Over 1 month of wearing the handmande bead string, wrapped 50 times around my wrist by a beautiful Kuna woman named Cecilia in Ciudad Panamá. I was searching all over the city for a long orange bracelet, like the ones the many traditionally-dressed Kuna indigenous women wear in Panamá. I met a woman selling handicrafts in a hidden marketplace who said she had just the thing for me, but that it was at her home and she wouldn't be in the next day before I left in the evening. The vendor said she would pass this bracelet to Cecilia, and I made arrangements to meet at her shop in another market down the road. It was just a verbal promise on both ends, but if felt so magical to acquire a piece this way. I unfortunately arrived late the next day looking for Cecilia's booth, but most of the market was closed. When I finally found her, she was sitting unhurriedly on her stool beading, figuring I had run late, but knowing I would arrive. It took her about 7 minutes to wrap the string around me, each time looping the extra strand around the prior level on my arm. We spoke about her language and her people, and to me the conversation seemed to go on for hours. I paid and thanked her profusely, not wanting to leave with all my unfinished questions. Cecilia smiled warmly and waved goodbye as I walked away with the most magical purchase of my life.
