Submitted by Jennifer Peasnall on the 2017 winter session study abroad program in Costa Rica and Panama sponsored by the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology…
We just left the rest stop. We had been on the road for over two hours and were only halfway to hotel. Most of the bus had been sleeping before the stop, but stretching our legs had invigorated us. We all sang along to Matt’s playlist as our Volkswagen bus flew down the road, weaving in and out of cars. It continued like this for the next hour. Eventually, sleep caught up with us; the music went down and several of the group fell asleep. The rest continued to look out on the scenic horizon, either looking for birds or lost in their own daydreams. Well, at least I became lost in my own daydreams. We were supposed to be looking for birds, but the view out of the window was just surreal!
Suddenly, I saw a strange looking structure; a shaggy little house with a patchy tin roof. The sides were dressed with plywood and reeds. There were no windows. I wondered what it was used for. Then I noticed more and more structures just like this one. Many of them did not have windows. Those that did, were only composed of small square holes cut out of the plywood. All of the roofs had holes in them. Certainty, I thought, this could not be someone’s home. But as we passed the clotheslines hanging outside, I knew that they were.
This was nothing like the red adobe roofed houses and sky scrapers within Panama City.
As the classic rock hummed in the background, I suddenly felt sick. This past semester, I constantly complained about my apartment in Newark. I only had two windows, neither of which I could see out of since they were in my roommate’s room. Yet these people had no windows, probably no air conditioning nor running water, and their shacks were smaller than half of the bus. How petty was I?
The bus passed by two young boys, no older than 8, all alone next to the road. I suddenly remembered the child I saw almost an hour ago that was also walking along the road. All alone. She was about their age, carrying a baby.
I now want to know everything about these people. Where do the children go to school? There were no grocery stores or shops nearby. What do they do during the rainy season? I gazed upon a hole in a roof that was the size of my head. How did they get food and clothing? The bus passed by a mother and her two daughters riding upon a horse.
Today marks my third day here. Already, I have so many questions. Already, I am humbled. Our bungalow has running water, air conditioning and beds for each of us. There’s even a couch and TV. No matter where we end up, I am going to make it my own personal goal not to complain. If an entire family can live within a small shack, I have no right to complain when I have air conditioning and a bed.