Pip's San Blas
29 March 2012
Pip
Kevin wasn't sure about the San Blas Islands when I said I really wanted to go there- but it had been an ambition of mine for a long time, I'd read about these tiny islands where the women come out in dug out canoes to sell their 'molas'- embroidered panels that traditionally are used as the bodices of their blouses. They are a sort of reverse applique where 2, 3 or more layers of bright cotton cloth are cut and stitched to show the layers underneath.
Anyway, of course it turned out that the scenery and snorkelling was absolutely stunning, and we'd hardly even dropped our anchor before Marianna and her 3 year old daughter Balerie paddled out to sell us the molas. Unusually for me, I didn't dither and bought 8, which I then used to make cushion covers with- saving one for Dinah's 80th birthday present. I believe I really did make a connection with Marianna, I played my recorder for Balerie and then gave her an ocarina in the shape of a duck I'd bought in Columbia; and Marianna showed me her mother's molas and I showed her some of my mother's cross stitch. We also got to meet 'Mola Lisa'- the person the guide book described as 'the infamous transvestite'.
The water was so clear and so full of amazing fish, and I could have stayed there forever snorkelling, sewing, singing...