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San Blas Island - Part 4
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
A complete juxtaposition of economies.
Today we went from the lap of luxury to the San Blas Islands. San Blas is one of the last places in the world where the indigenous people still live, well indigenously. The San Blas Indians were living off the coast of Panama, and by living away from the main land, they avoided all the diseases brought by the Europeans, which killed the native populations. They live in this series of islands the same way they have lived for the past few centuries.
Seeing this community is like stepping into another world, a world slightly influenced by our world, yet still different. This difference was based on one element: the extreme poverty. The houses were completely crammed together and made of any available material . In most cases it was wood, but in other cases, pieces of plastic, tin, and other materials were thrown in. A number of family members lived in one small home. . Mostly they were textile patterns called molas, showing birds or fish. Between these textiles were children holding the baby form of whatever animal that they happened to have, kittens, puppies, baby lizards, baby parrots, etc... The kids all knew one phrase, "Picture... one dollar." The entire island was a dollar sale.
"Would you like to tour my house, only one dollar per person?"
We stopped by the Catholic Mission and got a little tour of the church from the priest. Nearly everything in the church couldn’t have cost more than a few hundred dollars, and he’s struggling to find a few extra dollars to feed the children of the island a nutritious breakfast. Needless to say, we tried to give him all that we could.
We went back to the ship and had lunch. The steak made us feel a bit guilty.
That night Margherita got seasick, as she seems prone to be. That night there was an Indian dinner at the Terrace Cafe. Indian is one of our favorites, but we had to miss it.
However all except for her stomach, all was not lost.
Oliver, the Maitre’D heard from the front desk that we cancelled our reservations due to sickness and also was well aware that this was the dinner we were looking forward to. He personally brought us the food later that same evening. This is the kind of service you get on Silversea. Oliver could have called the room and asked if we just wanted room service, but he knew we wanted the Indian food; and he was concerned about us.
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Within a village at San Blas Islands | |
San Jose - Part 1
San Jose - Part 2
Silversea's Silver Wind - Part 1
Day at Sea - Part 2
Panama Canal/Gatun Lake - Part 3
San Blas Island - Part 4
Cartagena, Colombia - Part 5
Day at Sea - Part 6
Aruba - Part 7
Curacao - Part 8
Bonaire - Part 9
At Sea - Part 10
St. Georges, Grenada - Part 11
Barbados - Part 12
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