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.

Al Fin de Mayo

Wrapping up another month in Panamá, it is difficult to conceptualize the time I have spent here. I have been in site one month, and in Panama for more than three. It's like paddling out to sea, not really noticing too much progress, but the shores of February are fading in the distance.

So for the the last month, i have been spending time observing teachers in the primary school. It's a frustrating experience because I would like to be more involved, but first i have a lot to learn about the Panamanian school system, assess the needs of the school/community, and perhaps most importantly build camaraderie with the teachers before I start planning and get my hands dirty. That said, there are some tough problems/realities in the Panamanian classroom, which my compañera Katy lays out wonderfully in her blog.

So moving on from that, I'd like to recap my month!

I am wrapping up my week of "vacation" (no school for the niños, as first trimester has just ended, but I was pretty busy) before I head off to the depths of the Darién to visit some of meet some of my new Peace Corps brethren of the East, and do manstuff in the jungle...

some random things i have been doing:

-dodging beetles and swatting bats (killed my first little marcielago last night, I didn't want to because I thought he would be a great defense against mosquitos, but he was out of control and flying way too close to my head while I was trying to help my host-sister with her English homework. She laughed at my indecision (and fear), until my blue jeans knocked him out cold. RIP. There are enough creatures that are trying to suck my blood ). Rainy season has arrived to Panama Esté, and with the lights on in my open bedroom, I am a prime target for rainforest bicho (bug) drones.

-"Thriller" dance with 3rd greaters (we will see if it can be pulled off for english week)

-Gira Médica with US army- I was fortunate to be able to help out on the final day of a medical trip the U.S. Army did in the neighboring town, Platanilla. About 30 army members, a diverse group of medics, reserves, active officers, and otherwise, are doing medical trips to many communities out here in eastern Panamá. Last week they saw hundreds of patients, dividing into stations for Optemetry, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Vaccinations, etc. Mi compañeras Aja, Margaret, and Beth helped out translating as well. It was a super neat experience to share with another U.S. organization, especially the military. It was a cool experience and opportunity for sharing, as many of them (some more honestly curious and interested than others) wanted to know what we were up to and what the always ambiguous Peace Corps was all about. It was especially cool to here one of the officers tell us that he is encouraging his son to look into Peace Corps rather than join the military like his older brother. After talking to some of the soldiers and sharing experiences (especially from guys who had served in Iraq, where sometimes the duration of their deployment would be spent within the confines of a military base), I really appreciate the freedom we are able to enjoy as Peace Corps volunteers (and especially in Panamá). One of the most important aspects of this job is that we live with the native people we are serving; integration is integral to our success. I am definitely looking forward to translating for other medical missions.
**I just found out that the Southern Command will be in Tortí next week, so the kiddies get another week of no school (ay la vida), and unfortunately I will be out of town until next wednesday due to regional meeting in the city.

-Trying to be a cocinero.... So I have been cooking a little bit in the restaurant kitchen, in order to diversify my diet, get some veggies in my system, and share some grub/prove myself to my Panafamily. Guacamole was quite the hit, and it was funny because they had never heard of it and wanted to know what it meant in Spanish (ya es en Español!). I also made homemade tortilla chips (which almost got ruined because Aunt Jackie thought I was making ohaldres, their delicious fried bread. Their tortillas are little fried corn tortillas, nothing like Mexican tortillas). Anyway, the guac was a huge hit and it was hilarious watching my tipsy host-uncle stumble over the pronunciation. Last week I got really adventurous and threw some fresh mangos in from the mango tree, fresh aguacate, freshly picked limes from the lime tree, etc., etc. heavenly goodness. Then, last weekend I decided to make some fat, juicy American cheesburgers for the fam. (with the mango guac), and they loved it! This is also good training for when I open up that brewery/restaurant somewhere in Latin America. So many amazing natural ingredients (mmm mango-pinapple wheat beer I can already taste it).

-Hanging out with Kuna Indigenous: The last few Saturdays I went to Wacuco to visit  Aristoteles and Claudio. Aristoteles teaches math and Claudio English in pre-media (7-9th grade). They are both of the Kuna Yala indigenous group, which is the autonomous comarca up north along the Caribbean Sea (and the hundreds of islands around the coast). Aristoteles' dad was a diputado of Kuna Yala back in the day, which is equivalent to a U.S. senator. Claudio received a scholarship to study English in Ukraine. They are both badasses. It is interesting hanging out with the Kuna people. They have a very deep connection to the land and are totally against deforestation by means of logging or cattle grazing. There is some ill-feelings toward the latino population because there were land conflicts when the interiores migrated east, and the Kuna percieve them as intruders who moved out here to destroy more forests after they depleted nearly 90 per cent of the rainforest that existed in the Azuero Peninsula, where many migrated from. I lived a ten minute bus ride down the rode from another Kuna comarca, the Kuna Madugandi. These Kuna have more tension over land rights because in reality their lands were taken from them, and many were pushed off their land t make way for the hydroelectric damn at Lago Bayano. That said, there is no violent conflict, and it's mostly just a cultural separation. The Kuna Yala are a little more open minded because there is a booming tourist industry up north in the islands of San Blas, and many travel often to Panama City to sell art and jewelry. The Madugandi are more communal and don't venture out much.

 

Saturday, I went to visit Aristoteles to practice English with him and pasear. His mom made us fish and patacones, we watched American 80s music videos on a dvd he has to practice, then we headed to Ipedi to visit the Kuna Madugandi. There, we ran into a bunch o Kuna men campaigning for a man name Aiban, who is running for diputada of Kuna Yala. It was really cool talking to the Kuna men about politics. A Kuna teacher named Claviano shared a few beverages with Aristotle and me, and we had some great chats about history, politics, and education from the persepctive of Kuna culture. He told me that the mindset of many Kuna is changing and becoming more open. A few years ago, a North American married a Kuna Yala woman and they live happily up in the comarce. The white man speaks perfect Kuna and is accepted as one of their own. This is a sign of some progression, because the Kuna people usually do not mingle with anyone outside of the Kuna population, but things are changing. I made some great connections for when I get a chance to go visit the islands of San Blas, and Claviano and Aiban said they would take me in their motorboats to some of the pristine, tourist-free islands! I capped off the day by bathing with a group of Kuna Men in the Ipedi river. Some were bare-ass naked and invited me to do the same, but children were present, so I kept my skivvies on to cover the remaining whiteness. They got a kick out of it, and joked that I was more Kuna than Aristoteles (and not afraid of crocodiles) because he didn't get in. Also, the Kuna language is fascinating and I am going to try to learn it! Newedi!

The Respect for Diversity also is Peace

-This past Sunday, my family hosted a matanza for political campaign. They don't necessarily support the dude, but they have a restaurant and a big lot out front, plus they enjoy matanzas, so they agreed to host. The campaign people brought over 2 dead cows, and my family and others spend hours Saturady night and Sunday morning cutting, chopping, seasoning, smoking, and boiling la vaka into gloriousness. Spent the beautiful sunny Sunday eating smoked beef and sharing a few balboas with my host tío and primo. It was a solid day. I am excited for family matanzas, where the men work all afternoon (usually harvesting corn or rice) and then eat, drink, and dance merrily through the eve.

      Dude brought a moonbounce, how can he lose?

Earlier this week, I went to Chepo to help with the regional Spelling Be, and the following day for the Zárate Concurso, a regional cultural competition, and I got to spend both days with mis compañeras, fellow east siders and rubias, Rachel and Katy! I'll put some vids and pics up from the cultural event in my next post, it was really cool!


Finally, my new animal pals:

Colibrí

Christian, his pops, and a pato that ran waddled into my room one night

Mono Titi!

Balto, my trusty jungle sidekick

Paco, moody loro

late night tree frog visitor

I also saw a little crocodile, (or alligator, or caiman, ah i dunno) during a morning jog by a creek. Panamanians referred to the lizard as a lagarto babillo. I'll snap a pick next time.

Paz y abrazos!

p.s. if I don't blog in the next coupe weeks it's because I decided to don a loin-cloth and live with the Emberá deep in the Darien rainforest.