Welp, I spent Saturday and Sunday in El Valle de Antón, a beautiful little town about two hours outside the city.  It’s about 10 degrees cooler there than it is in Panamá (City), so it’s about like escaping to Asheville for the weekend when you live in Raleigh.  Our capoeira group had an incredible convivio (retreat) at the house of one of our fellow capoeiristas.  He and his girlfriend live on a gorgeous farm, have probably 60 chickens, 2 pigs, a cow, 2 dogs, a tiny kitten, and a 6 year old.  They are also constantly working on their beautiful home bit by bit.  It has amazing views, and the latest project is adding a gym/yoga studio on the second floor.  For now, it doesn’t have walls or anything besides a concrete floor and a bamboo-type railing, but the views are gorgeous and the breeze is muy rica.

I had the luxury of making the road trip sola, something I haven’t done the whole time we’ve been here.  Of course it’s fun to travel with friends or with Eric, but I really enjoyed the freedom of deciding when and whether to stop along the way to check something out, controlling the music and air without worrying about anyone else, not having to talk (in any language), and generally indulging my introverted side.

I didn’t have much trouble finding the farm, and we spent the first several hours just relaxing before having a calm music session and roda out in the grass…just down the hill from the pigs and chickens and cow, as any decent roda should be.  The 6 year old son of our hosts, Nicolai was full of energy and anxious to challenge anyone who dared play a jogo with him, so he was largely the center of attention.  Unfortunately, he didn’t yet understand the part of capoeira is a bit more cooperative and perhaps less cutthroat than whatever ninja movies he’s been watching, so he tended to throw all kinds of wild kicks without worrying about where they might land.  Between that and my still-developing ability to safely control my kicks and other movements, I decided it was best that I stick to capoetting (ask Eric and I call it) with the grown-ups.  It was, however, hilarious to watch this little one use Keanu Reeves’ beckoning/challenge hand motion from The Matrix and then go absolutely crazy trying to destroy all 200 pounds of Mono.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

After a chorizo dinner and some good talks out in the hammocks, we threw down some sleeping bags and air mattresses in the living room and had a good sleep.  We greeted the next morning with a nice easy yoga class up in the new studio, using whatever towels we could find as mats on the rough and uneven concrete.  The breeze was incredible, and between the views and the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs, you couldn’t beat the atmosphere.

Breakfast was huevos rancheros with fresh eggs, plus pineapple and papaya.  After that we packed up and headed towards town to Jessie’s mom’s house.  Jessie, you may recall from older posts, is originally from just outside DC, but she’s lived in Panamá for over three years.  Her capoeira name is Ninja b/c she was a black belt in Kung-Fu (or whatever the equivalent is…i’m not sure how it works) before she began capoeira.  She’s amazing.  Her mom moved down here last November without knowing a WORD of Spanish.  There are no Spanish schools in El Valle because it’s just such a small town, so she is dependent on a neighbor and on tv to learn.  Even now, she has a long way to go…but she seems happy!

So Tonette (Jessie’s mom) lives in an guest house alongside a beautiful house with gorgeous landscaping, including a pond with a picturesque bridge over it.  I was surprised there weren’t swans swimming around in it.  What better place to have a roda, right?  That’s what we thought.  We stretched a bit, incorporated a few new folks into a short practice, then started the roda – to the surprise and delight of Tonette’s neighbors.  My words won’t do justice to the beauty and peace of the setting…and combining that with capoeira made it just a perfect afternoon for me.  Between seeing Tonette’s excitement upon having this private performance all for her, watching her watch her daughter perform, watching her kick off her shoes and join in with Mono and then again with Jessie, and then enjoying jogos with several people myself, I was very happy.  I even had the chance to have a jogo with Mono, which isn’t a super frequent occurrence.  But playing against my teacher challenges me to be my absolute best, shows me how much I’ve learned, and shows me how much there still is to learn.  And that last part isn’t a bad thing.  It’s exciting.

I worked on some acrobacía with Juan Pablo and his girlfriend Anita (Ana) after the roda.  It’s a move that’s a bit like a front walkover, but it looks a little cooler.  I tried it and got some encouragement from Juan Pablo and from Mono, so I kept at it.  After maybe 30 attempts, Mono filmed me doing it so I could watch it at home and see what is keeping me from doing the complete movement.  They kept saying that I was so close.  Just after that, I landed it!  I yelled, then realized that everyone else was yelling too – they had all seen it!  I was so excited…and very proud, especially because Mono saw it.

While some would say that that’s when you call it quits, I wanted to do it again, so keep at it so I could try to commit it to muscle memory.  In the next 15 or so tries, I couldn’t do it again.  But as Mono was pulling out of the driveway heading back towards Panamá, he rolled down the window and called me over.  He gave me a hug and a kiss and told me that I had done buen trabajo.  He told me to keep practicing it.  That’s my plan.

So back at home, I returned a borrowed sleeping bag to my Swiss neighbor Stella, who I know I’ve mentioned in the past.  Eric and I have been trying to get together with her and her English boyfriend Elliott for dinner or drinks for months.  Stella and I decided on drinks on our balcony for this Wednesday…finally.  A couple of hours later, I realized that Stella had texted me an hour before saying that their apartment had flooded!  Eric and I went upstairs with towels and a mop to find Stelliott (as they occasionally call themselves) and another neighbor couple barefoot and covered with wet towels and mops still drying the floors and furniture.

Apparently, they had just sat down to relax and watch a movie after taking a bike tour of the city when the washing machine flooded.  It must have happened quickly and quietly because by the time Elliott ran over to the kitchen, fell, and slid into the dining area next to the laundry room, the water was up to his ankles!  Awful!  We got there in time to help them with the last of the cleaning, to meet the other neighbors and invite them to join us for drinks on Wednesday, and to have a celebratory beer with all of them after finishing up.  Quite the eventful night.  We’re still washing their towels.

Photos of the retreat to come…and hopefully videos too!