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...

And so it begins

Fhdsjkchdskfjeos!!!!! Yes. That basically describes how I feel right about now… When words hardly come close to expressing what you want to express… However, I shall do my best:

I spent the last week visiting my future site, and I am now a sound believer in the Peace Corps process—the interviews, the follow-up interviews, the pages and pages of paperwork about myself and interests…they do a really great job at matching volunteers to certain sites (at least in my case, and from what I have heard from others in regard to their site visit). I love Calobre.

At the beginning of last week, all the volunteers went to a conference in Cocle, where we met a counterpart from our community. (Oh how the nerves were flying! However, they were immediately calmed when I met my lovely counterpart. Amazing woman) We spent a couple days going over information, and getting to know our counterpart before departing for our communities. On the 16th, we left for our sites. My cheeks hurt so bad during the last leg of my bus ride into Calobre—I was in constant smile mode. Just beautiful. All the trees…all the mountains…AH! Within the first day, I met the police, the school director, the VET!, people of MIDA (ministry of agricultural development), the corregidor, all the members in the women’s group, and so on and so forth. Circling Calobre, in more rural areas, are several smaller communities, and you can walk around and see most in about two hours; I’m lucky—I have 5+ communities to work with! El Alto is where the big farms are, and I spent a couple days out there working with two different groups on two different farms; planting rice and cleaning a corn field. I met my host families for the first three months and talked to some people about beginning the construction of a little house for when I can live solo! I went to a fun recycling seminar each night (which was basically like a big arts and crafts class!), and learned to make some corn goods (thick tortillas, bollos, chicha). I also may or may not have found a four legged companion. (I tried really hard not to get attached, but when you know, you know, right?! Cutest puppy) To top it off, all the people I have met are so phenomenal.

Between helping out in two different schools, working with the farm groups, and with MIDA, there will clearly ALWAYS be something to do, so I am pretty excited. I go back the 3rd of July and from there, the two year countdown begins. Yikes.

I am now back in Santa Clara for a little over a week, and while I am excited to really start my service in Veraguas, and be done with training, I hate having to leave my current host family. I am only 4ish hours away, so I can visit, AND they have already told me they are going to come visit ME in February (for my birthday!!! So sweet!!).

The swearing in ceremony is Friday. A day we’ve been looking forward to for a long time—the aspirantes finally become REAL Peace Corps Volunteers. Yay! Training officially ends the 30th of June, so we get a couple days free until we have to be in site. May do another beach trip.

It is all really happening. Thanks to everyone for continued support! I miss you all and hope you are well.

P.S. July 3rd is also pretty special because my amazing friend Nicole (who happens to have Panamanian roots!) is getting married! Congrats to you, my dear, I wish I could be there!

P.P.S. World Cup is also going on right now, and that is pretty cool, since it isn´t that huge (at least I think..) in the U.S. You guys at home watching?! You should!

Drum Roll, Please!

"Calobre is a serene mountainous region most famous for its coffee and sweet watermelons. The town of Calobre itself is a nice little developing town where everyone knows your name and it makes you feel like family. After getting to know the bustling streets and lowland heat of Santiago, head up the mountain highway past Calobre, where you´ll find cooler temperatures and a serene lake surrounded by pine forests and mist shrouded peaks in La Reserva Forestal La Yeguada."

I AM GOING TO VERAGUAS!!! My community is called El Alto, part of Calobre (as described above!) in the province of Veraguas. Ready for a description of my site? Cool:

"El Alto is a sector of the community of Calobre. Calobre is a Latino community of about 856 people. Your community is defined as El Alto because Grupo Emmanuel, the group of female farmers that requested a volunteer, have collective farm in El Alto where the main work is. El Alto, Buena Vista, Manzanillo and Laguna are marginal sectors that do not have electricity in the majority of houses. The people in El Alto are welcoming and friendly!
The main agricultural activities are the production of chicken and pigs to sell. They are sold in the town of Calobre. Grupo Emmanuel is producing organic fertilizer, bocachi, as a group activity, as well as working on chicken projects. The group wants to increase their chicken production and start pig projects. To do this, they need to install an irrigation system in their collective farm. (YES!) For subsistence, they produce corn, beans, rice, platano (YES!), yuca, among other crops and fruits.

Your potential work includes: facilitating the improvement of the Grupo Emmanuel chicken projects and organic fertilizer projects, facilitate analysis and decision making on the options for an irrigation system that is needed, facilitate and work with Grupo Emmanuel to implement sustainable pig projects, work with the Granja Sostenible on their chicken projects and the traditional crops projects, as well as overall SAS support, i.e. soil conservation, crop rotations, integrated pest management, etc, and teaching English classes.

You are going to be the first volunteer in El Alto. People are looking forward to working with you!"

I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER!!!!!!!!!!

YES! Amazing location. Centrally located in Panama, close to the Caribbean, close to Cocle, close to Colon, Herrera, the Azuero, Comarca, Chiriqui, relatively easy to get to, awesome projects, loads of community groups in a small community of just over 100 people, animals all over...I could go on...I am so excited.

:)

Tech week was pretty cool. We were in Veraguas, but on an agricultural high school campus, so not much of the province was actually seen. (soon...very soon!) Learned a lot on rice tanks, fish tanks, goats, cows, chickents, pigs, tree grafting, pasture management, water systems, etc etc. Visited Santa Clara beach in Cocle on our way back to the training community, and that was beautiful. I will add photos of the trip next time, don't you worry!

eeee!!! El Alto! (the stop...or the tall? either way, I LIKE IT!!!)

dance dance!

I have been in Panama for about one month. It feels like it has been one year, yet at the same time, like I arrived just yesterday.

Technical classes full of sustainable agricultural information, language classes full of silly (sometimes serious) Spanish conversations, watching the rain, playing in the rain, laying in a hammock, planting yucca and piña in my backyard, etc etc, and family time filling in all the gaps. I love this.

So, I attempted to learn some typical Panamanian folklore baile/dance. These dances are generally for grand celebrations or weddings. The women wear beautiful flowy dresses (pollera), elaborate headpieces (tembleque), complemented by a lot of gold jewelry. The men wear adorable suits and zapatos blancos y negros. I love watching these dances - so lovely. I wish I could dance. No, I wish I could dance well. Regardless, I want to get married and have a big folklore fiesta in Panama. Alas, it has become my mission to get these dances down. Here is a look at my first dance lesson:

Dios mio. I am pretty great, no?! Once I get I my hips to work, I think I’ll be ok. Right now I kinda just wiggle my whole body around…Yeah, I have a long way to go. Ha.

Next week all 18 of us SAS people are getting split up and sent to different parts of the country for a whole week of specialized technical training. I am going to a city called Divisa, which is in the province of Veraguas, really close to the borders of Cocle and Herrera. Fun fact: Veraguas is the only province that connects to both the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean; this led to its name, which literally means ‘to see water’. If that is a million dollar question for any of you one day, I want 5%. Kidding. Anyway, we are going to be focusing on building and maintaining fish and rice tanks, irrigation/water pumps (la bomba!), and doing some work with sheep and goats. Should be a great time! We also have a free day next Sunday before we have to return to Santa Clara, so I think the 7 of us going to Veraguas are going to try to do a beach day! Ecstatic.

The Wednesday following our return to Santa Clara, we all find out our future homes for the next two years! Eeep!!! Are you excited? I am, too!

FUN

WITH

PHOTOBOOTH!!
=)

Hi! Ok, some more pictures are up from the Darien...check them out!

In other news...I TAUGHT MY SISTER TO KNIT!!! She actually asked and thinks it´s cool...I felt less nerdy. She is already a pro, and completed her first project! A little head band thing. I love this!

Anyway, just a quick one to say hi & throw them photos up! MISS you all!!!

besos!

with an oink oink here and an oink oink there!

Before I jump into the beautiful details of my volunteer visit:

-Happy Mother’s Day! (tarde, lo siento) I love you, Mom, and am SO grateful for your support and love. I miss miss miss you. Hug & kiss from Panama.

-To those taking finals, good luck! My brother graduates high school on the 20th- Congratulations, Chris.

-Aunt Linda, hope first Fridays went well- I made French toast the other day, and actually knew what ‘canela’ was, remembering one of your art pieces!

-----

For the past few days, I was lucky enough to visit a wonderful volunteer, Sharon, at her site in the Darien region. She lives and works in a community called Tamarindo (which is also a delicious fruit). It was actually a Latino site, yet very awesome, all the same.

The first day, we borrowed some horses and rode pretty far up a mountain to visit Sharon’s first host family. I got the tour of their current crops and projects going on at their farm, and helped plant some new cacao trees! (yay chocolate)

her parents took us out into the junle, and we saw loads of monkeys. they were making a ton of noise, yelling, or singing..whichever you prefer.

also, out in the forest, rubber trees! that stuff is collected and used in the making of...rubber items (duh)

in the days that followed, i got to see a good chunk of tamarindo. we did a lot of visiting with sharons other host families and friends, and we took a long hike to see the aqueduct that provides water for the community. did a great deal of eating, as every family you visit will invite you in, and have a meal and coffee in front of you within minutes..yes coffee..hot coffee--even though it is always crazy hot outside. these panamanians are intense. many visits also included frozen duros, though-officially my favorite treat in the world. i strongly believe a duro a day will keep the doctor away. and there is nothing wrong with two a day. sorry, apples, you have been replaced. hah i need to take a picture of one so you guys can put an image to the name and understand what i am talking about when i refer to them.

we did more horseback riding, aaaand painted ourselves like the indigenous embera and wounan people. you use a fruit called jagua (it is a soft j..and i am not sure if i spelled it right..sounds like agua..) basically you just cut open this fruit, submerge the seeds in water, and paint with the water. the next day, it turns dark blue. fun. you cannot eat this fruit, though..just for painting..which makes me wonder about who first discovered this...hmmmm...

i also learned how to use a lasso! here you see my first successful capture of a practice log...

THEN...this lovely boy lassoed up a calf for me to practice on..i felt bad at first, but the calf was a good sport, and i finally got the hang of it! yo soy una profesional!

i loved this house because it also had pigs and piglets!

So, I left with increased excitement for my future site! However, for now, it’s back to classes all day. I did end up getting a cell phone! My Panamanian number is 6528-2116 …just in case you come across an international calling card and feel inclined to drop me a line!

ciao!

P.S. Dunkaroos—Remember them?! The amazing childhood snack that was in stores one day, and gone the next?! Well, please inform everyone that the search party can be called off; I have found them. I guess they just decided the needed a vacation, and decided to kick it in Panama. This made me smile..

Bienvenido a Panama!!!

At long last, I say ‘Hello’ from Panamá! I can still hardly believe I’m here! A few thoughts I had once I stepped out of the doors to the aeropuerto and into the world of Panamá:

-HELLO, humidity!! It smacks you in the face, figuratively speaking (at least for someone coming from a place with absolutely no humidity)!
-DIOS MIO!! (oh my goodness!)
-and, It really is gorgeous here. Green green green, and it was so fun to see all the rivers and ocean as we flew in

Some Peace Corps Panamá staff picked us all up at the airport and shuttled us off to the Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge). It’s an old American military base, and where the PC Panamá main office is located. Time there involved more administrative stuff-getting immunizations squared away (so far Yellow Fever & HepA…and there’s still a list of 8 or so to come. Gross), safety talks, meeting with project leaders, Spanish placement interviews (bleh), etc. We finally met with our ‘sector advisors’ (i.e. for me, SAS-Sustainable Agricultural Systems advisors) and that totally did me in, as far as excitement goes! FINALLY got some more direct info on probable projects and where I might be! After meeting with them for the first time, I have been told I am, indeed, doing animal husbandry work, and it seems I may be on a CHICKEN farm! Eeeeeee!!!!! They said most farms have at least A cow, goats and/or pigs, as well! (I’M SMILING REALLY BIG RIGHT NOW!!) Whether that goes through, or not, my enthusiasm is rising at an exponential rate, and I know I’ll love anything under this sector!

SAS group took a field trip to an old volunteer’s site in Las Gaitas, still in the province of Panama (Oeste). It was great being off the base and getting a taste of real Panama… beautiful beautiful beautiful…tropical, rainforesty…amazing. We toured a farm and all the projects the people had going on, i.e. fish farming, rice farming, cute little greenhouse, etc. Awesome stuff. There were chickens and dogs and a couple cats, goats… (I’m smiling really big right now…this is constant, really…my cheeks are killing me). We helped them plant a rice field, and I took a crack at de-shelling some already collected rice they had grown.

I got mi machete. I feel official.

After a couple days in La Ciudad del Saber, we were sent off to our host families! I’m in a little town called Santa Clara, and my family is pretty sweet. They have two kids, a 17yr old boy and 13yr old girl. After a brief language immersion freak out, I really think I’ll be ok…even after a few days, I feel my Spanish is heaps better. Still pretty silly, though. Story: My brother is a touch timid, and wouldn’t really talk to me much. The other day, it was crazy windy; I guess when it’s really windy, a smell of fish wanders over Santa Clara…because of some nearby island…I really don’t understand the whole thing, nor do I smell the fishyness…But they hate it, and brother was trying to tell me about it…he was waving his hands in the air, pointing toward the sky, and I caught the word ‘PESCADO’…naturally, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is ‘Hay pescados en el cielo?!’ (There are fish in the sky?!) He cracks up, and since then is no longer afraid of me. I guess it’s ok to sound like a fool, sometimes. He’s taking a lot of science classes. He whipped out his Spanish periodic table and my heart just jumped with joy. We like science.

It’s also begun raining a TON. I was dancing in our yard singing my own Spanglish version of ‘if all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops…’ Sister taught me the Spanish version, AND pulled out a book of childhood songs for me! So I’m singing Spanish (old mcdonald, 5 little monkeys, bingo was his name-o) ALL the time now. I love this.

Food…I love plantains. I love mamey. I love guava. I love rice & lentils. I’m eating chicken and fish and eggs and cheese. My stomach gave me a piece of her mind at the beginning, but I’m getting used to it, and I love this. I dare say, I am going to gain 40 lbs.

The other aspirantes (aspiring volunteers) are amazing! It is wonderful to be around a whole mess of people who are just pumped to be here! The staff is beyond incredible, so, simply stated, I’m in a great environment. Busy busy with technical training 8-12 and Spanish lessons 1-5, however it makes for a great night’s sleep. Next week, we are all going on a site visit for 4 or so days..I am going to the Darien providence...to an Indigenous site. SO EXCITED!!! (yes i am smiling really big right now!!) cannot wait to tell you how it goes!

Hmmm…I think that covers most for now…I found it so hard to write this, and it’s sort of all over the place; There’s just SO much going on and SO much I want to share and SO little time at this Internet café. AH! Loved ones back home, I miss you, love you, and thanks for continued support!

gonna see if i can figure out how to put my pictures up with this panamanian computer..hmm

Hasta luego!

Casa Blanca

Hi, from Washington, D.C.!

Yesterday, I said farewell to Arizona to head to the east coast for the Peace Corps 'Staging' process. The flight over was nice; sat next to a lovely couple from, none other than, Tucson!!! **Shout out to John and Janine (spelling??)! Hope you enjoyed your visit to DC, hope John had a happy birthday, and thanks, again, for the crackers & craisins! **

Today was the good old staging event...met the other 52 (wow) volunteers going to Panamá, got all registered, went over some Peace Corps history, expectations, etc etc. After that wrapped up, I made it my touristy goal to at least see the White House--I mean I'm here, right?! So began a 3 hour race around D.C...

With the help of some amazing passer-bys, I made it to the 'Foggy Bottom' metro station! I LOVE underground metros. Needless-to-say, as I waited for the metro to come, bouncing in excited anticipation and hardly able to contain my smile, I got quite a few second glances.

Yay, Foggy Bottom Metro Station!

Got off at the old 'Smithsonian' station and wandered around looking for a big white house...

This guy stuck out...I followed my nose to him, and then signs down 15th street toward the White House...

Blurry view of the Capitol along the way

AND

:) You know...I don't know if I'd want to live in a place where there are people constantly outside my gate, taking pictures. But, GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!!!

So I literally snapped a picture, and retraced my steps as quickly as possible so as not to forget. Inevitably, after I made it back to Foggy Bottom, I got lost on random city buses en route back to Georgetown at 10pm..which led to a frustrated Jenny shedding tears on a bus, with all the people on board huddling together to help her get where I needed to go. It was kind of cute. Thank you.

Now I'm back in my hotel room...it's 11pm..and we have to be up and out in the hotel lobby by 2:30am..WHAT?! Our flight to Panamá doesn't even leave til around 7am..alas, I guess it's better to be crazy early than late?

To sleep or not to sleep??

Next time I write I'll be in PANAMA! eeeeee!!!!!

T-9 days!

9 more days!!! I think it is the fact that my countdown is now down to single digits that is forcing everything to sink in...

-Yes, I am really going to Panamá for 27 months with the Peace Corps

-Yes, my new 'job title' is actually going to be Sustainable Agricultural Systems Extension Agent

-Yes, I will be working with small farmers, experimenting with sustainable agricultural methods and helping these farmers find markets for their products

-Yes, Spanish is spoken in Panamá

...YIKES! I think about it all and my heart starts racing to a beat fueled by astounding excitement and a touch of apprehension. 

We have had a few electricians at the house to install fans in some of the rooms. Nice men, really--polite, hardworking...hispanic.  So, they're working away, conversing with themselves, and the only thought crossing my mind was 'holy toledo, they are talking so fast!' In fact, the only thing I ever understood with 100% confidence was when one of the men shouted "¡AHHHH, mi mano!" No worries, I did check on him (muttered an uncertain  "¿está todo bien?"  yeahh! Progress! Party!)- just a minor, drill induced cut. 

Moral of the story: ¡Necesito practicar mi español! I need to practice my Spanish! Oh, and handle drills with much caution. 

With nearly a week left, I suppose I also need to get this 'packing' thing started.  2 bags not to exceed 80 lbs. Oh boy. We are told to keep a "when in doubt, leave it out" mantra going as we pack. This may prove to be quite an ordeal, as I have favored this mantra's not-so-evil twin, "when in doubt, buy it/keep it/bring it along!", for as long as I can remember. 

Oh well. I'M GOING TO PANAMÁ!!!!