Rockin the Isthmus

Family Visit 2010

2010-05-28T17:22:00.019-05:00

Way back in April my parents came down for a visit. We split our time between Coiba and Boquete. We headed to Coiba from Malena on the western edge of the Azuero peninsula, where Jodi, one of my fellow volunteers lives. From Malena, we arranged for a boat to take us to Coiba for two nights. If you are planning to visit Panama, you should definitely add Coiba to your itinerary. While Coiba is a bit of a hassle to get to, it is worth the effort.

Mom and I on the beach at Grana de Oro, just off the Coast of Coiba Island. Grana de Oro is a tiny island surround by a large reef with crystal clear waters that are prefect for snorkeling. Coiba's waters are filled with a variety of brightly colored fish, as well as sea turtles and sharks.

A view of the ANAM ranger station on Coiba island. If you want to spend the night on Coiba, you have to sleep here, either on the beach or in one of the cabins. The cabins are basic, but have water and air conditioning.

Locked up in Coiba's jail. Noriega was commandant of the jail in 1970's before he became president.

After arriving in Boquete, we took a day trip over to Cerro Punto to hike in Parque La Amistad. The sign says "Umbrellas with Chlorophyl," and is referring to the large leaves on the left of the photo. Umbrellas are common in the rural areas of Panama (despite the insane amount of rain that Panama receives,) and I often see people using a variety of leaves as umbrellas when the rains get too heavy.

Family photo in front of a fountain in Paradise Gardens, an animal rescue shelter in Boquete.

A rescued baby capuchin in Paradise Gardens, Boquete.

These are baby coffee plants that are being grown in a nursey before being planted.

Coffee ready for shipment to the roaster.

Hand sorting of the coffee for quality control before it is sent to auction.

Here I am sampling a cup of Panamanian Geisha bean coffee, the World's Most Expensive Coffee. A pound of coffee retails for more than $100 in the States, and a cup retails for $18-$27.

The evidence of my $9 cup of coffee.

Feria de Cucuá 2010

2010-05-28T17:01:00.009-05:00

Hello everyone, here is the next installment of my much delayed blog. Hopefully, I'll catch up soon with my posts.

March means it's once again time for San Miguel Centro' s annual Feria de Cucuá. The Feria is a day of competitions at various campesino activities, and the highlight is the traditional danza de la cucuá . The dance is performed in costumes made of bark from the Cucuá tree and decorated using organic dyes made from local plants. The costumes resemble demons and were traditionally used to scare away evil.

The competition to split the coconuts was fierce. The first person to open three coconuts was declared the winner.

These two men are racing to be the first to peel the bark from the cucua tree, though keeping the bark intact was just as important as peeling the bark quickly.

These kids are from the Cucuá youth group. The boys are wearing homemade Cucuá costumes while the girls are wearing traditional dresses.

This couple is demonstrating a traditional tipico dance. The cucuá dance is only performed in San Miguel Centro, but the tipico can be found everywhere in Panamá.

In this photo, the woman is showing off her pollera, or traditional dress.

These photos were taken during a Cucua practice session for the Cucua youth group.

Each of the costumes is handmade and slightly different. The masks tend to depict demons with the features of deer, wolves, and dragons.

Hike to the Kuna Coast

2010-05-28T16:28:00.007-05:00

Hello all!!! I've been quiet here a while, and I know you all are wondering what I've been up to down here in Panama. Well, I've been busy, so I'm going to try and catch you up in the next couple of posts.

Back in February, Mateo organized a hike from his community across the cordillera to Kuna Yala with the goal of joining in the Kuna Independence Day celebration when we arrived. We started off near the border of Panama Este and Darien provinces. We began by hiking into the Comarca Wargandi to the community of Nurra to meet our guide. (The Kuna people live in three separate comarcas which are roughly equivalent to reservations, though the Kuna have greater autonomy and self-governance than the other indigienous groups.)

We hiked the four hours to Nurra where we met our guide, Gaspar.

After lunch in Nurra, we went for a quick swim in the river, and then headed out for another 4 hour hike to our campground.

We camped for the night by the side of the river. My Thermarest proved adequate padding for the stones, while others hung their hammocks between the trees.

We headed out the next morning. From here on our path would take us through virgin rainforest, becuase we were hiking through the Kuna Comarca, it is likely we were among the only gringos to ever see this part of Panama.

Around 11am, we reached the top of the cordillera, and got out first glimpse of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, we still had another 7 hours to go before we reached the coast.

We took this photo of the group using a campo tripod, i.e. a machete stuck in a tree.

Apparently, Ryu is King of the World. The rivers were so refreshing that we stopped every hour or so for a quick swim. On the Carribbean side of the cordillera, the rivers were pure enough that we were able to fill our water bottles directly from the rivers.

Seven hours later, and a slight case of heat exhaustion on my part, we reached the coast. Unfortunately, the boat to take us to the island wasn't there, so we had to spend the next 90 minutes hanging out in the local garbage dump while our guide went for a boat. This part of the jungle wasn't so pure.

I was still recovering later that night when someone asked me to show them how I felt. This picture was the result.

The next day, still feeling exhausted, we got up to join the party. Kuna all over the island were parading through the streets.

Eventually, we ended up at the center of the celebration, the chicha house. This is where the Kuna served their traditional alcoholic beverage made from fermented corn and coffee beans. Caffeine and alcohol, it was an indigienous Red Bull and Vodka. They lined us up in groups of 6 to 8 people, and while the crowd chanted and clapped, we chugged down bowls of chicha.

Nikki joined the ladies half of the house, where instead of bowls of chicha, the women were served chicha in shot glasses made from gourds.

Here's Gaurav, Alan, and Ryu partaking of the bowls.

And another round.

We met a lot of people and made a lot of friends that day. In the front of the picture, is an albino Kuna. The Kuna have the highest rate of albinism of any ethnic group.

We got up early in the morning to catch our boat ride back. The boat took us 9 hours down the coast using it's 40 horsepower engine. We were all on the verge of seasickness for a couple of hours as the boat went up and down 6 foot swells.

Once the boat landed in Carti, we managed to negotiate a ride to Chepo in the back of a pick-up. You can see the effects that the combination of salt water from the boat ride, and the ride in pickup had on my hair in this picture.

The whole trip was an amazing experience, and I recommend it for anyone who wants a serious adventure, and is comfortable with their spanish.

Workin' in the campo

2010-01-04T11:57:00.003-05:00

A couple of months ago, my boss Tim came out for his annual visit. He managed to arrive just in to join a junta at my neighbor Gregorio's house. The neighbors had all gathered to dig out the foundation for his new house.

Once we finished for the day, we sat down to pega barba and guarapo (alcohol made from fermented sugar cane juice.)

The sloth crawled down from his tree to watch us work.

Thanksgiving

2010-01-04T11:16:00.003-05:00

So it's been a while since my last post, and I know you all have been craving an update, so here's a brief summary of Thanksgiving: Good Friends and Good Food = A Great Time. A hundred plus volunteers managed to converge on the town of Cerro Punto in western Panama for the annual volunteer feast. Between us, we managed to consume 5 turkey, 3 hams, and countless pounds of stuffing, beans, and pie.

Happy Thanksgiving! (Much belated)

Alan, Andrea, Seth, and Meredith's back sitting around fajita mixins that Alan and some others prepared the night before Thanksgiving as a kind of warm-up stretch for the real festivities the next day.

A few of my fellow EHers: Dave, Meredith, Seth, Zach, and Jesse.

Not really Thanksgiving related. This is a picture of the Novena procession in Quebrada Grande to celebrate Mother's Day, Dec. 8th here in Panama.

Happy Birthsecond to Me!

2009-11-15T07:21:00.000-05:00

Today, I celebrate my 1,000,000,000th birthsecond yup that's right folks. I was born 1,000,000,000 seconds ago today. Unfortunately, I can't tell you which second it was specifically, because I'm just too lazy to calculate it, but since I was born around 6am, I think it should be around 7 or 8am.

Black Christ Festival

2009-11-09T10:31:00.012-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I headed to the Black Christ Festival in Portobelo, and I gotta say if you are ever down here on October 21st you should definitely go. I went with Seth and Nikki who are a couple of my fellow volunteers here in Coclé. We arrived in Portobelo a little after noon, and spent the next few hours wandering around town and sampling the street meat. Portobelo has two of the oldest Spanish forts in Panama, and was one of the major points of transit for Spanish gold as it was leaving the New World. The area surrounding Portobelo is gorgeous, and I believe with a little work from the government, they could turn Portobelo into a great tourist destination. The problem currently is that signage and information describing Portobelos historical importance are lacking. There are a few signs but they mainly give dates and lack historical context.

But that was not why we were there. We were there for the festival, and the festival was amazing.
People make a pilgrimage from all over Panama in handmade purple robes (though most are afro-antilleanos from Colon province.) They walk to Portobelo, and once they reach the town borders, they crawl the rest of the way on hands and knees. Some remove their robes and have hot wax from candles dripped on their back as penance while they crawl. Usually they work in teams with a friend or relative carrying an image of the black christ in front and shouting words of encouragement while another drips hot wax. Some woment crawl with their children on their back or stomach (people crab walk, when their knees become bloody.)

The pilgrims arrive all day until Mass at 7pm. After Mass, the statue of the Black Christ is removed from the church an carried around town in a procession until midnight when the statue re-enters the church. Afterwards, the whole town parties until 3 am. The whole experience was amazing and incredibly. 40,000 people descended on a town of only 2000, and only a handful of us were gringos. The best word to describe it is authentic, you can really feel the emotion and strength of belief from the pilgrims. You get the feeling that this is a celebration by the people, for the people, as opposed to a celebration by the Church for the people.

With that said, on to the photos...

The first of two forts overlooking the harbor. Portobelo is located inside a natural harbor.

This is the second fort and closer to town. People are allowed to go wherever they like inside the forts.

Looking down on "downtown" Portobelo. About 2,000 people live in Portobelo.

Seth and Nikki demonstrating the Panamanian shirt roll.

Sitting in a window of one forts. One of the few places that didn't smell like urine. With 40,000 people and no port-a-potties, the forts did double duty.

A man crawls through the entrance of the church as a woman drips hot wax on his back.

A group of pilgrims in their purple robes enters the church.

The Black Christ himself. Behind him is a statue of James helping him carry the cross. Unfortunately, this photo doesn't give a good idea of the size of the platform he stands on, but its large and heavy.

Worshippers carrying homade idols of the Black Christ. Many of these were carried in front of pilgrims as they crawled for inspiration. It's hard to see, but many were blinged out with christmas tree lights and at least one black light.

These men are carrying the platform that holds the Black Christ. There were approximately 30-40 men per side to carry the platform.

A view from a balcony as the procession marches down the street

What a view to wake up to. Five minutes after waking up, I was swimming off the end of the pier. During the festival, we ran into another group of volunteers who had a friend with a house near Portobelo, and we ended up spending the night at his place. Thanks Humberto!

Quebrada Grande Menagerie

2009-09-30T19:15:00.004-05:00

Buenos Dias! I know it´s been a while since I last updated, so if you´re still reading the blog, thanks for sticking with it. I´ve got a year in review post coming up in a few weeks that will have more comment, but for now here are some pictures from Quebrada Grande.

After months of searching, I finally found some sloths living in my site. Unfortunately, they don´t like to pose for photos, so you´ll have to put up with these fuzzy ones.

After exiting the forest while following a very narrow trail, I looked down to find this guy crawling on my shoulder. You might not be able to tell from this photo, but the stick bug was about 6-8" long.

One of the golden-hooded tanagers that have been flying around my house the last few days. In person the yellows and blues are even more vivid.

A blue-headed parrot. These guys prefer to hangout at the tops of trees and like the sloths don´t like to have their photos taken.

Unfortuntately, these guys don´t bring fruit loops.

School Anniversary

2009-07-08T20:55:00.004-05:00

CEBG (Centro Educativo Basico Grado, ie "school") Quebrada Grande recently celebrated it's 15th birthday, and threw a party.

That's Jesus' daughter Yadi (and her escorts), showing off her dance moves as out-going queen of the school.

Watching the ring toss. Throw a quarter sized ring over the top of a seco bottle from outside the railings and you win the bottle.

Jesus watching the ring toss (intently.)

Family Visit

2009-07-08T20:44:00.003-05:00

The family came for a visit a while back and I haven't had a chance to post the photos yet so here they are.

Fletch, Dad, and I at Mirasflores Locks.

Fletch and Lauren on the Amador Causeway at Sunset.

My kitchen.

The family hiking around Quebrada Grande.

Jesus' family and the rest of us.

Peace Corps Panama in the News

2009-06-15T16:25:00.001-05:00

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-peacecorps2-2009jun02,0,2239945.story

Here's a link to an LA Times article talking about two of my fellow volunteers here in Panama. Alex is one of my fellow Group 62ers and Yemiymah is the Regional Leader for Panama Este and the Darien.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2009-05-14T19:54:00.007-05:00

The Good

My house is done! I'm currently in the process of furnishing it, but it's ready to move into as soon as I head back to my site. I've already got the bed, mattress, and stove. The house looks fantastic and I really appreciate all the hard work the community has put in to helping me build it.

The Bad

It turns out I've been infected by the leishmanisis bacteria, aka The Leish. What does this mean? Well the Leish is like one of those rude house guests that doesn't go away. He doesn't do much, but he doesn't leave. I've got 2 dime-sized scabs on my other arm where I was bitten by an infected chitra (or sand fly.) The scabs don't hurt, and don't cause much harm, though they'll eventually leave a nasty scar. But, they can take up to 2 years to disappear on their own. Their is also a small chance that the virus can mutate into a more harmful form that attacks the cartilage in the body if it is left untreated. Unfortunately, this is one of those diseases where the treatment is worse than the disease. The standard treatment is a 30 minute IV drip everyday for 20 days. This means that sometime in the next month, I'll be heading to Panama City for 3 weeks of treatment. However, I should stress that the disease isn't that big of a deal healthwise, and while it is exceedingly rare in the US, Peace Corps and the hospital here have a lot of experience with it. So no need for you all to worry.

The Ugly

Pics of the Leish on my arm. (Ok, the pictures are still to come, but they should be here in another day or so.)

Experimenting with Skype

2009-04-26T12:01:00.002-05:00

Friends, Family, and Anonymous Readers,

I've decided to start trying to keep in touch with people using Skype. Skype is a multi-platform computer program that allows users to make computer-to-computer voice and/or video phone calls for free as long as both computers are using the program. The program can be downloaded here:

http://skype.com/intl/en/

Once the program is installed do a search for my screen name using my email address. If you don't know my email address leave a comment below and I'll send it to you. Hopefully, I'll be talking to some of you soon.

Touring Panama

2009-04-16T15:32:00.010-05:00

Gina came down for a visit a couple of weeks ago, and we took the opportunity to do some sight-seeing and see the country. Even though I've been down here for almost 9 months now, I haven't done much of the touristy stuff yet, so this was an opportunity to do that. We spent a couple of days seeing Casco Viejo, Panama City, and Miraflores Locks, then we headed to the San Blas islands in Kuna Yala. If you're going to visit Panama, you should really put the San Blas islands at the top of your list to visit. Don't expect luxury accomodations, just gorgeous white sand beaches and (almost) deserted islands. After San Blas, we headed up to Quebrada Grande where I marched Gina through the hills while giving her the guided tour.

One of several pretty churches in Casco Viejo.

Out for drinks and dinner in Casco Viejo.

We watched as this cargo ship passed through Miraflores Locks, because you can't come to Panama without seeing the Canal. For better or worse, Panama will always be defined by the Canal.

The Canal after the ship had passed through.

On our way, to Kuna Yala. We took a Land Cruiser from Panama City, and then a short boat ride out to Cartí where we were staying.

Our accomodations in Cartí. The cabana was basic, but had what you needed. That's a sand floor you see in the photo. Also, those are the clothes of the owners hanging from the ceiling. Someone lives here when there aren't guests.

Just one of the many gorgeous beaches.

Each island was surround by crystal blue water. Unfortunately, we didn't get to snorkel as much as we would've liked, because our masks leaked badly.

One of the many pelicans who fish around the islands.

Kuna fisherman tossing out their nets.

Sunset in the islands.

A Kuna woman making a mola, and a little girl checking us out.

Isla de los Diablos.

Our international group: 2 Dutch, 2 French, 2 American.

Future homeowner.

This is my chiva, which Gina got to experience in all it's drunken glory. You can fit about 23 people in the back (not comfortably.)

50 books down, 150 to go

2009-03-10T21:04:00.003-05:00

I've finished reading my first 50 books here in Panamá, and I've decided that 200 will be my goal before I leave which seems like a reasonable pace. I've noticed that they pace at which I read books strongly correlates with the number of rainy days in a month, so this list should give you an overall feel for the weather here in Panama. So please keep sending those books. If you've read any of the books and agree or disagree with my rating, please leave a comment and let me know why you agree or disagree.

The Rating System

1 - Not Worth Reading. Truly Awful. Stay Away!
2 - Not Worth the Time. It's got something to offer, but not much.
3 - An OK book. This is the Beach Read category. Good Stories with Bad Writing, and Bad Stories with Good Writing fall here.
4 - Among the best in it's genre. If you like the genre or the author, this is worth reading.
5 - An unqualified recommendation. Go read it. Now! You'll be a better person.

09/08

1. Writings on An Ethical Life - Peter Singer - 4

10/08

2. Jitterbug Perfume - Tom Robbins - 2.5
3. The Path Between the Seas - David McCullogh - 4

11/08

4. Coyote Waits - Tony Hillerman - 3.5
5. Tapestry of Spies - Stephen Hunter - 3
6. Master of the Game - Sidney Sheldon - 1
7. Flight of the Nighthawks - Raymond E. Feist - 3
8. American Gods - Neil Gaiman - 4
9. Will in the World - Stephen Greenblatt - 3
10. Finding Moon - Tony Hillerman - 2
11. A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson - 5
12. Angel's Flight - Michael Connelly - 4
13. The Deerslayer - James Fenimore Cooper - 2.5
14. Friday Night Lights - H.G. Bissinger - 4.5
15. The Boat of a Million Years - Poul Anderson - 3
16. The Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster - 3
17. The Innocent Man - John Grisham - 2.5

12/08

18. Bait and Switch - Barbara Ehrenreich - 3
19. Sacred Clowns - Tony Hillerman - 3.5
20. The First Eagle - Tony Hillerman - 3
21. The Closers - Michael Connelly - 4
22. The Fallen Man - Tony Hillerman - 4
23. Hunting Badger - Tony Hillerman - 4
24. Blood Work - Tony Hillerman - 4
25. Resurrection Men - Ian Rankin - 3.5
26. The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly - 3
27. With No One As Witness - Elizabeth George - 3.5
28. The Oil and the Glory - Steve Levine - 4

01/09

29. Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen - 3.5
30. Void Moon - Michael Connelly - 3
31. Fly on the Wall - Tony Hillerman - 2
32. Killing Rain - Barry Eisler - 3.5
33. The Best Book of Useless Information Ever - 3.5
34. Fool's Errand - Robin Hobb - 4
35. Golden Fool - Robin Hobb - 4
36. Fool's Fate - Robin Hobb - 4
37. The Cardinal of the Kremlin - Tom Clancy - 4
38. 1491 - Charles C. Mann - 4
39. The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon - 4
40. Black Sunday - Thomas Harris - 2.5

02/09

41. Ghost Soldiers - Hampton Sides - 5
42. Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell - 4.5
43. Nashville 1864 - Madison Jones - 3
44. Atonement - Ian McEwan - 3

03/09

45. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami - 4
46. The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama - 3
47. An Ordinary Man - Paul Rusesabagina - 4
48. Spin - Robert Charles Wilson - 3.5
49. Obsessive Genius - Barbara Goldsmith - 3
50. The Tender Bar - J.R. Moehringer - 4

Scenes from the Isthmus

2009-03-10T16:56:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures that I didn't have anyplace else to put.

This is a guayacane which is sort of the arboreal mascot of Coclé. This picture doesn't do them justice. They are bright yellow, and sort of glow in the middle of the green jungle. I think planting a forest of these and then waiting 50 years for them to grow to full size and bloom would be worth the wait. I keep picturing what that would look like. Sort of a yellow version of Japan's cherry blossoms.

This is a general map of my site from San Miguel Centro at the bottom.

I caught this woodpecker enjoying an orange one day. This was taken 3o feet from my new house.

Rats 1. Shirts 0.

These are Marañon. Believe it or not, these are where cashews come from. Each one of these fruits contains one cashew nut. The fruits themselves are edible and taste a little like apples except not as juicy and with the texture of styrofoam, which isnt as bad as it sounds.

This path was cut by leaf cutter ants, and is probably over 300 feet long in total. Back in the states, I'd see leaf cutter ants in zoos and think how unusal and exotic, but down here they are everywhere. I have nothing but respect for them though. With every rain their house gets washed out (and it rains ALOT,) but they just keep building and never stop. Keep it up guys. Don't listen to anything that silly grasshopper has to say.

Full moon. I thought I'd test out the zoom on my camera one night, and the picture came out well.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-03-10T16:56:00.002-05:00

So I had a birthday a few days ago, and it was mostly a quiet affair. However, my host family did kill a turkey in my honor, put a table cloth on the table, and we had a little feast of pega barba and pavo de patio. This year also marks the first time in the 11 years that we've known each other Jim and I haven't had some sort of joint celebration. However, given the imminent arrival of Jim Jr. and the demands of grad school I suspect he also had a quiet birthday. Oh well, maybe we're just growing old.

Alright, on to the update. Alot has been going on here the last month or so. We kicked off the month with our regional meeting which allowed me to finally meet all the other volunteers in Coclé and Panamá Oesté. Meeting all the other volunteers allowed me to finally stop wondering if every gringo I saw walking down the street in Penonomé was another volunteer.

After a brief hiatus, Group 62 (that's my group) got together just 30 minutes from Penonomé for our IST conference. This was the first time I had seen most of the group since I headed to my site back in October. As a whole, changes in the group can be described as less weight and more hair. Everyone in the group seems to have lost at least 10 pounds (some of us closer to 30,) and grown more hair either on the head or the face (ladies excluded.) Aside from those physical changes, everyone was pretty much their jolly old selves and seemed to be enjoying their sites.

After IST, I returned briefly to my site before heading out to experience Carnival. Penonomé hosts Panamá's 3rd largest Carnival and I spent 4 days experiencing it in it's entirety.

That's the summary so keep your eyes posted here for the pics.

You're what?... Tin roof, (un)rusted!

2009-03-10T15:01:00.012-05:00

So I've been working on building my house for the last few weeks, and it's not quite done, but almost there. I'm hoping to be able to move into the house in about 2 weeks. The house should end up being about 17x14 with a 10 foot ceiling. It may be small by American standards, but here in Panamá that's pretty big. Many families with 3 or 4 kids live in similar size houses. The total bill should run about $400 which is alot on my salary, but once it's built I won't have any rent. I'm definitely looking forward to living on my own. I've missed the privacy and independence of cooking my own meals. Below are some pictures I've taken during construction.

You may wonder how to build a house in the jungle. I believe my fellow volunteer Alan has described the process best.

So I know the burning question in a lot of people's minds is;
How do you build a sweet house in the jungle?
For this I've made a simple easy to use guide for everyone who would like to build their own.

Step 1) Find a community of highly skilled indigenous people, and tell them you'll take pictures of them building a sweet house.

Step 2) Sit back and watch.

Yup, that's basically it. I just saw where they tell me to saw, and hammer where they tell me to hammer.

Putting in the posts to elevate the floor.

Laying out the floor plan.

Jesus, my host father, contemplating what to do next.
Not bad for a day's work.

Putting up the frame for the walls.

The iguana. People couldn't stop laughing the first time I called it a "sawhorse." Apparently, that word doesn't translate well directly.

Riding the iguana.

OSHA?!? Who are they? Panamanian do everything with their machetes, including planing wood. So far no fingers have been lost in the construction of my house.

The two pictures are NOT related, but it wouldn't be a work day without the chicha fuerte.

Frames up, and as usual the sky provides a dramatic backdrop.

Prepping for the roof. Total cost for the roof $280.88.

My new neighbor Gregorio and his son.

Ready for the floor.

Floors almost done.

Each board has to be planed to fit before it can be put down.

And that's the status so far. Roofs on, floors 3/4 done, and we're waiting on the wood for the walls and more nails (which I bought today.)

Hopefully, my next post will be the house fully finished.

Culecos, Tipico, Polleras, and Samba

2009-03-10T10:30:00.011-05:00

After a breakfast of sancocho (Panamanian chicken soup,) we'd head out to the culecos. The culecos were nothing more than a large tanker truck filled with water of questionable origin that was sprayed continuously over the crowd while the crowd danced to music from a nearby stage. Most of these culecos were sponsored by local and national politicians. The culeco that you attended revealed your political leanings.

Our group. My wise and mature regional leader is on the far left.

A Panamanian dancer in a tradition pollera.

The Cucuá dancers from San Miguel Centro (near my site.) I may get a chance to see them perform again this weekend.

One of the queens of the samba parade.

Betcha didn't know that Penonomé is the Geographic Center of Panamá. Well it is. This stone says so. We will ignore the fact that they are currently in the process of moving the geographic center of Panamá 3 miles down the road. In our hearts this will always be the geographic center of Panamá.

More Pics

2009-01-16T11:23:00.003-05:00

Oriel eating frech-picked oranges.

One of the neighbors who's name escapes me.

My water source. This is the well (pozo) that I'm getting my water from.

In front of one of the waterfalls.

Pilar and Nita.

The next two are because wet dogs are cute.

Another of Oriel in the tree.

VAC Calendar

2009-01-15T21:08:00.002-05:00

So, I was going to post a link for you all to buy the VAC (Volunteer Advisory Council) Calendar, but it appears to have sold out already.

Here's the link anyway:

http://panamapcv.net/calendar/calendar_2009/calendar2009.html

All photos in the calendar are taken by Peace Corps Panama Volunteers, and the funds raised go to various volunteer projects.

Some Pics

2009-01-15T20:24:00.003-05:00

This is Isabelle, aka Nita.

The promised pic of Pega Barba (Beard Glue.) It tastes better than it looks.

Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

2009-01-15T19:53:00.003-05:00

Apologies for not posting in a while, but I've been trying to get some of these photos organized. So here are a couple of photos of some of the wildlife. Taking pictures of the wildlife down here is hard, pretty much every creature in the jungle sees or hears me coming long before I see them. Walking along the trails in my community, I see large and small lizards darting into the forest too quickly for me to photograph, or as I approach a river crossing I'll see a heron flying away down stream. I've even seen several of those lizards that can walk across water running away as I approach. So here are a couple of creatures I've managed to catch with my camera.

I've seen this guy around a few times, and the colors are even brighter in person especially the blue feathers on his chin that you can barely see in this picture. A quick internet search told me that he is a broad-billed motmot.

This is a nest of faloffa or bullet ants, so called because their bite is said to hurt as much as being shot with a bulllet. Luckily, I haven't been bitten yet. They are pretty distinctive since they are about 1 inch long, and the largest ants you'll likely ever see.

This is just a pretty blue dragon fly.

I get this look ALOT!

2008-12-21T11:58:00.003-05:00

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

2008-12-20T23:07:00.009-05:00

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

2008-12-20T21:51:00.002-05:00

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?

2008-12-20T21:11:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-20T11:34:00.008-05:00

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

2008-12-10T18:46:00.002-05:00

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?!?

2008-12-10T16:12:00.002-05:00

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.

I'll just end up walkin' In the cold November rain

2008-11-27T10:30:00.003-05:00

GNR could've been talking about Panama when they wrote November Rain. November is by far Panamas rainiest month, and this November has been no different. Substantial flooding has occurred in the western half of the country, and has left several volunteers stranded in their sites. Other volunteers in the provinces of Chiriqui, Bocas del Toro, and the Comara Ngobe-Bugle have been assisting the Panamian government with relief efforts. Fortunately, all volunteers in the area are reported to be safe, and are in the process of heading to their consolidation points for an official head count. I'm sure that if you read some of the blogs that I have linked to on the right side of the screen, you'll find that they have some interesting stories to tell over the next few weeks.

At this point, you may be wondering how my site fared. Since, I'm posting here, I am obviously safe and sound. My site received much of the same rain that fell in the western part of the country, and we had 8 straight days of rain (3 of those days were heavy rain,) probably 9 days since its still raining today. However, because my community is nestled within the foothills of central Cocle (where many of the larger rivers begin,) the watersheds of all the surrounding streams and rivers are relatively small. As a result, my community doesn't need to worry about major flooding. The rivers and streams may rise 2-4 feet and prevent the usual crossings by foot or chiva, but the floodwaters quickly recede within an hour or two when the rain stops.

To those volunteers in the western half of the country, good luck and please pass along your stories. I know many of you will have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day.

A Walk in the Woods

2008-11-15T09:59:00.002-05:00

I recently finished reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods (which has been on my to read list for a few years now,) and was struck by the parallels in the book between hiking the Appalachian Trail to Peace Corps service in Panama. Descriptions of the diet (mainly starches,) reactions to arriving in towns, the amount of physical exertion required, the stunning natural beauty, and the rapid disappearance of that same beauty all have their parallels here in Peace Corps Panama. So if you want a good appreciation of life here in Panama reading a Walk in the Woods may help you understand life here a little more. Even if it doesn't, it's excellent reading.

Tour of the town

2008-11-15T07:58:00.005-05:00

The town church which is near the school and is the only other community building in town.

One of the many stream crossings in town. This is the one closest to my house that I cross every day.

My house where I'm living for my first month.

One of the many chorros, or waterfalls in the town. This one is about 6 feet tall. I'm told there is a waterfall that is 30 feet tall near my house, but I have yet to find it.

This is the school building, and the "center" of town. About 40 students attend the school for grades 1-6. The school is one of the only concrete structures in town and serves as the meeting spot for all community wide events. Its also the only place in town with electricity, and has a television for the community to use.

A beautiful spot in town, and an example of the landscape.

Celebration Time!

2008-11-05T10:09:00.002-05:00

A fer-de-lance or equis snake. The most common of the poisonous snakes in Panama. My host father killed this one near our house.

The men of Group 62 at our Swear-In Ceremony in front of the Ambassador's House.
Other people have the full group which I need to get.

One of the many beautiful streams in my village.

Most of the group at the beach in Santa Clara celebrating after swear-in.

Obama Wins!

2008-11-05T09:37:00.002-05:00

So by now all of you probably know by now that Obama won! And equally importantly Obama won Virginia. Once a Republican stronghold Virginia is now likely a blue state similar to Pennsylvania for years to come. I was able to vote thanks to a federal absentee ballot which was delivered to the Virginia Elections Board directly thanks t0 the wondrous powers of the diplomatic mail pouch which bypassed the painfully slow Panamanian mail system. It's good to have those diplomatic connections.

The Graduate

2008-10-22T08:26:00.003-05:00

Training is finally over and this afternoon we swear in as official volunteers. It's a relief to finally be done with training and I think all 34 of us are ready to head to our communities and get started on our work. We'll have the next couple of days to celebrate, and then we head to our sites on Sunday. I'm ready but can admit to being a little nervous about living in a site that has no electricity, running water, or cell phone signal and requires a 2 hour hike to the nearest road to leave. However, I'm looking forward to it, and believe I will eventually adjust.

Is anyone a used horse salesman?

2008-10-14T17:27:00.002-05:00

So one thing from the trip that became abundantly clear is that I´m going to need to buy a horse (and a saddle.) Anyone have any advice? How old is too old? I know 3 years is probably preferred, but where I´m at I´ll be lucky if the horses ribs aren´t visible. What health problems do I need to be aware of?

This is where I´m going to live

2008-10-14T16:41:00.006-05:00

So we got to visit our future sites this week for 5 and half days, and to tell the truth I´m still processing the visit, so you´ll all have to check back here in about a week to find out what I´m thinking. Initial impressions: isolate, beautiful, and muddy.

One of my community counterparts (José) and his family who hosted my stay this week. I won´t be living with his family during my first 3 months, but I will be working with him in the future.

José standing in front of a large tree.

My sole connection to the outside world, the public phone. Thats the satelitte dish to the right.

My community is down below, before the mountain range.

My first toucan sighting! This one is a pet of the families in my community.

More of the jungle.

La Vaina

2008-10-03T19:44:00.002-05:00

Peace Corps Panama has a quarterly newsletter called La Vaina (slang for "you know that thing, the one with the name you can´t remember right now") The latest issue can be found at the address below along with an awful picture of yours truly.

http://www.pcpfpanama.org/lavaina/index.html

Culture Week and Tech Week

2008-09-29T16:49:00.016-05:00

So you haven´t heard from me for a few weeks, but that´s because so much has been going on. A couple weeks ago I found out where I´m going to living for the next two years. My site will be in a small mountain town in the province of Coclè due west of Panama City. I haven´t had the opportunity to visit my site yet (I´ll be doing that next week,) but I did get to spend a week in the town of Membrillo and learn about the culture of Coclè. The community we visited was group of artisans who make wood and soapstone carvings. They produce some gorgeous art in Membrillo. We followed that with a trip to a Ngabere site in Cerro Iglesia for Tech Week. We spent the week building a couple of composting latrines and learning the other technical skills we will need once we get to our sites.

Good Parrot.

Seth and I making tamales during Culture Week.

On top of a small hill behind the property of my host family during culture week. That´s my host father and two of his sons in the middle. On the left is Seth, who will be the closest Volunteer to me, and on the right is the other Josh in our group.

Planting rice at the granja (farm.) A hard day´s work in the sun.

Making sugar cane juice. This machine is the traditional way of making sugar. The sugar cane would be crushed into a juice which would then be boiled to form discs of hardened sugar. We drank the juice straight from the machine which resembled muddy water and was unbelievably sweet.

This is where chocolate comes from (a cacao pod.) The pod is about a foot in length and contains quarter sized seeds that are used to make chocolate. The seeds a have a gooey white coating that is sweet, tart, and tastes a little like apple.

A loro (medium sized parrot) sitting in a tree.

Balsa wood carvings done by one of the families in Membrillo. The white bird on the left is a harpy eagle, national bird of Panama.

These 2 pictures are from the beach at Las Lajas where we went to relax for a night following Culture Week and Tech Week. The beach is even prettier then the pictures, and for $5 a night the price was right.

Thoughts on Panama

2008-09-06T17:51:00.002-05:00

So a couple of people have asked me for my thoughts on Panama. I´ve been hesitant to go into too much detail, because we´ve been given some strict rules on what we can and can´t post. In summary, the rules break down as follows:

1) Don´t post any negative opinions of the country or Peace Corps.
2) Don´t post anything controversial.
3) Don´t post any information that can be used to identify the specific location of a Peace Corps volunteer.

So that basically leaves 2 categories of posts:

1) Observational/Descriptive
2) Positive opinions

So now that you know all that, here are a few thoughts:

Panama is definitely a divided country with a huge income gap between urban and rural populations. As volunteers, we will be working with poorest people in the country. The people here have been very friendly and generous, our host training community has been especially welcoming. The country has amazing natural beauty and diversity, and a unique culture. While not as a culturally diverse as the US, Panama has latino, idigineous, african-antillean, and chinese populations that have mixed to create a very unique place. I´m looking forward to the next 2 years in this amazing country. Also, the US could learn a thing or two from Panamas public transportation system which provides cheap transportation to anywhere in the country.

Now for the question and answer period, what do you want to know?

Pics from our First Site Visit.

2008-09-05T16:54:00.008-05:00

Last week we had our first visit to a volunteers site. I got to visit a volunteer near Bocas del Toro who is leaving in October. The site was amazing with a white sand beach within 10 minutes walk from her house. This is not my future site, but it was my first taste of the Peace Corps lifestyle.

From left to right: Andrea, Ryan, Jesse, and Joe. We were visiting Joe´s house in Bocas del Torro.

A Ngobe girl. For some reason, the Ngobes never smile in photographs.

A composting latrine similar to the ones I may be building. We worked on this one during my visit.

The house of the volunteer with whom I stayed.

Cute Ngobe kids on the beach.

On the beach near the Bocas del Torro region.

2008-08-23T15:36:00.004-05:00

Here are a few photos (not in chronological order.)

At the falls near our training town.

My house.

Our first night in town.

Sunset

Sunset Part 2

My neighborhood.

An aqueduct similar to the ones we may be building.

The Darien.

Some Excitement

2008-08-22T18:09:00.001-05:00

There was some excitement the other day that is better explained by others.

http://alanmcd.blogspot.com/

The language

2008-08-22T17:53:00.002-05:00

So some people have been wondering how I´m progressing at the language. To be honest, I think its going pretty well. I´m able to make myself known and to hold conversations in Spanish. A good (kind of crazy) example is from last night. My host father came in shouting that there was a zorra in the front yard. I ran out expecting to see a fox, but instead found it was an opposum. This lead to a discussion where I explained to my little brother (who´s 17) that opossums are related to kangaroos, and a description of a platypus. I was understood if not necessarily believed.

Words of the Day: Volume 2

2008-08-21T10:24:00.003-05:00

I should have more time to write tomorrow, but here are some quick words of the day.

chicheme - a drink made of corn, milk, and sugar that is served cold. Not bad, and definitely different.

Diablo Rojo - The buses that transport people around Panama City and the surrounding areas. The cost of a ride from Santa Clara to Chorrero is 60 cents via 2 buses.

alla and alli - Alli is spanish for "there. " Alla is slang for "there" and refers to anything unknown or far away. The United States is alla.

Panamanian Vocabulary Lesson One

2008-08-15T21:29:00.003-05:00

I'm going to try to post a few key words here as I come across them, and you may see them used in posts so here is the first batch.

Ngabere (No-bay) - The largest indigenous group in Panama.

Bochicha (sp?) - A Ngabere word for gossip.

Comarca - an administrative division run by the indigenous peoples of Panama. It is equivalent to a state. The US equivalent would be a reservation, but without the negative connotation of that word.

encomiendo - a feature unique to Panama. The encomiendo is a means of sending packages throughout Panama via the bus system for minimal cost.

campo - the country, rural areas

Bienvenidos a Panama!

2008-08-14T16:31:00.001-05:00

I've finally arrived in Panama, and quite frankly I wasn't sure I'd ever reach this point, but here I am. I'll be keeping this blog in an attempt to stay in touch with all of you back in the States. You should expect this blog to be updated every two to four weeks, or whenever I have internet access. With any luck, you'll be able to follow along with my travels through pictures and these descriptions of what I've been up to.

I'll definitely be looking forward to your messages from back home, and will be able to access my email every two to four weeks as well. If you would like to send a letter, you can send any mail to the address below, but it may be up to a month or more before I receive it. I will have to return to Peace Corps Headquarters to pick-up mail.

My mailing address:

Joshua Durant
Cuerpo de Paz
Edificio 104, Ave. Vincente Bonilla
Ciudad del Saber, Clayton
Panama, Republica de Panama

With that preamble out of the way, you may be wondering what I've been up to since I left DC. The first two days were spent at our staging event in Miami at a nice hotel in Coconut Grove. The days were spent filling out forms, listening to lectures on culture shock and coping, and preparing for our arrival in Panama.

Flying in over Panama was an impressive experience. From the air, the countryside is amazingly green, and noticeably empty of inhabitants. Panama is also incredibly narrow, from the time we crossed the coast on the Carribbean side to the time we crossed the Pacific coast was less than 10 minutes. Flying into Panama City we got a good view of the city from the air, and the amount of development taking place is impressive. Downtown Panama has dozens of skyscrapers currently under construction.

After getting through customs, we took a bus from the airport to our accomodations at the Ciudad del Saber in Clayton, Panama. Fort Clayton was the former site of the US military and the Joint Forces Southern Command. Now it serves as a base of operations for NGOs in Panama. Our accomodations are dorm style apartments located in former barracks. From Peace Corps HQ, you can see ships passing through one of the locks in the canal. Our days so far have been spent filling out forms, getting vaccinations, doing interviews, meeting staff and learning about the Peace Corps programs in Panama. We've been busy. Tomorrow's big event is a trip to a local mall in the evening, before we head to our training location on Sunday.

Ok, I think that about does it for now, so here are a couple of pictures. I promise there will be more in the future.

A night out at Big Pink in South Beach.

The Class.

Our accomodations in the Ciudad del Saber.