Same-sex marriage around the world

Step-by-step
Slowly we turn
Step-by-step
Come on!

This native love is restless and we're just not satisfied.
This native love is restless and we're just not satisfied.

[lyrics - Divine: Native Love (Step By Step)]

Gay couple marries in Argentina

Two Argentine men have succeeded in becoming Latin America's first same-sex married couple.

After their first attempt to wed earlier this month in Buenos Aires was thwarted, gay rights activists Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre took their civil ceremony to the capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego province, where a sympathetic governor backed their bid to make Latin American history.

The couple exchanged rings Monday in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, closer to Antarctica than Buenos Aires. The informal ceremony was witnessed by state and federal officials.

Di Bello, 41, an executive at the Argentine Red Cross, met Freyre, 39, executive director of the Buenos Aires AIDS Foundation, at an HIV awareness conference. Both are HIV-positive.

Gov. Fabiana Rios said in a statement that gay marriage "is an important advance in human rights and social inclusion and we are very happy that this has happened in our state."

A celebration of friendship and goodbye

As we returned to the village, we were invited under the giant thatched roof again, this time to participate in a friendship dance that includes everyone. A simple 6-piece 'band' played for us as we joined the Embera on their dancefloor.

Some final pictures, a bit of shopping from the overflowing tables of fine crafts and a warm goodbye followed. We loaded ourselves back into the dugout canoe and headed back down the river to the diminishing sound of the Embera Puru's happy music.

WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! I had only ever seen such people in National Geographic magazines and TV. But, to meet them live in their own habitat and to understand their ingenious methods of survival, how much like us they are, and how fragile is their existence, gave me a whole new respect for indigenous cultures.

If you ever come to Panama, you must make this part of your education.

Dinner and some ancient wisdom

We were all brought under the same roof and introduced to their culture by way of a presentation and Q&A, with Anne as translator.

We learned that this village is part of over 100,000 Empera in Colombia and Panama, and that a woman can be chief as easily as a man.

They explained how they extract the materials they make their crafts from and showed us how they weave bowls that are virtually watertight out of local plants.

After that we were invited to join in a simple lunch of fried fish and plantains, with fresh pineapple and papaya served in bowls made of palm leaves.

We rinsed our hands in the basil-water and were offered tattoos - either simple wrist or arm decorations or full-body illustration for the bold among us! They used a 2-pronged piece of bamboo and ink made from a special palm-nut.

Once painted some of us went on a tour of the jungle with a shaman who showed us some of the many medicinal plants that they use on a regular basis. Treatments for snakebites, dementia, toothache (my mouth was numb for half an hour! LOL), diarrhea, erectile dysfunction (although this remedy takes about 3 days to work - plan ahead!) and an antibiotic cream for cuts. All of these plants were found within 100 metres of the village.

We meet the village

After the waterfall, we continued upriver until we reached the village. The sounds of music and laughter rose over the birds and insects to greet us. Thatched roofs atop the river bank and children swimming in the river.


We met Anne's father-in-law and mother-in-law and several other members of her adopted family - none of them much taller than 5 ft. tall but all adorned in beautifully patterned dress and beads.



A large, thatch-roofed structure served as a meeting place and display centre for woven and carved crafts made from died plant materials. We were free to move around the village and take pictures.



The people were engaging and anxious to try broken English with us although their Spanish was much better.

We also tried to learn some of their words:
meera chaba = Hello friend

An inspiring odyssey back in time

Yesterday was a remarkable day. After a 1 hour drive to meet up with our tourguide, Anne Gordon, we arrived at our embarcation point on the river where we caught the first sight of the dugout canoe that would take us to the Embera Puru village.

These are remarkable people with a simple life focussed around family and nature. They were as curious about us as we were about them and the whole day was a rich and meaningful experience.

The dugout ride took us across a lake that has been damned to supply water to the Panama Canal, but these people were here long before that.

As the lake narrowed into a winding river, our drivers found a small stream off to the side which lead up to a beautiful little waterfall.

We got out of the canoe and walked upstream to appreciate it's beauty up close. Warm, fresh water coming out of the jungle that we didn't want to leave.

More setting sun & early Peoples

As is probably true for most of you as well, Boxing Day didn't really entail too much activity. It was another hot day (38c) so sleeping late quickly lead to leftover turkey sandwiches (did I mention my sister cooked a turkey for us!?) and a swim in the ocean.

Surprisingly there were quite a number of people at the beach - usually there are none - doing the same as us: bodysurfing in the warm water, watching (and hearing!) the young guys go by on ATV's, and enjoying the people passing on horseback.

Then this beautiful sunset happened so I had to photograph it for everyone.

Tomorrow, we are getting up early to go to a village of indigenous Panamanians, the Embera Puru. My sister has made contact with an American woman who has married one of the tribe members, and she promotes tourism for the benefit of the villagers. You can read more about the tour HERE. I will let you know how our journey by dugout canoe goes!

The sun sets on Christmas Day 2009

Christmas on the beach

Today was another beautiful day here in Panama, albeit a bit too hot for my taste ... 35c... so the beach seemed in order!

I gave my sister 3 CD's as a present: Il Divo in Barcelona, Michael Buble and Susan Boyle (what can I say we are suckers for a feel-good story! LOL).

After our drive to San Carlos, we stopped at the Playa Coronado again so that my Mom could dip her toes into the Pacific Ocean. The shade was cool, the water was warm and the day was a celebration of her recovery from her fall.

I also took a few other art shots while we were there!

2009 will go up in smoke on New Years

One of the most popular New Year traditions in Panama is to prepare effigies of well-known people, popular television celebrities or political figures like Betty La Fea or Fidel Castro and burn them on New Year's bonfires.

These dummies, known as New Year's muñecos, represent the old year and they are burnt to drive off the evil spirits along with the old year.

The pictures on this page are muñecos we saw today, Christmas Day, on the side of the road near here in San Carlos, Panama.

Another one playing for OUR team

Even in this age of enlightenment, a professional athlete considering exiting the homosexuality closet must first exorcise demons.

For hulking British rugby star Gareth Thomas, outing himself last week came only after the disintegration of his marriage, thoughts of suicide and an emotional breakdown.

Thomas, billed as the first top British sports figure to declare he is gay, has become the subject of intense media scrutiny following a candid and heartfelt description of his life as a homosexual in one of the world's most macho sports.

On turning 89, Christmas and Human Perseverance

As I mentioned earlier, part of the experience of going to the Canal for me was the celebration of my mother's 89th birthday.

For as long as I can remember, it was of vital importance to distinguish my Mom's birthday on the 23rd of December from the adjacent Christmas celebrations.

As a family, Christmas and the holidays have always included thoughts about my Mom and how special she is to us and the history we have created together. Despite everything, we have never forgotten to make her feel special on her day as the common thread between my siblings and me.

This Christmas tree was in the lobby of the Miraflores Restaurant.

I feel extremely proud to have helped make it possible for my Mom to have an unforgettable experience in the company of her whole family (either in person or by telephone and blog).

Her resilience to be able to get back up after a frightening fall in a strange land, tells me that I too have the capacity to overcome anything I might encounter in this world.

Mom I love you, and I am thrilled to have been able to share your 89th birthday in such a memorable location!

This pic shows my sister and my Mom watching the ships in the Canal.