Kuna Yala

So Kuna Yala. To start off we had a beautiful tropical island basically all to ourselves. We each had a tent sleep in and we could sleep anywhere on the island that we wanted. For the most part, we faced them toward the ocean so I was able to see the waves when I woke up. When we first got there we set up our tents and I spent my day reading Kuna Ways of Speaking, which was my book to present for our JINS class later that night. We had to go meet the town council to announce ourselves and that we were there to experience their culture. Kuna Yala is like a cluster of small islands within a bay so the main island is a different one than the one we were staying on. Every time we went to the other island we all pilled into a huge canoe and took a twenty to thirty minute boat ride. I also learned that there is a distinct difference between island time, Panama time and gringo time. If we are told that breakfast is served at 7:00 gringo\American time, it’s actually 7:30 or 7:45 Panama time and like 9:00 or 10:00 island time. When we got to the main island, met the council and spent the rest of the day in the town. The women make beautiful molas that have spiritual meaning and also represent the women’s beauty and artistic abilities. We had a really good discussion later that night about the culture as a whole and what part is more commercialized for tourists. Stacy and I had a conversation about how our books glorified the spiritual and cultural importance of the mola making and we were disappointed in how they were just displayed for purchase. The molas serve as good revenue for the island but I would rather them to be something that a tourist could look at and not buy just to put as a wall decoration. I actually really liked reading about the Kuna while I was actually visiting it. It helps me not only understand what I’m seeing but also remember what I’m learning.
We were embraced with a very warm reception from the people. Kuna Yala is not exactly the matriarchal society that I expected. The traditional gender roles remain the same as far as the women taking care of the home and the men bringing food home to be cooked. What they are is matrilocal which is represented in the case of a marriage, the groom moves into the bride’s home. One of our guides talked about how he has left his home to his sisters to bring their husbands into. I think this would be something that is more difficult for people in America, especially men. I think that I would be hard for American to give up their family home for another man to come into.
After we met the council, we went back to our island and got ready for the next day. We spent the next day on a boat tour of the bay. It was literally a 4 hour tour so we all came back with sunburns. I kind of have a fear of boats and docks, in general, so this trip was a good way to get over that quickly since we were on at least two boats a day. There were some people who went back to the main island later that night to experience the precursor to the celebration that was the next day but I stayed and got some work done and enjoyed the island. That night we had a speaker come talk to us about the Kuna revolution and what the recognition of separation from Panama means to them. This speaker later told me that he wanted to pretend to be Paul and marry so he could come to the United States and Paul could stay there and be a Kuna…Paul is still with us, don’t worry . The next day was the big Kuna celebration complete with dramatizations, music, and alcohol. The majority of the morning was watching the theatrical production that took place in the town square and the town council area. The main theme was how the Panamanians tortured the Kuna so three guys were representing that most of the day. After lunch, things picked up when we went into a hut where the celebration was capped with Chicha beer. It’s like a mix of alcohol into a beer-like form which included coffee grounds at the bottom. They would serve the drink in a wooden bowl that resembled a hollowed out coconut. It wasn’t exactly good, but it wasn’t that bad either. My last one though, was mostly coffee grounds and they got stuck in my throat so that was a bit unpleasant. Because there were so many of us, we felt like we were intruding on their ceremony but it was something that I’m so glad I got to experience. The men and women were separated on either side of the room. There were flutes, dancing, smoking, and chanting. The men would dance in a circle, chanting and singing while carrying bowls of Chicha beer. It was so amazing to be a part of this. They would take the bowls and serve the men first then the women. The women shocked me since the majority of them were older women and they were drinking it one after the other like it was no problem. The women passed out cigarettes and candy that were supposed to be for after drinking the Chicha beer. We all really enjoyed it. Jackie said that she would be an old lady still telling the story and I think that is true for me too. We had such a warm reception and while we got on the boat to leave they stood and waved us off. I feel like I’m a Kuna now!
This trip reaffirmed that I love the beach! There was good and some bad about it though. I had a hard time sleeping in general but on there was a terrible storm the last night there and I didn’t sleep at all because I was trying to keep my tent from flooding (I failed). The food made me sick and I got sunburned, but, oddly enough, this trip was definitely the highlight so far!