Parque Omar, Museo de Mola, and lots of bus station time

Friday:  Parque Omar

I'd been to Panama City's Parque Omar in the past, but this past Friday I went again, this time with a new friend.  Alexandra told me her favorite part of the Parque is the library, and then she told me she's a real nerd, and I said back that's why we get along so well. 

So this time, we walked around outside a bit, but we also spent some time touring the library.  It's open and spacious, probably similar in size to the main library in my own home city,  or a little smaller.  

The library had a bunch of neat art in the building.  In the children's section, there's a carved wooden block showing a woman reading to, or telling stories to, a large crowd of listeners.  

I really admired this carving on the desk where
kids can check out books or ask for help.

There was also an exhibit of Ukraine-theme posters and paintings.  

I had to take pictures of these to show my husband,
who volunteers with Ukraine advocacy/aid groups.

There weren't a huge number of people there, but it was clear the library was getting some good use.  I'm glad I got to see the space.

On one table (I didn't take a picture of this) there was a pile of giveaway books.  I nabbed Michael Crichton's TimeLine, and I guess I'm hungry for reading, because I started that book Friday and finished it Saturday.  I need to get my hands on some more books, I guess!  I miss my own library, is what this experience told me. 

My new friend is a volunteer for FUNDAPROMAT (the organization that's my host here in Panama); she's also an advocate for pushing past boundaries that people create for autistic people.  I mentioned she says she's a nerd; she also really loves industrial and graphic design.  I think we're going to have a lot to talk about!

Us on the bus.  Getting to and from Parque Omar takes a LONG time.
I think we spent a bit more than 2 hours in the park,
and 4 or 5 hours commuting.

One big disadvantage (for me) of Parque Omar is that getting there takes so long.  "Tranques" (traffic jams) in Panama are fairly constant.  My actual travel day looked like this:

• 9 a.m., leave the AirBnB with plenty of wiggle time, so I could get to the Albrook Terminal by 10:00 a.m.  Surprisingly, I caught a bus right as I arrived at the stop, so I arrived in Albrook at . . . 
• 9:30 a.m., where I sat at a table to do math and wait for Alexandra.
• 11:00 is when she showed up finally.  I was early, but she was caught in traffic jams.  And the bus out to Parque Omar took a long time in coming . . . a half hour or more?
• noon or a little later, we arrived at Parque Omar and walked around, seeing the library and the grounds.
• 2:30: We left Parque Omar and caught a bus back to Albrook.
• 4:00 or 4:30, I was back in the AirBnB.  

Alexandra would like to hang out more, as would I; I suggested that maybe she come come closer to my neck of the woods so I don't spend so much of my time on buses or in bus stations.  Let's cross fingers that that works!

Saturday: Albrook again

On Saturday, I did a solo trip to the mall (which is not something I would do in the U.S.) to get some walking sandals that I can wear in the rain, and then to pick up vegetables from an open-air market on the way home.  More bus time!  But the bus between my home and the Albrook Mall is fairly direct, and so this went relatively quickly, especially because I had a book to read now.  

Sunday: Hymns in Arabic and the Museo de Mola

In church Sunday morning, I had another new experience.  The missions team that the church had sent to Egypt was back and described what had happened there, and then we sang a hymn in three languages: Spanish, English, and Arabic.  The church I've been attending (Crossroads Bible Church) usually sings hymns in Spanish and English, and so we all struggled with the Arabic, and all seemed to enjoy the struggle.  I appreciated the challenge, the reminder to try to reach out to people not like us, and also the reminder that we are all in some sense travelers in strange lands. 

Then I hopped on a bus (because, of course!) to head to Albrook Terminal (yet again!) to meet a new friend to go to the Museo de Mola.  And yet again, my bus arrived quickly and my friend took an hour and a half to join me.  Kimberly wasn't particularly keen on the Metro-then-walk route to get to Casco Viejo, so she ordered us an Uber for the next leg.

A "mola" is an amazing fabric art that is traditional among the women of the Guna, an indigenous people on the northern (Atlantic) coast of Panama.  The closest we have in the U.S. is quilting -- particularly applique quilting -- but the molas are much more detailed and use a layering and cutting step that U.S. quilts don't.  To give you a sense of the detail and size of stitches, you can see a wall of molas here:

 

And then we can zoom in to look at just one Mola, where you can see lots more detail . . .

probably about 16 inches high

. . . and here's the stitching and fabric work on one small part of the rooster's wing.

I think I'm even more in awe because I sew, and I know how tricky it is to make some of those corners, and how amazingly tiny and regular the stitching is.  These are incredible to look at. 

There's also a nifty kaleidescope box taking mola-esque designs and making them go on forever.  The geometer in me had to take images of this box, of course.

The mola has become an aspect of national pride (and lots of marketing to tourists), but it wasn't always so; less than two decades ago, the Guna were persecuted and attacked, and part of the exhibit shows photos of women having their bead leggings sliced off and men getting beaten.  

So it's nice to see that this museum sits in an important place.  The Mola Museum is in Casco Viejo -- a tourist area of the city with a lot of other museums and such nearby; the museum itself is free.  It has one floor (6 or so rooms) of exhibits, and so it's a really easy place to visit and take in.  Surprisingly, it has no gift shop.  However, not surprisingly, molas are for sale all over Casco Viejo, both in the shops and also in open-air stands along a walkway called the "Paseo Bovedas", overlooking the ocean.   

After we finished our tour of the museum, Kimberly used her phone to find a nearby place with a special sushi deal; we had a lovely lunch together (my first sushi in Panama!); we then walked along the Cinta Costera to a metro stop, and from there back to Albrook Terminal, where we parted ways -- sweaty and tired, but happy -- and took our respective buses back home.

This is a picture of the food court at one end of the Albrook Terminal. 
It's where I wait for friends and do math until they arrive.
There are lots of tables; there are restaurants lining both sides
of that area, it's light, airy, and clean,
and there are security folks wandering back and forth. 
If you have to wait, this is a nice place to do so!