By moving towards the coast, and eventually fleeing to the islands that would provide their economic advantage – the coconut palms islands - the Kuna were isolated enough from the wars and fights for independence that would beleaguer the rest of the Isthmus. The Kuna were creating a coconut kingdom, but their ultimate struggle and victory would not arrive until the twentieth century. A struggle that would involve a swashbuckling American, guns and the Panamanian military.
Four guests are arriving at the Island today. I am doing my best to wash my shirt and appear presentable for their arrival. Vera is from New York, she says. Would the Colombian guy and the two ladies from Chile care to join us at the puberty celebration on Achutupu?
I ask Vera how many people she thinks live here. She says fifty, maybe. Vera works for Pfizer. She goes around the world giving speeches on Viagra safety.
I'm trying to tell Viagra about how the flags on all these huts correspond to different political affiliations, but she is already trying to barter with the locals for some of their hand-sewn molas.
Vera has these boxes of glo-pens with the Viagra logo on them, and she's trying to trade them for the molas. Nobody wants to trade. I'm embarrassed for Viagra. I say what they want is money. I'm trying to tell her nobody wants her glo-pens. The girl with the monkey flinches at the pens. The boy with the iguana runs the other way. “The reason all you see is kids here,” I say, “is because the women are out fishing, and the men are building a runway.”
Viagra has traveled extensively. She has no idea how many countries she's been to, but she has a particular interest in the migration of the monarch butterflies. In most of Africa, she could barter her way with a handful of Viagra pens. In Asia, they could afford her a good meal. I tell her we've arrived at the puberty celebration.
It's being held at the gathering hall, which is like a Kuna home, only bigger.
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