we have located us yet

So I haven't written much* since leaving my Panamanian family's home mainly because upon my arrival to Bocas del Toro I've been able to a) speak English 2) make friends and play music 3) go to happy hour.  But while i felt that my former lifestyle within the neighborhood of Clayton, near the American Embassy, to be a little lacking in terms of autonomy (I never really knew what was going on...I just followed the periodic direction of "vamos, kaylee" with a smile on my face), this new "independent 20-somethings traveller" identity seems to not be all that I had hoped.

Be warned elder educators:  When you hear that so many American (including your own American) students are traveling abroad for a year or two with open-minded attitudes before entering the "real world," they aren't escaping the bounds of first world capitalism and the white patriarchy!**  For the majority of these "student" travelers, this trip is just a remix of Spring Break:  Cancun.  They are still enjoying the so-called third world within the boundaries and definitions of the first world.

And, yes, extended homestays may be better than the city to city hopping of backpackers (ignoring the fact that a high percentage of these homestays involve "teaching English" in non-English speaking countries, while simultaneously not being required to learn the native language...because everyone needs to learn english and who need to learn (insert third world country language here)).

The only time backpackers, or at least I, even when "roughing" it, interact with locals is when:

1)  They are a housekeeper/serviceman at the hostel.  (Keep in mind only I only interact with usually white, always English-speaking, many time American, receptionists/hostel owners).

2) They are asking me if I want a taxi, bus, etc.

3)  I am trying to make a bargain with either one of the above or a street vendor.

4)  They are offering to sell me drugs or another type of hustle.

5)  They do my laundry.***

6)  They cook "weird," "simpler," or "cheaper" food.

7)  They sell "indigenous" or "native" crafts of the same nature.

8)  They are children peddling said goods or asking for money, and sometimes saying it is because they have nothing to eat.  (Charleston, SC, anyone?  Only there we make sure that they don't tell tourists if they don't have enough to eat at home...and we make them pay for vendor licenses.)

*i.e. anything

**I have only visited Bocas del Toro, Panama and Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

***I haven't actually done that yet.