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.