I get this look ALOT!

Not really joking, I get similar looks all the time. Luckily, the timing on this shot was perfect as this kid was checking out my camera and try to figure out what the heck it was.

A Coclesano Christmas

Merry Christmas!

This is my Christmas tree this year, as assembled by Jadi.


Christmas is still four days away, but already the big Christmas celebration has taken place in my community. About a week ago, 8 wise men from the Panama Ports Company came to town bearing gifts. Instead of gold, frankinsence, and myrrh, they brought gifts that a child might actually want, namely toys. The Panama Ports Company built the school, and this has become an annual tradition for the town. About a month ago, the town submitted a list with the names and ages of every child person in town. Those names were then submitted to a toy drive held by the Panama Ports Company, and each child in town received gifts personally addressed to them and wrapped by the staff of the Panama Ports Company. Some children received a dozen small, individually wrapped gifts while others received one large bag or box. In addition, the head of each family received a bag of food. Finally, there was the distribution of second hand clothes. This process resembled a rugby scrum formed around several bags indentified by age age and sex, for example girls ages 10-13.

Here are some photos of the general chaos that last for about 4 hours, just like a normal Christmas at home.

Waiting in line for gifts.

A broader view of the gift line.

Waiting in line for goodies.

Receiving a bag of food. Contents: canned fish, rice, powered milk, etc.

Showing off the gifts and posing for publicity photos.

The photos went on for a while.

Enjoying the new toys.

Shortwave Radio Broadcasts

This post is really for the other volunteers in Panama, and I'm not sure if any of you guys are actually reading this blog, but here is a list of shortwave radio broadcasts for those who are (and have shortwave radios. So I guess it is really just a reminder for myself.)

VOA - America's finest shortwave radio broadcast. There is really only one hour of programming per day that gets repeated at different times.

9.345 - 7:00AM-8:00AM and 8:00AM-9:00AM
12.12 - 9:00AM-10:00AM and 10:00AM-11:00AM
9:49 - 5:00PM-6:00PM and 6:00PM-7:00PM
7:325 - 8:00PM-9:00PM - This signal is the strongest and clearest signal. Also, while it is the last show of the day in Panama time, it is the first show of the day in Universal time (0100 UMT.)

BBC - Better programing, weaker signal. It took me forever to find the BBC shows, because I couldn't receive them without an external wire antenna plugged in, so if you go looking for them keep that in mind. The BBC broadcasts for several hours each day on these channels so I wont bother tossing the hours down. Your best luck will be with the first two which alternate as the stronger signal depending on wheather conditions.

15.40
17.83
21.47

Honorable Mentions (i.e. English speaking broadcasts from non-English speaking countries.)

9.57 - China Radio International - 7:00PM-8:00Pm
7.325 - Radio Austria - 7:00PM-8:00PM - Sadly, December 31st will be the last english speaking broadcast. This was an excellent program, though entirely focused on Austria.
11.69 - Deutchavela - 4:00PM-5:00PM
9.55 - Radio Havana Cuba - Great Cuban music and the occasional broadcast in English.

Just Cause?

19 years ago today, on Dec. 20th, 1989, the US invaded Panama (Operation Just Cause.) The cause was probably not so just, but the question of whether the invasion was good for Panama is more complicated. With almost 20 years of hindsight, I think that Panama is probably better off than it would have been, under Noriega or his successor. Today Panama has one of the strongest democracies in Central and South America, as well as one of the fastest growing economies. Living down here, I can see evidence of recent change and development all around me, and it's hard to imagine what the country was like even 10 years ago. With the US military presence gone, and the Canal fully under Panamanian control, Panamanians seem to harbor very few negative feelings toward the US. Even fewer have good memories of the Noriega years. While Omar Torrijos maybe celebrated as a hero and benevolent dictator, there are no such feelings for Noriega.

New House, New Family

A couple of weeks ago, I switched houses as part of my genius plan to get to know the community. My new house is on the other side of town, and roughly an hour walk from my old house. In fact, you already know my new family because I lived with them during my site visit. So here is a re-introduction:

This is the family.

And this is the house (compound.) The second floor of the house has the bedrooms, while the 2 panka (grass) roof houses to the left (only 1 is visible) are the living room and kitchen.

This is Yadi (pronounced Jadi,) the oldest of the kids. In this picture, she's practicing the traditional method of removing the rice husks. There's nothing complicated about it, you just pound the rice with that heavy club until the husks break open.

This is Sultan, the king of Quebrada Grande. Here he is seen ruling over two of his subjects (the pigs.) It should also be noted that the pigs...ahem..."huevos" have since disappeared with a little assistance from my Leatherman.

Two of the newest family members. These gansitos (baby geese) are a couple of weeks old now.

The Floods Are Over

Panama is finally beginning to return to normal after the floods, and all Volunteers are safely back in their sites. I would like to encourage everyone again to take a look through their blogs listed to the right of this post. Those blogs will be able to explain everything that happened better than I can.

Here in Cocle, we had 12 straight days of rain, but because the watersheds around my community are relatively small the flooding was not as bad as other locations. With that said, during my return from my last trip to town, I ended up hiking back in the rain. About half way through my trip, I had to cross a small stream. Normally, this stream is about a foot deep, but when I arrived it was 3 feet deep and quickly rising. I decided not to cross, and made a dash for the closest house to take shelter out of the rain. The small stream eventually crested at 6-7 feet higher than normal, and I ended up waiting for 3.5 hours for the stream level to fall. When I had only an hour of light left, I decided I had to make the attempt to cross. I hoisted my backpack up over my head and waded across the stream which was twice it's normal width, and the water rose up to my navel. I made it across safely, but thoroughly soaked, and managed to make it home just before dark.

Pega What?!?

If I had to choose one Panamanian dish to eat for the remainder of my stay in Panama it would be Pega Barba. Pega Barba is one of those dishes that is served as part of a feast and usually cooked in amounts meant to serve 20 or more. The best description I can come up with is solid chicken soup. It's made by shaving yucca down to its corazon (heart) and the boiling the yucca until it becomes a paste or glue (pega.) While the pega is cooking a guisao or chicken stew is made using onions, peppers, and whatever other vegetables they care to use. The stew broth is then added to the pega, and cooked until thouroghly mixed. Then served with the chicken on top, and often accompanied with rice and/or noodles. It's delicious and has that filling "stick to your ribs" property.

PS I'll try to get a picture next time it's made.