Having a Home

So I have been back in Tortí for a few weeks now since my IST El Valle reunion/adventure. It was a little weird at first, not to mention the pressure to come back and immediately 1) kick ass, 2) start a million clubs and sports teams, 3)plan youth camps, 4) show my counterparts that I am the answer and savior who will revolutionize the Panamanian classroom forever, 5) teach everybody English and 6) save the environment... Okay, I haven't been feeling that much pressure, but we did receive many awesome resources and learned about projects/clubs/camps that other TE volunteers have started. Iiiii'm not quite there yet.

Although most of the people in my site thought I was either lost or in the United States, I was not forgotten  upon my return,  being bombarded by big hugs from little Panamaniacs. The school is still chaotic, and there are a bunch of distractions from MEDUCA (ministry of ed.). the school, and elsewhere that continue to put my co-teachers in a frenzy. That said, I am being super patient and positive, keeping the boat steady while encouraging the teachers to come to me for planning support. Little wins, one class at a time.

Meanwhile, I am in the library working on miscellaneous PC reports, camp applications, seminar preparations, general TEFL research, watching TED Talks, fantasy football management, etc., praying that members of the English squad come in for some help or a good old- fashioned chat. Little by little, they are coming, and more, students are hanging out and asking for help. And I am recruiting my little librarians and Book Club members who will help me organize the library, create a super groovy reading corner/area/space, and start the reading revolution in Panamá. I have sent my host brother Abdiel to school with a frisbee in order to start planting seeds with the muchachos and -chas for my Ultimate Frisbee team. Rolling right along like a stone.

my new pal Minio the minnow

chiquitos acting out some English emotions at a MEDUCA event

I am constantly adapting and re-envisioning everything about my project, my role, what Peace Corps is, what development is, etc. I am really trying to step back and check myself after every speedbumb, frustration, or potential change or breakthrough. This is frustrating, but there is good reason for this experience being a minimum of 2 years. Integration and relationship-building is a long process, and being in a huge site with tons of kids, teachers, and community members is overwhelming. Taking my time, still looking to find my place in that river current, the space where I fit in the pace, the culture, the community; and still send some ripples.

So, here are some things that make me smile in Tortí/The East of Panamá:

1. La Familia Valdéz
They are hilariously wild, genuine and gentle campesinos. Santeños at heart. They are always joking and laughing, and even though a lot of times it at my expense, (like when I was running around with filthy piglets, transporting them to their new cement block abode, squeeling coming from everywhere and sounding more like dinosaur screams than anything, as my host mom Demita screams at me Spanish instructions that I don't understand) I appreciate the hell out of them because they take care of me, almost to the point of overworrying. I can talk to José about anything, and often vent to different members of the family about my school frustrations. They are incredible storytellers, especially Abuelo Germán. I especially enjoy Germán's stories of pre-interamericana times out here in the East, when there was a little single-engine airplane that would make trips to and from Tortí, bringing goods or carrying pregnant women or sick people to the city. They were convinced that plane would go down every time.

Pigs on the wing

Last week we went on a family trip to Panamá city in the family chiva (big van used for local public transport) to shop for some things, get parts for the chiva, try to find a bike for me, and do general shopping. It was overwhelming going to a big mall filled with superstores filled to the brim with any product you could imagine, from millions of cheap shoes and croc rubber sandal variations, to halloween and christmas decorations. We hit about 7 of those, no joke, and like 4 "Do It Center's." However, the 10+ hour trip was something special and outside the norm of running a restaurant and working in the campo. José brought his camera to capture moments from the trip, we enjoyed some junk food, Popeyes Chicken (yep.), donuts, and ICEE's (my host-gramps German's reaction to those was priceless. Oh the brainfreeze). They commented that the city Panamanians were judging them for rolling in like a campo family in the chiva and acting like the Santeño hillbillies they are, but they were hilarious, intrigued, and overwhelmed, yet determined shoppers (especially host-grandma, reina y jefa de la familia, Demita). I however, felt quite lost and overwhelmed by all the consumerism and shitty products screaming at me, engulfed by the bright lights, rubber, plastic, rows and columns...I would have lost my mind if not for the loving, free and crazy country-spirited Valdéz family.

Another funny moment was when I came home from a long day of school and reminisced on childhood and cartoons with José and Jackie. José was going on about some 80s cartoon called "Los Picapiedras," and after he began singing the theme song I realized it was the Spanish version of the Flintstones. All the characters are the same, but Fred and Barney were changed to Pedro and Pablo. We were rolling with laughter.

Tío José

2. Philosophizing with Aristoteles, Claudio, and other Kuna gentleman.
Aristoteles is one of the most motivated Panamanians I encounter on a daily basis in regards to learning English, and he's a high school math teacher. Shortly after returning to Tortí, he convinced me to stop by a local cantina, share a few pints and listen to Bob Marley and ABBA. He genuinely expressed in broken English that he appreciated our friendship and thinks that what I am doing is very special and rare. His kind words were very well-timed,and really lifted my spirits (because the watery Central American lager sure wasn't).

Another night, there was word that the Kuna Madugandi people would shut down the Inter-Americana at multiple points here on the east side due to their discovery that there were Latinos who had cut trees and built within their Comarca limits. This land conflict is on-going in different regions in Panamá, especially with the Kuna, who are very serious about their relationship with and rules about preserving the natural environment.

Anyway, that night I went to visit my English-teaching counterpart Claudio to get the deets on the protest, and he took me to the congreso that was happening. There were 50+ men sitting on benches around the casa comunal, made of a penca-thatched roof, bamboo walls, and a dirt floor. I didn't understand a lick of the conversation spoken in the Kuna dialect, but according to Claudio, several leaders spoke of the succesful workday where 150 men from all over the Kuna Madugandi Comarca went to limits to clean-up a.k.a. throw some machete. It was there where they discovered the intrusion onto their land.

The Kuna are goofy, intelligent, and very serious about preserving their culture and autonomy. I spent the rest of the night sharing a few refrescos and talking with Claudio, Aristoteles, Boris (the saila/chief of Wacuco)  about everything. As they dropped Galileo and Copernicus quotes, we discussed science, philosophy, indigenous culture and connection with mother nature, war, the atomic bomb, the nature of man, and a lot about history and conquest in the U.S. and Panama--all in the context of a new (or not?) and rapidly changing world. These dudes are fascinating and brilliant, I mean, seriously wise, and I really look forward to learning and sharing with my Kuna pals and other community members in this area.

3. Students, especially 1-3 graders.
       Limitless energy and wet, slobbery hugs. So many stares and smiles from those big, dark chocolate eyes, kids with shades of brown skin and mixed ethnic features that trace the complex, secret tale of Latinoamerica.. though you see it, hear it, everywhere. Hearing Dani! and Teacher! throughout the day. Such innocent, genuine love and positivity can lift anybody.

Milagros y Abrán

Tortí Seniors

4. Spending multiple afternoons singing "Let It Be", "Imagine", and other tunes with students and teachers for the approaching First-Annual English Sing-Along in Tortí. We are hosting 7 schools, it's gunna be rad.
This MEDUCA mandated regional English event has caused way too much stress and headaches, mostly due to the huge lack of communication between teachers and administrators. However, in the midst of chaos, I have been enjoying Panamanian renditions of Beatles members and ABBA all week, talking English music with Claudio and others. Claudio used to listen to the Beatles on a radio his family had in the 70s while growing up on an island in San Blas.

English Teachers Milvia and Claudio at Puente Bayano

Elige Tu Vida youth seminar in Rachel´s school

5. Seminars (might regret this one)
IST introduced and inspired us to get involved with giving seminars. They are very effective in sharing methods and strategies with large groups of teachers in a setting that they are accustomed to (in the pseudo-official-ness formal kind of way). Also, being in the school trying to get teachers to co-plan and co-teach with us can definitely be a drag, so seminars are a good way for TE volunteers to feel productive. Aja did some serious butt-kicking and organized 2 seminars in Darién for multigrado teachers (teachers in small schools with multi-level classes, where they often have to teach English with few resources and without really knowing the language), so I helped out with those and they turned out great. We hope to replicate these seminars in Panamá Este. We just had a meeting with out MEDUCA rep. Teresa and are hashing out some details for summer seminars and some other events, including a panel discussion at the university in Metetí.

6. Dude got a bike. It's a seemingly-legit brand new Huffy mountain bike and it was reasonably cheap. Some screws are loose and it definitely needs some maintenance, but I have been whipping around Tortí, getting to school in record time, gaining street cred from the muchachos and impressing my estudents.

7.   Daype Pizza right down the road

Despite being in a slower-paced world, weeks are disappearing like chicken bones around Panadogs. There have been some cool opportunities to collaborate with other eastsiders; I just got back from a solid weekend in Rachel's site for an Elige Tu Vida youth workshop and a super fun night cooking and watching the Panamá  v. Mexico fútbol match. I am meeting a bunch of volunteers in the city Tuesday for the Panamá v. USA game, which will be awesome. (UPDATE: That was a very strange, fun, yet terribly tragic night. I feel for my paisanos : /)

Also, a few weeks ago a group of us hiked almost 2 hours from Ipetí to surprise our pal Andrew in his beautiful jungle valley refuge for one last weekend despedida. He's moving to Darién to live with the Emberá for the remainder of his service because that gnarly hike destroyed his knees and body. Godspeed, Jenkins!

Jenks and his pal Simba

Katy and Chano

Jenkins´ Jungle Fortress

                                   

River crossing

                                   

I am getting pretty busy and there are few actual weeks of school left this year, especially because in November there are a ton of national holidays, independence days, etc., so class apparently will be very irregular or non-existent. It's crazy how my calender is actually filling up with adventures, GAD camps, seminars, Thanksgiving and other events. Like today, a group of fellas invited me to play on their softball team next week, stoked. There will be cold beer to drink out of dried calabaza shells. Lastly, I am getting a very special visitor in November for my birthday, um, month. The lovely Kristin Eberts is coming down to the isthmus and we are going to have some pretty epic adventures. Stay tuned!

Abrazos

I had the strangest dream... filled with rambunctious reunions, laughter, valleys, and English seminars

So at the end of August, with the 2nd trimester winding down, I escaped from Tortí a little early to travel before our in-service training (IST) started in the Coclé region. The time was perfect to do some rambling, especially with such a big reunion in sight, as I had not seen the majority of my G72 comrades in almost 4 months. I was super-excited, and there were lovely encounters with PCV friends new and old all along the way.

Before I left the east, I attended an Ultimate Disc coaches/youth group development training in Metetí. It was awesome, got lots of great materials and resources (including 8 frisbees woohoo!), and definitely plan to get my frisbee squad ready pronto. This was just the beginning to the tidal wave of info., resources, project discussion, and ideas that would come during IST and getting together with friends. And yet, all these things hang in the background of those 3 weeks that flew by in a rush of awesome nights spent with groovy company.

But first, before heading to the concrete jungle of Panamá city and crossing the canal westbound, we had to kill and eat fresh jungle duck in Darién:

Mateo, a.k.a La Leyenda. giving Jessica (G73) a pep talk before she goes for the jugular 

My pit stop in the city was cool. I was able to catch up with old pals at PC HQ before many headed back to Santa Rita for some extra language training, and had a great night at hostel Urracá  (which is often sprawling with PCVs in the city for medical conditions like worms/amoebas,etc., or in need of a beer and A/C, or all of the above) with una mezcla of volunteers from various groups and sectors.

I planned on getting out to Benjamin's site in the mountain valleys of Veraguas the following day, but after getting a 2 hour tour of Panamá City on a metro bus, I arrived to the terminal late, and would not be able to make it out there in time... So I made a trip to my good pal Phillip's site in San Juan de Dios (where I visited in March for my volunteer visit) to kick it for the night. We watched the wire, cooked, played scrabble, and drank wine. No, that does not constitute as romantic. Just a Peace Corps dude's night.

Finally made it to Ben's site, Los Valles de Veraguas. Absolutely beautiful site and community, in the forested valleys surrounded by seemingly endless lush mountains. The climate was super fresh, the children were lovely, and the lack of electricity was actually a relief. We had a blast, and we agreed that it was pretty neat seeing his community see us interact, as two goofy young Americans.

Ben and I visited Santa Rita for a night, and then all the gringos converged at CEDASAM, a government facility in Farallón for the epic reunion. And it was epic. We spent 3 days in seminars, recapping our experiences and talking about grants, rules, and whatnot, and the had 3 rambunctious nights at the beach, a short walk away from the dorm/bunker facility where we stayed.

After the brief-yet-spirited reunion with all of G72, CEC went one way, and we Teaching English volunteers headed up to the beautiful, cozy, super-fresco El Valle de Antón. Some other volunteers were/are salty about the good fortune we had, but I give our APCD Joel props for hooking us up with such a cool training location. We lived pretty well for a few days, staying in a cool hotel in the middle of an old volcano crater, now a lush valley, with a brilliant 360 degree view of incredible mountains. Most of our time was in fact spent in tech sessions, but we made the most of the nights, hit up some of the nice cafes and restaurants in town, hiked the India Dormida, visited the zoo (yes they have a zoo, with some of the nearly-extinct Rana Dorada)--you get the point. El Valle is badass, and we are all jealous of Jessie for being the lucky winner of such an beautiful site. But we are all winners here in Panamá. When You come visit, we are going back to El Valle.

La India Dormida

Dana chillin on the India, El Mar Pacifico in the distance

Philly and Logi looking down on El Valle

During IST we did have some really great seminars, got connected with a bunch of solid resources for teaching English and starting a number of potential secondary projects, met some State Department folks, danced and played with kids in El Valle during a little mini-English camp to practice new techniques, and gave a teacher's seminar in Penonomé. This experience is one of constant revisioning, adaptation, and re-adaptation. It is always special and inspiring to share it, real time (whatever that means, what a trip ; )) with such awesome people who are also on this crazy ride.

Making patacones with Alán

After a couple more nights of birthday celebrations and a trip to the beach, I stopped by Santa Rita again, this time to catch up with the wonderful Alan y Alanis (and Carlos, of course) before I made my way back to the east. However, I did not really come back to the reality of my community in Tortí until after a trip to Metetí for regional meeting, where I met all the new rockstars from G73.
And got to see this guy at our talent show:

Andrew "Yankis" Jenkins (from Alabama, go figure)...Despite the fashion and grooves, this performance had less to do with the talent show, and more to do with flash mobbin' and World Aids Day Dec. 1st, 2013. stay tuned...

And killed and smoked a goat:

Rachael cutting up some fresh goat meat

What a dream, what a roller coaster. The time intervals, the speeding up and slowing down, really makes one's perspective of what 2 years living in another country/culture especially being part of such an organic entity like Peace Corps, extremely strange and beautiful; and super difficult to explain at times. Anyway, it's nice to have a home to return to, to bring some sort of stability and reality to the adventure.

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once."
Albert Einstein

So much to look forward to.

El Ritmo

Alright so it has been a minute since I've littered cyperspace with deets about Panalife, but now as I take refuge under the mosquito net, with a box of wine and good tunes, I am ready to recap the last month or so...

I just completed my third month in site, and like getting settled in any new environment, one get's into routines. I've been feeling the rhythm, keeping busy in the school and in the community, while trying to help out the host fam when I can, and spending nights reading or trying to learn the blues. Routines are nice, keeps time flowing right along under the toes. That said, I haven't had the drive to update y'all on the number of mosquito bites I had the other morning, or how I've spent countless hours trying to learn Paul Simon's "Peace Like a River."

Last week I finally finished my last week of observations in the secondary school. Two weeks ago, Joel, my APCD (director of TE program) came to visit for my SENA presentation (school needs assessment, sorry I'll cut it out with the acronyms that I still don't really know). It was a solid day, 5 of 6 teachers showed (la directora was also absent, but we caught her the previous afternoon), I gave me feedback and presented my plan and ideas, and we all chatted about my role, the Peace Corps TE program, and English education in general. It was nice having Joel there; I think he legitimized my role as a volunteer and got me a little more street cred... I return to primaria tomorrow to work with the two teachers in the afternoon on lesson planning and classroom management strategies. I want to focus more on sharing ideas and practicing English outside of class, but I also plan to participate in pre-planned lessons in the classroom. Some teachers are more excited to work with me than others, but I am pretty persistent and plan to approach any hesitation or stress with pura positividad. And of course always keeping in mind, it's the little wins in this world.

Team English, Tortí

Rainy season steadily gains steam as it rolls through the jungle, with storms increasing in strength and frequency (which means more hammock bonding and struggles in the morning rolling out of bed.  Most of the good fruit seasons have ended, leaving Nancé at the forefront (semi-sweet, mushy-textured little berry-thing, not so great but not bad in a fresh chicha) and Naranja coming through next. Been hoarding and chopping up lots of pipa recently, which is the pre-mature, green coconut, and it is incredible. Pipa have delicious sweet water inside and a kind of semi-solid jelly on the inside of the shell which is delectable and healthy as well. Coco is great too, but used more for cooking sweets or arroz con coco, or as oil.

Spent one afternoon collecting mamón (delicious little sweet and sour fruit):

 I was totally shown up by Angie and Titi, who are both mothers, as they effortless climbed wayy up in this mamón tree, knocking down branches full of the fruit, sometimes with a 20 foot pole. Panamanians can seriously climb like the little Mono Titi you see in the jungles down here.

My homie Cristian, and little Marisbeth behind helping collect the fallen treats

One Sunday, after the restaurant closed, I went with the fam down to the river Ipetí to wash German's chiva (bus) and go for a swim. Driving your car into the shallows of a river is an excellent and cheap alternative to going to the car wash.

Tío José and I made a trip to the the aqueduct up on the mountain that feeds into the Valdez property and a few other families in the community. They constructed this aqueduct in the 80s when there were only a few families in Tortí

New friend, one of my student's pets, un mono araña

                             

Pasearing has been going well. Little by little I am making it to more and more of the small communities surrounding Tortí where many students at my school come from. Ipetí a town about 15 minutes in chiva west of Tortí, and is basically made up of 3 separate communities: Ipetí Latino, Ipetí Emberá, and Ipetí Kuna. I really enjoy visiting the Emberá and Kuna communities that border Río Ipetí, but on opposite sides of the highway. The cultures and languages are totally different, the people are beautiful, and there is so much to learn about their traditions and customs. I frequently visit the house of Álvaro in Ipetí Kuna. One of his sons is in 7th grade in my school, and I am in the process of working with Álvaro to start a weekend community English class for adults and kids in the village. The Saila (chief) has given me the go ahead, so I am just waiting to meet with the director of their little school to see if there is a classroom I can use. Álvaro is going to get me a list of people who are seriously interested and dedicated. I am very excited to get involved with this Kuna community, as Peace Corps has not had volunteers in any of the three Kuna Comarcas in some time due to political reasons, especially working with the Sailas because it is a very closed culture that really tries to retain its autonomy, independence, and heritage in any ways possible /(which definitely has put a strain on "development" in some aspects, but it is a tough situation and I have an incredible amount of appreciation and respect for the indigenous of Panamá.)

Yani, daughter of Álvaro and her really cool bracelet making contraption

My student Alvaro and his little bro Albis, with a puppy, and their cousin

At the end of June, I made a trip out to Coclé for the weekend to meet up with my pals Nate and Phil. We stayed at Nate's site for a night,  cooked, chatted, and awoke the next morning to swim beneath the enormous waterfall nearby his house. It was breathtaking, literally. Standing below the falling water felt like being blasted with a fire hose. The next day, we went to visit La Finca de Los Perezosos, a permaculture farm run by an ex-Peace Corps volunteer named John Douglas. He served in Peace Corps in 2001 and started his farm about 5 years ago, and it is truly a food forest. John is called the Lazy Farmer because he focuses on using "trash" (organic scraps) as fertilizer and the multi-use of different plants to act as natural defenses to pests and weeds. At the farm, I reunited with an old amigo and fellow Ohio brethren John, who has been in Central America working with sustainable agriculture since January, and was volunteering on John;s finca for a month. It's always an amazing occurrence when you cross paths with a familiar face in another time and place. Ohio John gave us a tour through the fruit wonderland, as we picked off leave, fruits, and flowers from enormous, healthy trees and bushes to munch on as he explained some of the basics of permaculture. Truly a magnificent creation, let nature do what nature does by just putting the elements in place. It is unbelievably sustainable, but definitely would take some time to develop/replicate, and it is hard to sell to many Panamanians who rely on Monsanto chemicals to clear hectares of monte for high yields of rice, corn, yuka, or otherwise. I definitely plan to read/learn more about permaculture, and would love to spend more time on La Finca de Los Perezosos! That night, we convinced my pal John and his 2 awesome fellow volunteers, Alan from Mexico and Holland from England, to join us for a night at the beach in Santa Clara. We shared rum and wine, stories, thoughts about the environment and the future of humanity, laughing and chatting under the starry cosmos. A big yellow moon lit a path across the dark sea, and while we rambled on about the future, time, and space, I couldn't have been more content in that moment.

For the 4th of July, many East-siders, Darienistas, and some trainees who were on their site-visits converged in Canglón, Darién toward the end of the Panamerican highway. Killed a pig and chowed on some delish Peace Corps grub (pasta salad, an amazing peanut butter spinach dip-esque dish, and even deviled eggs!) enjoyed beverages and grooved through the night to a healthy mix of American jams. We all crashed in a very nice, raised Eco-cabin in the jungle with a fridge and bunk beds (pretty luxurious by PC standards, though most of us were on the floor with as little as a sheet, or halfway off a sleeping mat (me)) A very solid independence day away from the mainland, spent with great gringo company. Afterwards, I traveled with my buddy Andrew and the trainee who was visiting him to his site in Agua Fría de Ipetí. The hike to his site starts down the road from my place, but it is a 2 hr hike up and down hills, through mud and across rivers, until reach his little valley where about 50 families live, some  hours apart. It is absolutely beautiful, tranquil, pristine. We followed on the rivers up and climbed some small waterfalls, and he showed us the hydroelectric plant that has been a project of the past couple volunteers in his community. Very neat engineering.

Probably the coolest event from the last month here in Tortí was a 5 day film festival put on by the Smithsonian and University of Panama. The festival focused on the history of Lago Bayano and surrounding communities. The goal of the festival was to have campesinos, indigenous Emberá, and indigenous Kuna come together to share culture, art, and film, and to encourage the vision and shared responsibility of a common sustainable future. Some of the films were about history, specifically the construction of the artificial Lago Bayano and hydroelectric dam that powers the city, some short documentaries made by Panamanians, others about indigenous cultures in other countries (from Canada, Perú, Bolivia, Zapatistas from Mexico), but the general themes were cultural tradition, globalization and modernization, the environment, and indigenous land rights and conflict. The crew was made up of a biologist from Peru, a bunch of cool Canadians, and Panamanians.

My favorite night was when they showed a Kuna Yala documentary that made it to Sundance, called Burwa Dii Ebo. It was shown in the Casa Comunal of the Akua Yala community on the edge of Lago Bayano. An incredibly diverse group (in age and cultural identity) filled the traditional Kuna meeting place; a huge hut with a palm thatched roof, made of wooden planks and sticks, benches filling the dirt floor. The film was displayed on a white sheet hung from the ceiling, cast from a projector plugged into a Macbook. Children giggled and shuffled around the room, babies cried while mothers tried to calm their hunger or fever. There were minor electrical difficulties, but being in such a room, vibrant and teeming with life and culture was quite a unique and authentic movie theater experience. What's more, a young Kuna dude named Mani, who helped work on the film, was there to talk about the filming process. I sat next to Maninaindi on a Diablo Rojo bus coming from Panama City during a weekend trek shortly after I arrived to the city. He had written his name in my notebook, I showed it to him to confirm, and he was equally blown away at the coincidence that we would randomly cross paths again. I tip my sombrero to you once again, Universe.

What a cool opportunity and unprecedented experience for the communities in the region, to share in culture and film and realize their shared connection to land, history, struggle, work, family, and life.



So getting in the routine of things, I have noticed the more natural changes and cycles in nature, like more rain, less mangos, more mud, a "greener" jungle (as ridiculous as it sounds, it's true, the monte is alive and soaking up some serious h2o), tall corn and rice, and lots of new life:

Abelín, Adiel, y Hermancín hangin with some pooches

And death:

Sometimes, death and really pull you from the cycle or routine of things, and this happened when tragedy struck Tortí last week. Wednesday morning, a family friend borrowed someone's sedan to drive 5 students to school from Curtí, a nearby pueblo. He lost control, went off the road and the car flipped multiple times. An 8th grader named Anabel was ejected from the vehicle and died in the field. Christian, another 8th grader, is still in the hospital in Chepo in critical condition. The highway out east is super dangerous. It's two lanes the whole way and the vast majority of drivers, in trucks filled with lumber or cows, buses/chivas, or regular campesinos in trucks, drive with little caution and way too much speed, even in more populated areas like by my school or in the centro of Tortí. Fatal accidents happen every month out here on the stretch between Chepo and into Darién.
We were talking about birthdays in a 10th grade class when a student showed us a picture of the mangled car that was uploaded to facebook. Anabel is related to Cansarí, one of the custodians at the school who always wears a warm smile and has the calmest demeanor. I saw him in school that morning and didn't know the victim was a relative, and couldn't tell a difference. My perspective on the whole ordeal is interesting because it was a lot of names and stories and families, and my Español is nowhere near perfect. There was a lot of sadness and confusion in the school, no one really knew what was going on or how to react, and many students travelling from that way witnessed the accident and were visibly traumatized. The school community is very large, and students come from a number of surrounding communties, but word travels fast around here and people are very supportive and caring. Hopefully the school community and the community of Curtí can pull together and recovery from the loss. And hopefully it will not take more tragedies like this one to bring some awareness or caution (or speed limit/traffic signs for that matter) to those who drive on the highway.
Keeping the family and friends of Anabel Cansarí in my thoughts and prayers. Descanse en Paz, niña.


I have been in site for a whole month, and I am itchin to break out of that rhythm a bit. Nothing like a little travelin' to change your tune for a bit; keeps things fresh. On Wednesday I am heading to Metetí in order to depart from the port around there to travel in boat to La Palma, where a few volunteers and I are going to lead an Elige Tu Vida (a kind of youth camp for kids the Peace Corps does). I am excited to check out La Palma for the first time, apparently it is pretty sweet. You have to arrive by boat along the largest river in Panamá that empties into the Golf of San Miguel in the Pacific.

Un abrazo,

Dani

June, or as my students say, "hoo-nay"

Thing's are just cheveré out here in Tortí. Rainy season is rolling in, bringing hotter days, lots of mud, bugs/bichos/beetles, cool thunderstorms, and slightly más fresca afternoons. Reading Vonnegut in my hammock during storms has been very enjoyable in the late afternoon.

 School has been going well, continuing my observations, getting to know more niños and building trust with my teachers. Remembering names is a constant struggle.

-One highlight: English week became English day, and it was a day full of dancing to English pop-songs, Mr. and Miss English candidates doing risky catwalk moves (whatever that means), some presentations in English (dialogues, a speech, Romeo and Juliet death scene), and lots of whooping and yelling. It was semi-organized, there were technical difficulties with microphones, music, and what-have-yous, students weren't present or ready for their parts on time, etc. So as Spanish-speaking MC, alongside my English-teaching counterpart, who was super stressed while we reached the brink of chaos, I smiled, kept calm, accepted the reality of Panamanian school events, and played some jams on my ipod during the times of utter confusion. Overall, it actually turned out pretty good, and was quite funny, especially the high-schoolers dancing in a rather "modern"  way to some Sean Paul fist-pumping club song. To close out the English week presentation, a muchacha from sexto año (senior year) sang "Scarborough Fair" with a backing choir and killed it. Beautiful, and for me, redeemed Panamá's English music taste that I have heard, especially after spending an entire week listening to junior high students sing "I'm glad you came," by some little British boy-band wankers.

For the next month of observations in the school I am really going to focus my extra time on organizing books in the library so we can utilize them more in the class as well as encourage the kids to read more (in whatever language, honestly). Also, there is a really nice language lab that doesn't seem to be used, and another lab with computers and internet that is sometimes used, but I have heard numerous explanations and stories about what works and doesn't work, or if these mythical computers, internet, or labs actually exist. Panamanian mis(or lack of)communication. My investigations will continue. I'd love to have access to a language lab, and since the government gives laptops to all kids nationwide (little white plastic things that they refer to as "wafleros," a.k.a. waffle-maker; clever nickname but i  haven't seen a waffle yet here), I would like to connect them to positive, educational resources and English learning websites.

Anywho, as I hang in la hamaca on this cool Saturday afternoon, after a solid day of sembrando yuka, I'd like to fill the world in on my goings-on...

As promised, I'd like to follow up on the manventure to Ben's site in Nuevo Vigía, Darién, in the Emberá Comarca. I was super-stoked for my first trip to the dirty D. Andrew, an Environmental Health volunteer who lives in a community a ten minute bus ride plus a 2 hr walk in the hill lands away from Tortí, called my early in the morning as he rolled in on a bus heading to Darién. I hopped on and we headed East. At the Senafront (frontier police organization) checkpoint before Santa Fe, I was able to enjoy one of the perks of Peace Corps when, as everyone else has to unload from the bus and allow the frontier police dressed in camo search their stuff, we simply flashed our cheap-looking, laminated Peace Corps badge and they military dudes waved us through. We grabbed breakfast with Aja in Metetí, apologized that she was not invited to the manventure, but Andrew explained that, as there is a lack of dudes out East, this was a necessary manscursion. They also had to break in the new guy, me, who as a TE volunteer, had a lot to proove to these I-live-in-the-rainforest-hunt-my-dinner-with-spears-and-build-aquaducts kind of fellas. Then we met another EH volunteer in Metetí, Chris, who also lives in an Emberá community (oh btw, Emberá is another indigenous group native to Panamá. They rock.) We snagged some veggies (even some broccoli) for Benjamin, who, despite being surrounded by dense jungle, doesn't enjoy too many edible green plants. We then took a cab another half hour to a town on the Chucunaque River, chatted with some more Senafront police, gave them our info. (either because they are worried about us being kidnapped by the FARC from Colombia, or suspicious of us gringos rolling in to the jungle to smuggle coke, kill jaguars, whatever may have you), had lunch, waited for a few hours, and finally paid for gas and jumped in a piragua (30ft long dug-out canoo with a Yamaha boat engine attached to the back.) After about a half-hour boat ride up the river, we arrived to Ben's community. (No cocodrillos spotted in the river that weekend, but Chris said he counted 30 one time in his river while cruising up to his site : o).



As we glided toward the shore of Ben's community, I didn't know what to expect. Images from Apocalypse Now  kept flashing in my mind, with Ben as Kurtz, surrounded by indigenous children with bows and arrows. Close.. Not really... There were smiling, curious children yelling for Benja (Benhaa) to come retrieve his gringo pals. The community was lovely, and they love their Benja. All of the houses are wooden, open, sitting high on stilts with roofs covered in penca. The school is very nice, they have some sidewalks, some small tiendas and couple cantinas, and two basketball courts! A few years ago there was a huge flood that forced the majority of the families that live next to the river to relocate up on hill (where Ben lives now). The bank was about 10 feet from the water when we visited, and their houses are another ten feet off the ground, so this was a nasty flood. Some of the town just recently acquired electricity, and they have an aqueduct (Ben's primary project) that pumps somewhat decent water to some plumas placed around town. There are virtually no latrines, so Ben's next project has to do with latrine construction, which is tough because typical pit latrines would not function due to the high water table of the land, so they would have to construct composting latrines. Anyway, manventure got a whole lot manlier when he showed me the bathroom; a 5gal bucket with some rice husks for coverage. He had recently acquired a really nice toilet seat for it though!



Mantasia was an awesome weekend. It was really cool getting to know the Darién fellas. We enjoyed some rum, scotch, and euchre under flashlights in the night, tried to dodge/destroy undestroyable mosquitos (for real, you'd smash them and they would simply buzz away), cooked a lot of veggies, pasta, patacones, oatmeal, guac, etc., and shared stories about PC, Darién, their epic hiking adventure to Kuna Yala, bowel movements...This becomes a part of natural, casual conversation in the PC world. "Solid" has become an ever more telling response to "how's it going." We also went hunting with some Emberá fellas one morning, which consisted of an hour or so hike in the dense, humid rainforest, abundant with mosquitos and chitre, another flesh-eater, until we got to a spot. Then, the Emberá fellas told us to stay put with the horses, while they disappeared into the jungle to hunt for conejo (jungle rabbit) and venado (jungle deer). So the gringos got left behind, so we hung out in the jungle made spears and practiced our throwing skills, in case we encountered a potential dinner. We did see an Aguilar Harpía (Harpe Eagle) though, a pretty rare bird that only exists in Latin America, which was sweet. And our pals came back with a deer, so we enjoyed some delicious venison.

We also hooped a bit, which was a blast! The Emberá love basketball, and despite lacking technical skills and some fundamentals, were pretty solid ballers. Ben and an Emberá dude took Andrew and I down one afternoon, and I thought I was going to keel over with heat stroke. Playing basketball under the afternoon sun in jungle heat was intense! Nothing that a nice cold duro (frozen fruit popcicle in a plastic bag) couldn't fix.
The coolest part of the weekend, however, was getting painted with the Jagua fruit. Ben consiguir-ed some Jagua and we grinded the fruit up with a shredder made out of a sardine can. His neighbor mixed the Jagua with a little agua and then cooked it for a hot sec., then used a plantain branch to paint designs on us, covering our entire torso and arms, front and back. They usually do the whole body, feet to mouth, and all the designs/lines usually mean something. She just said she was going to paint us like tigres. It was an awesome experience, the natural tattoos lasted about two weeks. Can't wait to be pintado again!

The Emberá people were very cool. Super friendly, simple, loving, and apparently they can be crude in their humor at times, as have heard from the many volunteers who live in the Comarca. I was super impressed by Ben and Chris's handle on the Emberá language. They came in to PC with little Spanish, and have become solid with both. The entire weekend, they demonstrated a Emberá conversation in English, and  it had me rolling in laughter.
Example : -Hey Benja, whacha doin, ya cooking?
-Yep, I'm cooking
-Really?
-Really.
-Alright, keep cooking then.
It's beautiful, simple, and brilliant. And always pleasant.

Our last night in Nueva Vigia, we roasted up some chorizo y salchicha over a fire and made s'mores. The stars in this jungle village at night were absolutely breathtaking. Soaking everything under the cosmic ceiling was very special and, despite the bloodsuckers, the mud, and lack of amenities, I felt extremely appreciative to be alive in that moment, in that time, in that place.

After the manventure in the jungle, we had our Panamá Este/Darién regional meeting in the city, so we stayed in a nice hostel in Casco Viejo, enjoyed some hot showers (which were amazing, especially after being munched by mosquitos), and enjoyed some civilization, beer, and nightlife. The four of us got some pretty curious looks from the city Panamanians as we strode through the city with our Jagua tattoos. It's fascinating the reactions you get by moving between cultures here in Panamá. We act as bridges even within the country.

My next noteworthy adventure was to a fellow PCV named-Chelsea's site at Pueblo Nuevo, a 20 minute boat ride across Lago Bayano. She invited a bunch of volunteers to come help out with a medical mission put on by a church group from Alabama. We translated and did some health charlas about water and diabetes. Chelsea's site is awesome. She lives in a wooden house with a penca roof (like Benja's) that looks out to the lake (and the sprawling, dead trees that tower out of the water). She has no electrity, but we enjoyed some wine and incredible cooking (pasta, curry, guacamole, salad) and wine at night while listening to random English 80s jams played through the Voz Sin Fronters Darién radio station. The gira was a great success, and a solid number of people turned out in the small community to see the dentist and doctors who were there. I really enjoy working with the medical giras. It's great to work with with other Americans and different organizations, sharing experiences and perspectives, and translating is a pretty cool yet demanding job. And hanging with fellow volunteers is always wonderful.









Before we all headed back to our subjective homes, we embarked on an adventure to check out one of Chelsea's primary projects; Eco-tourism in the caves of Pueblo Nuevo. Las cuevas were incredible. We entered the caves with our headlamps, led by out trusty guide Pepe. The caves are up a stream that leads into Lago Bayano, and seeing as the lake was formed during the construcction of a huge hydroelectric dam, which powers most of Panamá city, her community, and the discovery of the caves, are new phenomena. Huge cliffs tower over the river, and at a few parts in the caves there is total darkness. At one point, we were walking in total darkness through water that was chest-high, with bats fluttering and screeching above. Then, as I had heard from some pals who had seen the caves before, we saw it; the baby crocodile that chills in the pitch black cave lagoon. It's orange eyes burned above the water, still as dark water, until it submerged itself. We moved forward briskly, without panicking, telling ourselves that this creature feels much more threatened by us than we by it. That said, if the mama was around...Apparently no one has seen her, and the river dries up before it gets to the lake. But during this rainy season the river will most likely flow into Lago Bayano, so who knows if the mama will return for her the little guy. Pepe also killed an Equis in the cave, one of the most venomous snakes in Panamá. It wasn't agressive and seemed to be dying before Pepe finished it off, and I felt for the fella for a second. Then I remembered that his bite what send me on a race against the clock to survive. So it goes. Cycles, circles, life, nature, survival...all that jazz......We hiked through the caves for about an our, until we reached a solid swimming hole, jumped off some cliffs into the pristine mountain fed river water, climbed rocks, and explored the mini waterfalls until we had to return. It was an awesome couple days.

I really enjoy living out East, in the frontier land. I love the diversity of indigenous and latinos who had immigrated within the last 50 years. Living near the jungle allows me to see development in a fascinating way, with ramped deforestation (and battle for conservation and reforestation), and the growth of highway towns, and even in the indigenous Comarcas, with more and more access to water, electricity, supermarkets, and internet. Also, there are volunteers from all 4 sectors out here, doing a lot of cool, different projects with water sanitation and access, sustainable agriculture, environmental conservation, hydroelectricty, and English (represent...haa)... I have an incredible opportunity to interact with a variety of people. My fellow volunteers kick ass, and I have so much to learn from them. So much love and support always as well. Oh! I also went to the Despedida/farewell for my pal Beth Frailey, who recently finished her service in Platanilla. It was very sweet and pretty amazing to see how much the people really appreciate our time here. She became a beloved member of families and of the community. One of the English teachers she worked with even sang "Hero" by Mariah Carey at the ceremony for her! Tears flowed. It was lovely. A group of us stayed at Beth's place for her last night. It was so cool witnessing the different perspectives of volunteers in different stages in their service. So much growth and change.  I can't wait to collaborate on projects and learn so much from such groovy people.

Many more adventures to be had. Spending time in the school and with the fam, cooking, getting out on the farm, running down the dirt path that cuts through the jungle mountains, reading, learning the blues...I have a whole lot of time for exploration, inside and out. It's crazy how when you travel around, and when you adapt to a new place and a new life, how memories of what home is, where and who, come rushing through. In that sense, this experience is very spiritual, kind of like a retreat, where you have a lot of time to ponder, appreciate and find peace.

Happy belated Father's Day to all the Papas out there, especially Jiimbovett. Also thinking of Ray Vetter and Russell Scott, two abuelos that have sent some super positive waves into history through the creation of two stellar families. Feeling lucky, feeling alive. Saludos!

 BTW/P.S.:  A lost perrita found me while I was chillaxin the hamaca the other night. Not sure if I am going to keep her, but she came out of nowhere and seems pretty content staying here (with me feeding here). Not really looking to care for a dog, and my family already has a zoo, but she's a sweetie, and a pest. My host brother and I named here Tortilla Luna.