kampala, Uganda, it took me until about the 3^rd month to go through most of my stages of culture shock and to really get the hang of the city and its people. If I had tried to start my research prior to that, I would have wasted mine, and a lot of other people’s time.

So what’s the plan? January 14, I arrive in Panama City in the evening. Rosmery’s sister, who is and English professor at the University has generously offered to pick me up from the airport (still to be confirmed, though).  I will stay at Luna’s Castle for a few weeks, meanwhile looking for apartments. The Wednesday after I arrive I have a required meeting with the U.S. Embassy. Other than that, I will rapidly be attempting to meet up with anyone and everyone I have been in-contact with the past year, starting first with my affiliation. I know the first few weeks will probably be the roughest, though I hope to not bore you with a bunch of emo posts regarding how much I don’t belong and miss home more than I ever thought I would, blah blah blah.

I’ll try to write again before I leave, but if I don’t, this next entry should be from Panama City, Panama! (and should be a whole lot more interesting)

September/October Update: Aprender Español (again) and Finding a Home

Fall just snuck up on me. One day I'm wearing shorts and getting a sunburn and the next, I'm pedaling to work at 6am wishing I were wearing gloves. Actually, with Louisville weather that continues to happen all in the same day. The high today is 83 degrees (that's 28 Celsius, for those of you so inclined) but the pile of orange leaves that has fallen on my car the tells me that fall is indeed here. While I have started to pull down my vast wardrobe of winter clothes accumulated through 4 winters in Beloit, Wisconsin, what I am really getting ready for is my year of tropical summer. Less than 14 weeks are left before I pack up and jet off to Panama City, Panama.

What is left to do? - Oh so very much

At the top of my list: Time with Family and Friends

10 months is the longest time I have ever spent consecutively away from home. Just being back in Kentucky, I miss my family in Mississippi and my friends spread out all over the country and the world. Each day, I worry a little about losing touch with so many people I love and care about. In just a few months I will be hundreds of miles from all of those people. While I believe that I will still keep in-touch with all those people, it will be hard not seeing them or not being able to call them for free on nights and weekends. However, due to the fantastic developments of technology, there is Skype and email fo' free! I'm not sure of the internet connections and bandwidth I will have, but so far I have done some of my best emailing when I have been out of the country, so please write me when I am abroad!

Until I leave, I have 3 more trips around the country that I hope to do: Austin, Mississippi, and Chicago/Wisconsin. 

Second on my list: Continue learning Spanish

My "tutor," Rosmery Delgado, her husband and her mother have been amazing. They welcome me into their home each week, and we laugh and learn about one another for an hour to an hour and a half. It's the most fun I have had learning Spanish and I definitely feel more confident in my conversation skills. I still have a lot to learn in terms of conjugation and vocabulary, but I feel more and more confident that this will come as I live in Panama City.

Third: Finding a place to live

While this was a big concern of mine for awhile, I no longer am so stressed about it. Plan A was to find a furnished apartment in Panama City with a roommate. Now I think I will spend the first week or two in a hostel. My hope is to meet up with the connections I have made and to meet people in general. Once I know more about the city I think it will be easier to find an apartment and a roommate. Nevertheless, it would be a huge relief to know where I will be calling home before I get there, but I also feel like this just isn't realistic.

Besides these top three, there are logistical and bureaucratic things I have to figure out including a Visa, IRB approval for my research, and determining what is expected of me from my affiliation (once I get back in-contact with them).

I am thankful that for the most part I have had a relaxed attitude about everything, but as much as I am confident that everything will come together, I have to remind myself that it will only come together if I make it so.

August Update: New Contacts – Making the World a Little Smaller

Admittedly, I am nervous about traveling to and living in a country I have never been to, and where I have never met anyone. For the past few months I have been reaching out to anyone who might have a remote connection to Panama, the Kuna, Albinism, and possibly all of the above. My past experiences have taught me to be bold and not be afraid to ask even the most elite of researchers, but to be ready for rejection. To my relief and quite frankly, surprise, most everyone I have contacted has responded with an outpouring of support and encouragement.  Additionally, it seems that each person I contact sends me on to yet another contact (or three).  Whereas I thought I would be struggling to meet people who might be able to show me where to live, how to get to Kuna Yala, and how to get into contact with persons with albinism, I have been happily inundated with more contacts than I can easily keep up with at the moment.  My struggle right now is being focused enough to continue conversation with these amazing people who have offered their assistance and to really take advantage of their expertise.

I would like to briefly recognize some of the people who have guided, and will hopefully continue to guide, me through my preparations for this Fulbright. (I hope they won’t mind). This list is by no means exhaustive. There are many more people who helped me significantly with the application process and in other ways, and I hope that they know how much I appreciate them.

First, I must mention Ane: Through the mother of a grade-school friend, I met Ane. Ane lives in my hometown of Louisville but is originally from Panama. Through Ane I met:

Javier: A relative of Ane’s and a medical doctor and researcher who immediately arranged for me to have my affiliation with his Institute:

The Gorgas Institute in Panama City: This group of doctors and researchers will provide me with a base from which I will be able to research the medical capabilities Panama has to deal with the condition of albinism. Additionally I will be able to learn about the relationships between such institutions and indigenous communities.

Once I received my Fulbright, a girl at school introduced me, via facebook, to her friend:

Libby: who is currently working as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Panama. This program is also done through the Fulbright organization. Libby’s blog alone has given me great incites into living in Panama and conquering a lot of the fears I have regarding living and researching abroad. In addition, Libby has personally helped me through some issues I have come across while preparing for Panama.

This next map of connections begins with my Beloit advisor:

Rachel Ellett: Besides helping me every step of the way through the Fulbright process, Rachel connected me to a colleague in Panama:

Gloria: while I didn’t speak much with Gloria, she provided me with two key contacts: Jorge and Francisco

Jorge Ventocilla: a Panamanian researcher who focuses on the Kuna population

(I was also referred to Jorge by Staff Anthropologist Fernando Santos-Granero of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. I contacted him by just emailing STRI and informing them of my research. Additionally, Fernando has offered me access to the STRI’s library and other resources)

Jorge has put me in contact with:

Marden Paniza: a Kuna musician with albinism who lives in Panama City.

Fracisco Herrera: another Panamanian researcher who works with Kuna, put me in contact with:

Elisa Julia: a Panamanian French professor who has traveled to the Kuna Yala province with:

 Pascale Jeambrun: a French medical doctor and ethnologist who studies albinism amongst the Kuna (JACKPOT!). Pascale’s expertise is possibly the most closely related to my topic of anyone out there. She has been absolutely amazing; sending me multiple articles of her work (which are written in French). Elisa and Pascale have connected me with:

Awiber: a Professor of the Kuna language in Panama City who is himself a Kuna with albinism.

About a month ago, I received a call from a dermatologist, Dr. Strasswimmer of Florida, who had read my paper on albinism in Uganda. He is the head of Dermatology Medical Mission and he was preparing for their next trip to Tanzania, where they will work specifically with persons with albinism. He wanted to get some contacts for people in Uganda who might be interested in forming a partnership. I was able to contact him with my base in Uganda, while he was able to give me contacts in Panama!:

Dr. Guadiano: a Panamanian dermatologist in Panama City who takes frequent trips to Kuna Yala to treat Kuna persons with albinism.

I’m getting a little anxious to meet these people in-person. I know that each one of them has so much to teach me and probably knows another handful of people who will allow me to take full advantage of my Fulbright opportunity. However, I am grateful for the time I have before I leave to work on my Spanish, prepare my research, and just enjoy time with friends and family.

The Beginning of an Adventure: El principio de una adventura

The inaugural post of my new blog: "A woman a plan a canal - Panamowa".

I created this blog to share my research and experiences during my 10 month Fulbright grant in Panama.

In January or February of 2012, I will fly to Panama City, Panama. While there, I will continue the research I began in Uganda. If you are interested, you may want to check out the blog I kept while in Uganda.

I received a 2011-2012 Fulbright student grant to investigate how albinism is officially recognized as well as how it is medically and socially treated in Panama. Currently, I have formatted my research to be a comparison of what I found in Uganda. If you are interested in that paper ("Oppression Through Omission: The Human Rights Case of Persons with Albinism in Uganda), it can be downloaded for free from Fairfield University's Global Citizenship Journal.  If you have any questions, comments or general feedback, I would love to hear from you. You can email me at kllyalln@gmail.com

Even though I do not leave for at least 6 months, I have begun getting ready for the grant. Already I have made some incredible contacts in Panama and around the world. I have been amazed at the quick and enthusiastic responses I have received from people working with albinism, the Kuna, dermatology or who are residents of Panama. Already I am indebted to so many people for their help in receiving and preparing for this amazing opportunity.

In addition to keeping in touch with the contacts I have made and continue to make, I have been continuing my research on albinism, the Kuna people and the country of Panama. Additionally, I try to listen to, write, or speak in Spanish cada día (every day). Within this blog, I anticipate inserting Spanish and hopefully Dulegigaiya (the Kuna language).

I do not anticipate using this blog more than once every few weeks until I go to Panama. However, there have already been some people who have asked to hear more about my Fulbright, so this is an easy way for me to keep people updated. 

Apologies for the rather dry first blog entry, to make it up to you, I have added pictures of adorable animals I will hopefully see in Panama.