Sometimes things just work out, and other times…

I came to Panama pretty much without the inkling of a plan. Panama was actually just my Plan C. You see I needed proof of onward travel in order to enter Cuba, and I still needed to get a Brazilian visa. Panama City had a Brazilian Embassy and was the cheapest flight I could get leaving Cuba. So Panama it was.

I showed up at the airport and at the tourist booth I found a flier for a youth hostel. I had the nice Panamanian lady working behind the counter call them up and sure enough they had space for the night, and only $8 a night! At the line for the cabs I was able to find a Spanish woman who was heading in the same direction so we split a cab.

The next morning first thing I headed to the Brazilian embassy. My Spanish has improved to the point where I can understand most of the reply I get from a question like “where is the Brazilian embassy?” After walking in circles for a little bit the last person I asked just pointed to the Brazilian flag about a block away. In total only took ½ hour to walk the 4 blocks, which isn’t really that bad.

At the embassy the very helpful Brazilian representative assured me that a tourist visa would only take 24 hours, unless it was an emergency and then they could issue it the same day. That was so much better than the answer of “maybe two-weeks but come back tomorrow” I kept getting in Havana. She even had the direction for a place that would give me the Yellow Fever vaccine that I needed.

I was able to catch a cab to the health center without any problems. Within another ½ hour I had my vaccine and more importantly my International Certification of Vaccination. It only cost me $5, sorry Ellick they didn’t have anything for Dengue fever, I checked. I caught another cab and headed back to the youth hostel to figure out the tickets.

As I heading to the hostel I saw a place that was advertising free WiFi. Fantastic, I can finally use my own laptop! I hopped on Expedia and found what I still think is a great deal for tickets into Rio and out towards Buenos Aires. I even found a bittorrent of the Pimsleur Portuguese lessons I’d been looking for! Everything was going swimmingly!

And then I checked my e-mail. My 19 year old cousin has just been diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Her chemo-therapy is already scheduled.

Fuck.

I don’t remember the last time I prayed, but when I saw that message I asked God for mercy. I recited every bit of the Qu’ran I could still remember. They say there are no atheists in fox-holes, I suppose that applies to love ones in distress as well. So those of you out there reading this, do me a favor and say a prayer to the god of your choice, it can’t hurt. Her name is Sana Javeed and while she can try one’s patience at times, she’s really a sweet kid.