"The gringo with the berries on his face..."

When you last left Team Stein, we were about to go to Kuna Yala, a mostly-autonomous province along the Caribbean coast. It was by far the most interesting part of the trip so far.

The road to Kuna Yala was windy, wet, and extremely bumpy. We were up in the mountains, crossed a river (in a van) and then came to the coast. We then took what was essentially a canoe into the Caribbean to reach the island that we were staying on. Needle Island is surrounded by a white sand beach and is home to all of the gringos staying in Kuna Yala. While the resort feel was nice, the real fun didn´t happen until we reached Garti Sugdub, where the Kuna were celebrating their independence. They revolted against Panamanian forces in 1925, and celebrate the "Revolucion Tule" by re-enacting it for two days. I ended up playing the role of the gringo, Richard Marsh, who helped bring Kuna Yala into the American spotlight. I had my face painted red with berries, and was given a ¨wife¨at the end of the festival.

After the dramatization, we were invited to join in drinking the local brew, chicha, with the entire community. Everybody was really fun and enjoyed talking to us. After a while, they all started calling me "Richard Marsh" or "Mr. Marsh" and then started inquiring into what we were all doing in Kuna Yala. Before we left, a few of my new friends said that I was a Kuna and that they hoped I, and the rest of the group, would be back. Chad, the Bio professor that iniciated this trip said that I am now the group´s biggest minority: a male, a History major, and a Kuna.

A shout-out to the awesome people there: Keungler (who put the trip together), Manuel (the owner of the boat we used), and Alberto (a friend I met at the chicha party).