Caitlin Bush - Earth Train Panama
Week 2

Three, two, one.  I sprint into the shower and allow the air stuck in my lungs, to be released as soon as the freezing water hit my body.  While I washed my hair as fast as possible, I thought of all the solutions that would allow my body to get used to this temperature, and to also get used to this 6:30am wake up call.  I thought that it may be a state of mind, that the water was not, in fact, actually cold.  Or it may be my body’s temperature, and that the overheating would impair by burning head with the cold fluid.  This shower wasn’t anything new, but it wasn’t until today, that I was contemplating how to solve the consistency of this problem.

If I could put into words what this feeling was, it was a world that had froze for a moments rest. It was a time that allowed me to understand how today was the end of the beginning, of the new life that I agreed to.  The idea of this metamorphosis seemed to be in a dream’s level, but in minutes of still life, I had acquired a mere illusion.  The stillness ended abruptly and I headed to the main camp, to hear the unknown adventure of today. 

The plan for the day was to create a pathway and a system of stairs that would be outlined with large rocks, and filled with gravel, both coming from a nearby river.  We headed out with a bucket, gloves, and a shovel.  I had begun to collect large rocks from the river and dropped them into my blue bucket.  Attempting to carry the bucket, using a shoulder straining movement, I was run into by one of the Embera students. He told me that the only way to carry the bucket was on top of my shoulder.  I was excited to transform my idea of the best transportation, into a method of carrying heavy items that has been successful in this hard working culture.  One by one, we carried the buckets up the hill and then forcefully dropped all the rocks onto the ground. I kept telling myself I was not made for this labor.  Several times I questioned why exactly we were laboring. It wasn’t until we were finished, that I came to realize that the importance was to create a habitat with a new community, which was needed to establish a new self body and the observation of foreign figures.