'Cow'abunga, dude!!

Yeah, they're sorta cool--Donatello IS, in fact, my hero in a half-shell... BUT! Spending your 24th birthday on a tiny dairy farm in Panama, milking 120 cows, with the cutest little helper ever?!







Now, THAT is pretty darn a'moo'sing!



In other news, it's been a while, ey? Let me catch you up:

-Thanksgiving
-Christmas
-Family visit
-Happy 2011!!!

phew, are you still with me??

As of January, Panama has officially begun the summer season. So now, it's hot and dry. So hot. I am beginning to miss the cool reprieve of afternoon rainfall. We like to beat the heat with loads of trips to a nearby river--I don't know why I hadn't been here before now! It's beautiful and so much closer than the other swimming hole I usually frequent.




Tough life, huh? Sometimes I work, too! ;) Right now, everyone in Calobre is focused on one thing: Watermelon. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but Calobre is known around the country for it's fantastic watermelon! (Several people here are convinced it is the best in the world! ha) So, I have been hopping from farm to farm learning about the watermelon process and helping out wherever I can.



This one is a little over 3 weeks! Isn't it fascinating?!

I also sent a request to MIDA, agricultural agency, asking for over 100 PVC tubes for our women's group to put in an irrigation system and have clean drinking water on their collective land. Luckily, they said it shouldn't be a problem! So, fingers crossed they follow through and we can work out a delivery soon!!

Other than that, the days come and go. Things that were once strange, shocking, unusual have become a part of the regular routine. While that is comforting in some ways, it seems the 'routine' often causes me to lose site of the bigger picture--just how cool this all is and that this experience, like most, is not permanent..and it is already March! Time is going by quickly...although I am not sure how I feel about that yet, for now, I am really trying to make the most of each day...to work with routines and make detouring adventures. As Michaelangelo would say: "Party!"

I hope you are all having your own wonderful adventures, and whatever they may be, I want to hear about them! Love you all.

You get a line, I'll get a pole...

As of late, conversation among nearly everyone in town has included the excitement of the 'subida de las sardinas!'..the rise of the sardines! I'm told that in this time, sardines journey from the Caribbean, and the creeks/rivers are full of 'em. So, many campesinos have been doing a lot of fishing. I've been mentioning how I would love to go out with them sometime- learn to fish campo-style! Hardly able to believe this muchacha would want to go fishing, they laugh and always suggest that the men will go out and fish, but that they'd bring some of their catch back for me so that I can 'fry it and eat it with a heaping bowl of rice'. hmm. The joys of being a female here. However, after continued bugging, and convincing that it would 'vale la pena'..be worth the pain..to take me out because I've been fishing with my dad and brother countless times, thus, have some skills ( =] ), I got someone to take me along!

Upon arriving at the creek, my guide, Alberto, proceeded to make us 'poles' out of sticks, tieing to them a string, with a rock as the sinker, and a hook. We dug through the mud collecting worms, and were set. I will admit I had very low expectations, but the first 'cast' I made into the water, I had a bite, and pulled out a 'barbudo'...beardfish. Better luck than I ever had in the states! For the first hour, Alberto refused to let me bait my own hook...however, after an hour of THIS muchacha being the only one pulling fish from the river (3 to be exact!), I graduated in his eyes, and got to hook the worms myself. Ha.


Granted, several times throughout the day, I, without fail, managed to tangle up my string, get it caught in some brush, or cast it out over his line, getting both all messy. Unlike outings with my fisherman dad, there were no bouts of impatience including an irritated shake of the head while yelling "JENNNN-AHHHH-FUUURRRR"!!! Which was kind of nice. Love you, Dad.

We left with beardfish (barbudos), a fish I am told is called mojarra (I'm not sure of the English name), and of course, several sardines. The small ones are thrown whole in the fryer, and eaten like little chips. ...It's not the worst thing I've ever eaten...
barbudo
mojarra--any fish experts out there?
welp, it's no large-mouth bass, but the Panamanians certainly go crazy for them...

BOO!! Well October snuck up ever so quietly and has been flying by! In the states, I love this time of year...the cooling weather, the introduction of pumpkin spice fragrances, carving pumpkins, eating those pumpkin seeds, Halloween!... Unfortunately, none of the above are present in my community. In fact, on the news last week, it was announced that Halloween was to be removed from the Panamanian calendar as a recognized holiday. This was received with astounding joy by my -very evangelical town- who had viewed the idea of Halloween as simply revolting. :/ I was bummed out for a few minutes. However, among all the other generally unhealthy things in the tienda (store), there IS a bag of assorted candy (although, it doesn't include candy corn :( ). I suppose I can buy it, dump it all in my pillowcase, and sit in my room pigging out to get my Halloween fix. :)

So what's been going on? Well I have been...

H arvesting rice! I daresay, this may be my new favorite activity here! *Remember your long sleeved shirts...the rice stalks are a
bit irritating to the skin.
A nalysis meeting. Within the first three months, volunteers are visited by their jefe (boss) and are required to have a meeting
with the community. Mine was pretty successful! Nearly everyone in the agriculture group showed up, participated in my
team-building activities, discussed strengths, weaknesses, and set up a game plan on how to improve in the coming years.
P lanning to get a business seminar in site. As we await the huge watermelon project, I would love it if my ag group went
through this seminar BEFORE being handed a large chunk of money to carry out the project. Some business volunteers put on
a great seminar, and hopefully they can come in the beginning of November!
P robando pujillo...trying pujillo (corn soupy thing), and other corn foods. Corn stands as its own food group here, it's amazing. On September
14, I hung out with a family and we designated the day as 'dia de maiz'..corn day! We harvested corn, milled the corn, and
spent the day making a few of the several things Panamanians make with corn. (We had a theme song for the day and
everything! 'Me levanté muy feliz...hoy es el dia de maiz!' yadda yadda...)
Y ellow...the color of the first of many knee length skirts I bought to please the group of Evangelical women I work with (it's all
they ever wear...EVEN when working in the field..). I shocked them when I wore my first skirt to a meeting. So much, in fact,
that they dramatically told me they didn't even recognize me! That I "actually looked like a girl, and not a little boy running
around in my jeans!" Ayiyiyi...gotta love them...

H elping families start home gardens. Cucumbers, green beans, peppers, oh my!
A ll Volunteer Conference. Oct 13-16, all 150+ volunteers in Panama and all the staff got together in Chitre, in the province of
Herrera. The conference involved HIV/AIDS training, cross sector information sharing, and an over all getting to know people
from other groups. It even included a 'Campo Olympis'...5 on 5 soccer, sardines eating competition, human cock fighting
(chicken fighting in the pool), and water relays...Group 65...ehem, my group...WON! The prize...M&M's and snickers bars,
and having our group name added to the Golden Machete.
L earning to cook more Panamanian dishes...Sancocho, a tasty soup, was my latest challenge.
L ess than 60 days--my family is coming to visit!! I am too excited.
O rganic fertilizer! MIDA came and gave a presentation on how to make organic fertilizer, and since we've been organic
fertilizer making machines! The recipe we used states it can be ready to use in 30 days...I'll let you know how it turns out!
W elcome Chelsea! One of my college friends/roommates has been traveling around Costa Rica, and dipped down to Panama
to visit me!! It was absolutely amazing to see her! We spent a day exploring beautiful Boquete in the Chiriqui province, and
then she came back and spent a couple days in my site!
E njoying the rain--only about a month and a half left of the rainy, winter season. December marks the beginning of the dry
season..aka..summer.
E ntirely let down by vick's vapor rub...(see last post). I tried it on my face, which, unfortunately, only led to an increased break
out. Still searching for a cure! I'm going to see a doctor in Panama tomorrow, so hopefully that should help!
N avy Ship Iwo Jima! So for 10 days, the naval ship USS Iwo Jima was docked off the shores of the province of Bocas Del Toro.
The US Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marines were on a joint humanitarian mission (Continuing Promise 2010)to bring medical
services to Panamanians in need in the area. A few lucky PCVs got to help translate for the doctors/panamanian patients. It
was a wonderful experience. I think for the first time, I felt like I was DOING something that was actually helping people in a
significant way. Moreover, we got to eat some exciting MRE (meals ready to eat) military rations, which, after the monotony
of Panamanian food, were really God sent. AND we got a tour of the Iwo Jima, complete with a helicopter ride back to land.
Awesome.


Did you catch my Acrostic Message?? :) Happy Halloween! and here's some SPOOKtacular photos! (More under the photo link!)

Double Dug Beds!

A lot of harvested rice!! & some fantastic tomatoes

making organic fertilizer!

USS Iwo Jima

super excited on the 'Chinook' Marines' Helicopter

Campo Olympics Champions. Group 65 :)

Abuelo Nico

Some quick background information--I don't think I have gone into much detail about my host family; in short, it consists of a woman, Bella, and her father, Nicolas. Bella has no children, however, during the week, 4 kids stay here so that they can go to school in Calobre.

So. On Friday, the kids all left for their homes in neighboring communities, and Bella decided she was going to go to Panama City to spend the weekend with family. Which leaves Jenny and Grandpa Nico alone for the weekend. Seeing as: 1. Abuelo Nico is quite old, suffers from high blood pressure, and therefore walks only enough to get from the bed to the porch to the kitchen table, and 2. Bella lives with him here to take care of him in his old age (i.e. cook for him, do his laundry), I initially felt that this little getaway for Bella meant a 'babysitting' job for Jenny. As she left, she gave me a rundown of things in the house I could cook for the two of us while she was gone...and so I was, mas o menos, correct, which is fine, I guess...I felt more sorry for him, having to be at the mercy of my cooking...pobrecito.

Saturday morning, I got up and made oatmeal and boiled some plantains for breakfast (Grandpa had wanted patacones...I may or may not have mentioned these before...plantains cut up, fried, mashed, and fried AGAIN...served with ketchup, kind of like french fries...delicious, really...but I did not want any health emergencies to be happening on my watch, so he got the healthier option). He ate and I got ready to head out to the farm for the morning. On my way out, I tripped and landed on my knee.."SANTO DIOS!!" Grandpa Nico bustled over to me saying "Jenny, it's okay!" then pointing to himself, he joked "I'm a doctor!" from his shirt pocket, he pulled out a can of vicks vapor rub and slabbed some all over my knee. ..okay...maybe an icy/hot type reaction? Regardless, I praised him as a clever doctor, said thanks, and went on my way. As for the vicks healing powers...well, if nothing else, it was a comforting smell.

After a beans and rice lunch, I had just about reached the extent of my cooking abilities...When I asked him what he wanted for dinner, he smiled his nearly-toothless-smile and said, "Pizza." I had made pizza during the week, and it was a big hit; the above photo is actually him with his pizza from last week. It made me excited that he requested it. So, pizza it was, followed by a tranquilo evening of sitting and small talk...Mainly about the weather. I excused myself to go to the bathroom, and had a 'gringa-digestive-system-in-panama-moment'...I suppose it was worse than I thought, because when I returned, Nico, always smiling, very matter-of-factly said, "You have diarrhea." (Panamanians tell it how it is...if you're fat, they'll tell you...not to be mean...just stating the obvious). Luckily, Doctor Nico dangled his can of vicks at me, and directed that I rub some on my stomach. I think I was too shocked to question or argue, so I did so, only thinking, 'Man if it works, this could make a lot of Peace Corps Volunteers reeeeally happy.' Did it work? It's difficult to say. It did, however, strike my curiosity. I googled it. Señor Nico may be onto something...

Vicks Vapor Rub...not just for chests
Unique Uses for Vicks

When I had been telling my mom about Nico and his frequent use of vicks, I joked that I should throw some all over my face (the humidity/greasy food combination that is Panama is doing a real number on my skin...)...then I saw on that first webpage: "Acne Treatment-kill those zits--I have never tried this, but I hear that dabbing Vick's Vapor Rub on acne helps clear it up."

Are you kidding me?? Acne, hemorrhoids, and toe fungus, oh my...indeed.

So, we survived our weekend--
-Abuelo Nico, happy with his food, as he would say after each meal, "Barriga llena, corazón conteno."--Panamanian phrase, 'Belly full, heart content' :)
-And Jenny with a new cure-all.

It is hard to believe I have been in site for nearly 6 weeks! Time flies when you're having fun, no? Yes, I have been having fun.

In the house I am at now, each night we sit together and share our daily 'PIN'...sharing something from the day that was Positive, something Interesting, and something Negative...PIN.. :) I think I will use that method in organizing this blog.

POSITIVE

Well, during training, they told us to lower our expectations...that things were going to go little by little, and that we should look for/focus on/celebrate small successes... Today I feel like I had my first small success with the women's group. A few members expressed interest in rice tanks (a method of growing rice in water; helps with weed problems and generally yields a greater harvest). The area of land we work on has a large creek closeby, which is maintained all year, but many members didn't believe me when I encouraged that it was definitely possible to construct a rice tank in a certain area. Upon sharing this interest with some techs at the MIDA office (Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario), I arranged a time for a specialized technician that works in Santiago to visit the farm, analyze the land, and offer her recommendations. She came today. It was fabulous! She said, of course it is possible, and that we SHOULD take advantage of the lovely creek we have there. On the 7th of Sept she and some other techs are going to return to do a demonstration on irrigation and pumping water from the creek. In the meantime, we will be preparing the area of land in which the rice tank will go. I am pretty darn excited, as I love rice tanks! My next task will be finding agencies to donate some tubes for our irrigation system. Yep.

In October, the group will also begin a big (12 hectares) watermelon project. An organization called ProRural has signed a 5 year contract with the group; they provide a significant amount of money to fund the project, we carry out the planting/harvest/selling, pay back whatever we used, and keep the profits. I am thrilled that in such an important project, the group has agreed to give me a small area to grow some watermelons organically (organic fertilizer, organic pesticides..etc), as a means of comparison! Now I am just doing a ton of research and praying my results don't fail me! I have also constructed my own seed bed (the cabbage seeds have finally sprouted!!) and organic compost bin!

There have been a bunch of Americans here, through the military-Air Force dentists and a some Marines, doing free work on the people of Calobre. I got a couple of guys to come out to the field and work with us for an afternoon. A few hours of machete work and both decided they would help as much as they could while they were here, but once they left Panama, they never wanted to see a machete again! :) It was fun, though.

Other positives: My Spanish is improving. I felt like I was at a plateau, but little by little, it is getting easier. There is a refreshing stream that drops into a big pond for swimming nearby, and in the last couple weeks, I've visited it quite a bit with some kids. My host family is wonderful. I have been cooking! (hard to believe, I know) We actually made a schedule last night...I have two days a week to make dinner. Yikes. We are going to make a mud oven next week! Aaaand, I am going to begin working with a school in neighboring community Alto Limon to make a school garden.


INTERESTING

I led my first formal meeting with the women's group. It was set for 9am. Everyone arrived at 11:30. (So there's this thing called Panamanian time...urg) BUT, nearly everyone was in attendance, so for that I am grateful. We did a lot of 'dinamicas'..dynamics..games..the ever famous 'human knot' to demonstrate teamwork. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful, but we laughed, and I hope the underlying message got through. Pretty fun.

One family asked that I stay at their house a couple nights. Before bed, the dad would tell stories (I even understood 95% of all of them!) They were almost like fables..animal characters..interesting messages.. I'll share one.. It was once thought in all the land that the rabbit was the most wise of all the animals. One a clever chicken wanted to show the rabbit up, and had a plan. He went to a spot where he knew the rabbit always passed. He burried his head under his wing and waited. Sure enough, the rabbit passed by and saw the chicken. 'How odd,' thought the rabbit, but continued on. Once the rabbit had left, the chicken lifted his head, and again, waited for the rabbit to return. Sure enough, the rabbit returned, and when he saw the chicken he gasped! 'Chicken! When I passed by not even an hour ago, you were here, without a head! And now I am passing again, and there you stand, WITH your head! How on earth is that?!' The chicken said, 'Oh, it's quite simple, Rabbit. I merely mandated that my wife take my head down to the river and wash it for me. What kind of chicken would I be with a dirty face? Now I am ever so handsome.' The rabbit responded, 'And how did your wife take your head down to the river?' Chicken said, 'She just got her machete, softly and carefully removed my head, washed it, and just as easily brought it back and reattached it.' 'Interesting,' said the rabbit, and hopped away. He thought to himself, 'I wish for my wife to wash my head, too!' He went to his house, found his machete, put it in front of his wife and said, 'Wife! I order that you remove my head, take it to the river, wash it well, and bring it back. Surely then I will be the most handsome creature around.' His wife, not one to need to be told things twice, took the machete, cut off the rabbit's head, and hopped off to the river to wash it. Naturally, the rabbit fell, and died. And this is how the story ends. Morbid, yes..and if the rabbit was the most wise creature, I am not sure why he would fall for such a trick. Interesting story, regardless, and I was just excited I understood all of it. So now the chicken is the most wise animal. I told them they need to be careful then, as they have seeeveral chickens in their yard. They laughed.


NEGATIVE

Sure, I've run into some obstacles...That which has given me the most stress is the issue of religion. There are two distinct religions here- Catholics and Evangelicals. Unfortunately, the two groups do not get along. The divide has been hard to manage; when I work with one group, the other group gets fussy, and vice versa. That's all I'll say about that.

I ate a guava fruit, not realizing that all the white 'seeds' I briefly saw inside were actually worms, until my 4th bite. Extra protein, I guess?


So the happy stuff out weighs the yucky stuff.


I love my life.


But, I miss everyone back home. A lot. Mom started school this week. Hope those 6th graders don't give you too much grief. :)

What´s in Calobre?

The other Saturday, I anxiously waited on the side of the road bright and early for a Panama-Santiago bus to pass by, which would take me to Calobre. Upon flagging one down, I boarded and squeezed into a vacant seat. While watching a translated version of Miss Congeniality, my neighbor leaned in and asked me where I was going.
“Calobre!”
“Claro, qué está en Calobre?”
- - - - - - - -

I have completed training, been sworn in, said adios to fellow volunteers, and I am now flying solo in this little town. A touch overwhelming if I stop and think about it too much. However, after making it through the first week, I feel absolutely thrilled to be here!

In the mornings, I generally head out to the farms, swing that machete, limpiando, sembrando. The other day, two little girls were out with us as we cleared weeds from an area of culantro (pretty similar to cilantro). I was a bit worried at first, as I could hardly tell the difference between all the various weeds and the culantro, and I feared taking out the good stuff as I put my machete to work. However, those two girls (ages 5 and 3) followed me all over that field, watching me like hawks, ensuring I didn’t mess up (“eso, sí, eso no” “look Jenny, here’s some, and here’s a baby mango tree, and this here is such and such, and this is yadda yadda”) I LOVE how much they know about this stuff…pretty darn cute. We also finished up a chicken project (I love animals, but I must admit, it is a wee bit fun plucking those feathers and gutting them…hey, it’s science!), and a little reforestation project with the planting of 65 lemon trees.

Many hours are spent passing from house to house, visiting, talking about the weather, drinking coffee, and eating a ton. Each day I meet a new person who I just fall in love with. I’ve given a couple ‘Microsoft Word Classes’ to two fabulously eager folks with computers, and am a frequent visitor to the recycling seminar (this week we made some cool baskets out of newspaper, and wall hangings out of aluminum cans). I even have a play date with a 6-year-old named Andrea. (“When are you going to come back? Will you come back tomorrow? I have a lot of games!” I LOVE her.)

I have continued working on my skills in the dancing arena and I am glad to report it is coming along! I am sure over half the community is well aware of the following very important facts: I am a pretty awful dancer, I’m always dancing around anyway, I love the tipico music, and I long to learn the folkloric dances. People approach me left and right, telling me they can teach me to dance or inviting me to events where they know will be folkloric demonstrations and others who merely yell, “Jeeeenny, baile pues!!” in passing. A little embarrassing, considering I don’t even know some of these people yet, but I suppose news of the gringa who desperately needs some dance instruction travels fast. It always makes me smile, nonetheless.

Working. Learning. Sharing experiences. Integrating.

Qué está en Calobre?
Mi vida.
yikes.

I don't know how it gets better than this...