October 15th
After one month in Costa Rica, at 5:30am on a Sunday morning I left Golfito with the aim of getting to Panama City, 542km away, by the end of the day. I faced a bit of a time crunch as this was the day of the Polish elections, and if I wanted to participate I had to make it to the Polish embassy in Panama City by 9pm!
Originally I hadn't planned to leave Golfito for another few days. But when the date of the elections was announced, and I realised that there is no Polish embassy in Costa Rica, I decided to change my plans and to try to make it to Panama City in time to vote. I decided to go by public transport instead of flying to minimise the carbon footprint of my trip, having already made the long flight from Europe to Central America.
The journey started off quite poorly, with the first bus that I needed not stopping for me despite me waving it down to stop! Thus, I arrived to the border town of Paso Canoas an hour and a half later than planned. This meant that there was only one bus left going to Panama City that could get me there in time to vote, and it was leaving in 45 minutes! Thankfully, I was able to get through immigration without any major challenges and find the bus stop on the Panamanian side of the border with 10 minutes to spare. A 9.5 hour bus ride later, I arrived in Panama City and made it to the Polish Embassy at 8:30pm - I was the final voter at the Polish embassy that day!
I was incredibly happy that I made it in time and participated in my first senate elections, becoming even happier when the results were announced and the far-right political group PiS was forced out of power by a left-leaning coalition. Voter turnout at this election was 74.3%, a record number in Polish history, and it was largely the votes of women and young people that led to a change in the ruling party.
I am so pleased that I managed to participate in these elections, which are so important for shaping the future of Poland and for putting into place the changes that so many young people want to see. The journey may have been long and stressful, but it was absolutely worth it.
The next day, I moved into my new accommodation at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), where I began the next stage of this R&A Scholarship, focusing on coral reef ecosystems and methods to enhance their resilience and adaptation to the inevitably-rising sea temperatures resulting from climate change.
Information about the Polish Elections:
What an exceptional story and determination, you should be proud of it!