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¡Sólo Se Vive una Vez!
Related to country: Panama

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Living by yourself in another country provides one with inumerable opportunities to challenge existing convictions and ways of living. Being in Panama has taken me a long time to get used to, not because it is so different than where I was living before, but because I am living by myself in an environment where it is up to me to create everything anew. Some things are already set in stone: I work five days a week at a not-for-profit in front of a computer screen, take lunch with my compañeros de trabajo and then come home to my wonderful boyfriend. The rest of the week it is up to me to create my schedule, find cool people to hang out with, and find interesting things to keep myself entertained, happy and centred. The process of reaching that equalibrium in a new environment, and the constent interaction with new variables, makes me reflect a lot on how I intersect with the world.

I just started reading the novel of the year; Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I refer to it as the novel of the year because I think every woman (in the English speaking world) between the ages of 23-55 will have probably read this novel or have heard of it from a friend before the year is out. I am sure that it will be translated into a number of languages as well, including Italian, and maybe even Sanskrit. "Eat, Pray, Love" is the true story of one woman's journey to find independence and happyness, by exploring all sides of herself and the world. I am currently reading about her experiences in an Ashram in India, and I find myself indentifying more and more with her goal for inner peace. The question is, what things do I have the power to change in my life? After two months of living here I've fallen into set patterns of living, but sometimes something can happen that breaks your routine and forces you to see things in a new light.

Recently I started checking the site CouchSurfing.com, and I have been getting a ton of requests from people all over the world to stay on my couch. This weekend I had the amazing experience of hosting two couch surfers. Tessa and Alisa are two beams of light that are traveling around the world. It was so great having them in my home over the weekend, as I saw Panama City through their eyes, thus transforming my former perseptions and habits. The weekend was full of activity, and for once I felt like a tourist in my own city. Slowly but surely I feel like I am giving myself up to this place, allowing it to become my home as opposed to a place where I am temporarily living. The thing that transformed me the most about their visit, was how they seemed to be able to make friends with anybody. I feel like I need to open up my heart to my surroundings. As we were leaving Casco Viejo on their last day, I read off the side of a Diablo Rojo; "Sólo se vive una vez"- You only live once! I feel like I need to use this as my Panama mantra, soaking in my surroundings and cherishing every second.

March 3, 2008 | 11:11 AM Comments  1 comments

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gringuitica Erin
March 3, 2008 | 3:47 PM

You know, I saw that bus when we in the the taxi on the way to Casco Viejo! It was on the back door/window, right?

I'm glad you had a wonderful CouchSurfing experience, it seems to have motivated you in more ways than one!
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