"Pagme!!"

So the fourth day of our trip, Luke and Fortunato went surfing with Fortunato's brother and I stayed behind with Sutton. The one thing that I had learned very quickly on our trip is that this child loves the water and the sand, so it made sense to keep her close to home for the day so she could play in the pool, play at the beach, and we would have all the things she needed if she was tired or hungry.

"Let me go, I can swim by myself!!"

"I love swimming" 

"I think I'm just going to jump on in...watcha think Mommy?"

After a few hours of playing in the pool, we walked down to the beach to play in the sand and waves. There was no one out this morning except for an older lady further out walking through the rocks.  As the lady got closer she started to walk over to us. Nothing about this seemed weird or uncomfortable because having a baby with you makes you a magnet for a lot of different types of people, especially one with bright blue eyes like Sutton. Also, panama is generally a safe place to be so my comfort level was pretty high.

The beach in front of our place.

As she got closer she started asking me in Spanish if that was my baby. "Yes" I would reply and then she would mumble something and then ask me again if that was my baby and I would say "yes" again.  I started to think that she must either be confused, my Spanish was worst than I thought, or she was kinda drunk (she kinda looked the part).  I'm guessing that she was a little more on the drunk side.  She had oysters in a bucket that she had been collecting from the rocks so I asked if she liked oysters.  She started mumbling and saying " Pagme.  Pagme.".

Now I did not know what she was saying, but each time she said it, her tone got a little more assertive and louder. Along with her bucket of oysters, she was also carrying a hammer and dull knife to help her get the oysters off the rocks. So I said to her in Spanish that I didn't understand and she started making a universal symbol that I knew immediately. She rubbed her thumb and two fingers together and I knew she wanted money. "Pagme!"

I was actually grateful that I only had a towel and a few toys with me so I wasn't lying when I told her I didn't have any money...I'm a really bad liar. I didn't want to make this lady angry so I said to her in my broken Spanglish "Me Esposo es...surfing. Esta calor. Quiero nadar.". For all you non Spanglish speakers...I'll translate....."My husband is....(while I search my brain for the Spanish word)... surfing.  It's hot. I want to swim". I felt like this was the most socially acceptable thing to say and do when talking to a drunk woman demanding money and carrying a hammer.

This interaction made me slightly uncomfortable, but it really just reaffirmed my first rule of travel... Take what you need... No more. I never try and bring a bunch of stuff with me and I always dress the part. This means: when we go places, especially with a high poverty population, I leave the nice things at home and only take what I'm willing to loose. Before we left, I left my wedding rings at home and and other jewelry that was meaningful....I just don't need it.   Plus, it's slightly more believable that I don't have any money if I'm not wearing diamond earrings and my wedding rings! "PAGME Gringa!!"