Happy 2010 everyone!
Here are a few pix from Playa Coronado and the fireworks to celebrate the new year.
Feliz Ano Nuevo!
Step-by-step
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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).
I also took a few other art shots while we were there!
