It is quite a transition to go from the comfort of my sleek office to visiting the San Blas Islands Robinson Crusoe style, an archipelago of 365 islands which runs along the coast, now called Kuna Yala, which means Kuna-land in the Kuna language. About 36 of the islands are inhabited by Kuna communities.

Bringing Iris, a great Panamanian friend, only made bringing my latest guest, a Kuna Indian named Noemi, who grew up in El Porvenir, a great addition to our Panamanian tour, and we got to learn so much about tribal culture especially from a Deaf person’s perspective. Noemi lives in Panama city so she can pursue better job opportunities as a Deaf person.

This trip was a very emotionally impacting tour since I have landed in Panama. Nothing is superficial anymore, they all are people living in real villages. They are the Kuna indigenous people of the land. The Kuna people are a nation within a nation which has fought for centuries to keep its’ culture and traditions alive, and we became eyewitnesses to thriving kuna culture.

Since El Porvenir airport was closed, we flew instead to Carti, stunned to find while landing an old runaway with grass growing over it, the end of runaway was a beach straight ahead where the coconuts are ready to be picked from the palm trees. Expecting to see some kind of terminal, I realized the terminal was actually a hut.

Seth stood on the runaway to film the plane taking off from the runaway, thrilled because there were no security guards to stop him from filming on the same runaway the plane took off from. High fives all around!

From Carti, we then took a small boat to El Porvenir, our destination, which took almost an hour getting there in the open seas. Arriving in El Porvenir, we settled down at the El Porvenir Hotel that had nearly nothing except a bed on the floor and a hanging light bulb from the ceiling. No electricity are turned on at the hotel until 5pm and it only stays on until midnight, that to me, was restrictive as opposed to having access to electricity 24/7. With the hotel staff extremely friendly, it made things more welcome for us. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that the hotel is just within 100 feet of the El Porvenir runaway. The airport is expected to be opened later this year.

Noemi couldn’t wait any longer to take us to her home, at Wichub-Wala, which was only 5 minute boat ride. The population of Wichub-Wala is about 375 people, the island was the size of almost 4 football fields, it is an island that is fairly large for the region.

I was imagining the now-retired San Francisco 49er great Jerry Rice running through Kuna island, the length of 4 football fields, he was not only a great wide receiver but was a very well conditioned athlete who probably can run that far on a catch-and-run play!

Imaginations turned into a surprise when we arrived the pier, many Kuna came and treated Noemi like a VIP guest of honor, welcoming me and my crew. I was thinking about how fortunate I am to have both Iris and Noemi as my guests with the Panama tour, and how grateful I was that Noemi could be a part of my assignment.

Iris and I saw one elder lady approaching Noemi crying, tears flowing. Iris had a puzzled look, and Noemi explained that the woman missed her father, an American, he was well loved in the Kuna community. Noemi’s mother was pure Kuna. Her father had been in the army supporting Kuna in the old days, so hence his relationship with the Kuna people grew. Noemi began crying too, turning the moment into an emotional one for us, with others joining in crying also. That brought goosebumps to both Iris and I.

After the crying theatrics, Noemi regained her composure, it was a very nostalgic time for everyone. She then gave us a grand tour around the island, and I was really excited to see a group of Kuna doing the Kuna dance to welcome us! They did four different songs while I joined in, but I barely lasted 5 minutes hopping with that kind of dance. It’s quite a strenuous, jumpy kind of dance. I could see Noemi smiling broadly, with Iris and I looking at each other, reading each other’s minds thinking how happy Noemi is to be back in her hometown meeting her countless cousins and villagers who were all so thrilled to see her again.

When Noemi explained to her Kuna hometown folks that DeafNation is doing a video on her portrayed as a Deaf Kuna native, her people were overjoyed over the fact I wanted to share Kuna to the world. They made sure the purpose of filming and photographing them is to bring our viewers a story about Kuna preserving their cultures for future generations, not to advertise their face for money.

Noemi confided to me that she was a little disappointed in her parents, particularly her mother, because she wouldn’t let her have a gold ring in her nose like all the other hearing Kuna females, because she is Deaf. The other villagers supported Noemi very much, but couldn’t intervene for her mother to allow her to wear one because the Kuna are a people who do not intrude in other Kuna folks’ private lives.

Time was against us since our boat driver had to take us and other passengers from Greece and Panama City to the island. We were told that boat ride would be about one hour to the island. We never saw so many surrounding islands, many of which Kuna people habitat, during our boat trip to the island. One island is enough for a dream of your lifetime! Noemi wanted us to return back to her town the next day.

When we neared an island full of palm trees taking up the full space, I instantly put everything (work, computer, pager, newspapers, and especially my bills) out of my mind, effectively blocking it with visions of the lush paradise-like tropical environment, I couldn’t wait to jump out of the boat into the shore so I can be the first to name the island!

Iris, Seth, me and Noemi posed with the DeafNation banner. The DeafNation banner has been displayed in both freezing Arctic conditions and hot, humid tropical conditions. We marked this island as DeafNation Island.

And we would have our own luau, of course.

On the island there was a Kuna family of six. They sell Mola, a famous Panamanian piece of handicraft, the traditional costume of a Kuna woman, that has two mola panels being incorporated as front and back panels in a blouse. The mola wear started by tradition of Kuna women painting their bodies with geometrical designs using natural colors. Later on these same designs were woven in cotton, then finally sewn using cloth bought from the European settlers of Panama. Mola is the main source of income for this family. I bought one because I used their island for a swimming spot, it was a fair trade off. They work so hard for less in amount of dollars. “They live in paradise, for a tough time making a living,” I pondered.

I spotted another island that was even smaller that served as a habitation for another Kuna family while returning to my hotel, I experienced as close to primitive surroundings I could be. The number one thing that stood out in my mind was the tropical weather there, the Panamanian territories are well out of the hurricane belt but they do deliver some fierce storms strong enough to rattle people on the islands.

Returning to the hotel, it was so hot and humid, with no ceiling fan, we were saved by the ocean breeze. There was a total blackout after sunset, only our hotel with the few bulbs stayed on.

The next day, we went back to Wichub-Wala, to see Noemi work with Mola which I was very interested in seeing. First, she took us to one of her cousins and did some Kuna cuisine cooking for us, making coconut soup made with coconut milk, dried fish, and plantains, the South American version of bananas, which is perfect for cooking. Noemi had to use the fan to keep cool from the fire, which was too hot, and smoke filled up the tiny kitchen. The coconut soup tasted so delicious as I never tried a soup made with real coconut juice before, it tasted more rich compared to drinking coconut juice that has a more watery taste.

If one is on an island, one might as well make good use of coconut growing from the trees. Might get knocked out by a fallen coconut, too!

Noemi looked at us and motioned us over to give us a demonstration of Mola making. “One mola blouse is 14 by 14 inches,” explained Noemi, “it takes me one month to finish, which sells for only $15, it costs as much as anywhere from $200 to $600 if sold in other countries.” That is why so many people around the world spend a lot of money on Mola because they are made only by Kuna natives in one of the 36 Kuna-occupied islands.

When we got back to the El Porvenir Hotel, we saw some Kuna selling shiny fresh fish. We were hungry and ectastically thrilled that our meal would be a a dish with hot cooked Red Snapper and Pompano, a saltwater fish which is a succulent, fine-textured fish with a mild delicate flavor.

It was perfect eating the best seafood as a last big eating festival in Kuna as the sun faded away.

We all bought more Mola costumes and other things from Noemi, feeling really happy to be able to support Deaf people by buying their handicrafts. That is our goal when we touch a new land, if we see a Deaf person selling something, we will buy it.

It was so sad to leave the transparent calmness of a paradise having to return to a wild, noisy way of life in the city.

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