Soggy Naguas

In march I had a visit from my cousin Preston (Pesto) and my best friend Lauren (Lorena). So I am going to mix things up and share their stories and pictures of panama.

Preston:

Vamos a la Playa

I can remember one interaction with a Panamanian that was less than cordial. And that guy wasn’t even mean or nasty – he was just curt. That’s it. Every other person that we interacted with, on buses, in restaurants, while hanging from a rock wall, was exceedingly nice, and happy to help a group of gringos. Of course, it helped to have a de facto local leading our motley crew, but we were still clearly outsiders in this world. And we were treated as friends everywhere we went. I’m not even proficient at speaking Spanish, and our Uber driver the first morning definitely recognized that. But he didn’t think twice about quickly rerouting our trip when he realized that we needed to be taken to Albrook bus station, not Albrook airport. I would’ve forgiven him for being grumpy or laughing at us, but he smiled and charged us an obscenely low fare as a reward for our ignorance. That’s what I call service with a smile.

The people are what makes this country special. They guided us on a rock climbing expedition for free, and helped us to negotiate a hostel booking snafu during the busiest booking season of the year. They conducted a thoroughly engaging, Spanish-only Easter Sunday mass. They took us to a karaoke bar, and after we thoroughly embarrassed ourselves, they rewarded us with sympathetic applause. Most importantly, they proved to love laughter just as much as everyone else in the world. It turns out that funny things are pretty universal. Making animal sounds back and forth with a small child is always funny. Watching Erin sleep with her head cushioned against the metal frame of a bouncing chiva is absurd and hilarious, even if (especially if?) you don’t know her. And, of course, watching/listening to people bomb at karaoke is never not a good time.

 

Lauren:

Vamos a Panamá

 

I will never forget my adventure to Panamá. But really, I have the scars to prove it. This trip was one of the most enriching and challenging experiences of my life thus far – and I am so grateful for Erin joining the Peace Corps and giving me this opportunity!

While I won’t go into detail of the ten days spent in the country, I will touch on what I enjoyed most, what was the most challenging, what was the most surprising and what I have taken home with me.

One of the things that I enjoyed most was the journey into Salitre. The ride down the mountain in the chiva (back of a pick-up truck with 25 other Ngäbe people) was so much fun. It was like riding a roller coaster with a really cool view. What followed was a very challenging 2-hour hike/stumble down a mountain! The view was amazing, despite me reaching the bottom of the mountain with some extra cuts and bruises.

The two days that we spent in El Campo were the most eye-opening. It is incredible to learn how the indigenous people of the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé live. The Ngäbe do almost everything that we do on a daily basis, only in a primitive manner. They choose to live secluded lives although modern societies dwell within a very short distance. All of the Ngäbe people were curious about us and interested in meeting us. They were more friendly than I had anticipated, welcoming us into their homes.

One of the most challenging aspects of this adventure was sticking out among the crowd and not knowing the language, although we rocked our Naguas – the traditional dress of the women in the Comarca. I have lived my life always surrounded by people just like me and experiencing the feeling of being different gave me a new-found respect for those who spend their lives as minorities in areas that they are not accustomed to or comfortable in.

Although our time in El Campo is something I will always cherish, my favorite place that we traveled to was Boquete. I had a wonderful time “surfing” and drinking Soggy Naguas at Playa Venao and exploring Casco Viejo/ the Canal in the City, but it was so nice to spend some time in the mountains – away from that jungle heat!

The best part of Boquete, for me, was when we went rock climbing. This is something that I have always wanted to try and I finally faced my fears and climbed to the top – It was chicha de piña! We were also able to enjoy a cold beverage, or three, at the Boquete Brewing Company.

In addition to all of the new activities that I experienced, I would be remiss if I did not mention the FOOD of Panama.  While every single thing we ate was amazing, my favorites would have to be the following:

• Manzanas – The most delicious banana I will ever eat.
• Holjadras – Panamanian fry bread and the perfect 25 cent treat after a 2.5-hour mountain hike.
• Patacones – Fried plantains, best paired with cerveza.
• Pifa – A yummy little fruit that served as the perfect bus ride snack.
• Seviche – We have this at home, but it was extra special as we enjoyed it at the Fish Market in Panama City.

Needless to say, I will forever remember this trip and the wonderful memories that were made. Thank you Erin for hosting me and showing me what Panama is all about.

Chao pesca’o!

 

The “Junta”

Ya viene la lluvia: nu kite tibien: The rain is coming

 

 

 

It is now the heart of rice harvesting. The rainy season is nearing its end. The three month rice has been harvested and the five and six month are in progress. My community members are all hard at work to get it all done, being they are subsistence farmers. My gente have a very special way of planting and harvesting in large numbers. It’s called the junta.

 

Junta literally means meeting or council, but to them it’s much more. The premise is that if someone comes to your work event then you must return the favor, all based on the honor system. You don’t want your neighbors and family to think badly upon you! They call this pagar el peón or paying the laborer. If four members of one household come to my work day then I better send 4 of my household to their work day! Juntas can be a lot of fun but are hard work.

The host family shows up to the farm nice and early and makes sure everything is ready to go. The workers slowly trickle in around 9 or 10 o’clock. For harvesting rice each person bring their own little ax to cut the rice stalks. Once all have arrived, the row is complete as everyone works forward cutting down the rice until it’s done, gets to dark, or rains to hard for too long! Throughout the day the patrón or boss bring around a 5 gallon container filled with chicha de maíz or corn juice, with two large cups for everyone to chug out of! This way it’s food and drink in one and they can work all the way through without lunch. (It’s takes me more time to drink a half glass then they do a full one 🙈) Throughout the day, in Ngäbere (their native language) everyone shares gossip, stories, and laughter. Me only understanding bits and pieces, but getting a lot of a smiles and laughter when I make an occasional joke in Ngäbere or get stuck in some weeds. Even when I only understand half of what is going on, it’s a welcoming feeling working side by side with my people. I had a special moment when I dropped my little ax in the rice and once everyone realized what had happened, immediately 6 people around me start looking for my tool until it was found! No questions asked.

When the day comes to an end most everyone leaves with a smile and some yell/yodels of joy. Time for some free food! How else could you get people to work hard all day…? Back to the house of the boss, where food is ready (generally cooked all day by the woman of the house 😞). What I find so funny is there is a traditional after junta meal. First you get a really brothy soup flavored with something from a cheap packet and a root vegetable. You will normally find a little bit of chicken, killed from the patio that morning. Then each person gets a giant leaf filled with cooked rice to take home with them, known as a lonche. I know my cat loves these days because he also gets a little bit of chicken and a bunch of rice (due to their HUGE rice portions)🐈⬅️😃. This completes a junta but a lot of work lies ahead for the host family as they have to go through all the steps of preparing the rice! But that is basically a blog in its self!

Meet Xenia. She doesnt like to speak Spanish but she will sure talk your ear off! She never is without her machete either.

This is the take home rice wrapped in a leaf that everyone gets after helping out!

Harvesting rice with views of Cerro Patena and Cerro Madera in the near distance

This is the little axe used to harvest the rice

A rice tower bigger than all the people!

My friend insisted that I needed a picture with me in it to show everyone at home. So here is Eti harvesting rice too!

Just Another Day at Work

5:30 am I wake up and roll out of my hammock. I put some water on the stove to boil for my coffee. Drink some coffee, make some oatmeal, feed my cat and chickens, lock the house, and hit the path out of site. 1 hour 12 minutes later and 1500 vertical ft I make it up to my road. Time to wait for the chiva, a caged in pick up truck, that takes me to town. Today’s a little different tho, when the chiva comes it’s filled with a women’s soccer team. Doesn’t look like your average soccer team, they all have brightly colored dresses on and hair brushed hanging all the way down their backs. Ohh and the mayoress is sitting shot gun, dressed the same as well. When we get to town the rest of the team meets us there, we pile in and head to the field. Half the girls have to be commanded (by the mayoress nonetheless) to take off their naguas and put on some shorts and a t shirt. Not the average pre-game talk.

It was an incredible day.  To see these young women break out of their shells and transform into soccer players beneath my eyes was astonishing.  Almost, as if they become different people on the soccer field.  Now they didn’t have all the talent in the world but you could not fault them for their aggressiveness and drive on the soccer field.  I was playing forward with them and was fortunate enough to be playing along side the two most talented players on the field.  It was a tournament of four teams.  We dominated our first game against another Ngabe team from a different region and we were quickly through to the championship.  Now talk about a well competed and intense soccer match. I still can’t believe what a game it was. 1-1, halftime, 2-1, 2-2…. With one minute left in the game my teammate slide tackled the ball into the goal for a GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL and the win.  We were presented with a trophy and some great memories. Oh and a sore body from the triple teaming haha…I was one of the tallest players on the field, which lead to some good header goals (being tall is fun!)

So you are probably a little curious about the title of this blog. How was this just another day at work? Seems like a day of play? Maybe a vacation day? This actually falls under my peace corps goals and is just as much considered work as building a latrine in my community.  The second goal of Peace Corps is the host country (Panama) understanding Americans and the third goal is teaching Americans about Panama.  By me showing my confidence playing soccer, in shorts and a t-shirt nonetheless, and that it is okay to express yourself and take leadership as a women, I am sharing my culture with my people.  Not only am I demonstrating this to my teammates but also to the fans, especially the men. Now goal three, I am doing that right now. I am teaching ya’ll about Panamanians.

Tourney champs!

The forwards 🙂

The mayor and me

A Life in the Weeek of Eti

Here is a little video blog to get a better visual of my daily activities.  Sorry the video quality is so bad, something went wrong uploading but its the best I have right now. I hope to have another blog coming out shortly. Enjoy!

Panamisms and the “campo” life

A few “Panamisms” and the idiosyncrasies that are now seemly normal

Panama loves their English and some of this has even made it out to the campo
-Que prity : How pretty, que nice: how nice
-All baseball words: ow: out, fow: foul
– Casey Casom was on the local radio…
-cheecay: cheesecake, cu lai: kook aid
-tuperware: Tupperware (one of my favorites due to the accent
-The list could go on!

There is a Chuckie Cheese in Panama City?
Why does everyone have a US ARMY hat or t shirt?

Crazies of the Campo:
– Today I was sitting talking to my host mom at her house, I hear a horse coming so I look up and followed by that horse was a muchacho (young man) wearing a Santa Claus hat…. Also it was at least 95 degrees 🎅
-Man bags are so in
– Chickens are like squirrels
– Babied sleep and get carried (on women’s heads) in large woven bags
– Pigs rule the paths 🐷🐽
– Snake hanging out in the window sill of your house…🐍
– Always being stared at (I always beat them at their own game 😜)
-Picking avocados from my yard!
-Staying up past 9 is increasingly hard
– Cats are not for pets, they kill creatures intruding in your house🐱🐭
– Learning to be really good at doing everything in a dress 👗or more like a mumu
– Sitting with a group of people and having no idea what they are saying but it not even bother you
– HAMMOCKS
– two year olds playing with knives, three year olds using machetes 😁
– There are so many ways to eat and cool with a banana! 🍌
– Solar power!☀️
-High schoolers have to hike 2 hours to school, one way!
– I get to go hiking everyday! At least if I leave my house 🚶

Brief update on Eti:
I had a wonderful time back in America for my brothers wedding. Thanks for all the support from friends and family. Being back in site has been great. I had a really great meeting with my community about the importance of latrines and the community’s contribution to the latrine project. Little by little they are becoming organized.
Last week was the championship of the soccer league I am in. After the game the people drank for 4 days…
I have started a garden and everything is sprouting this time, a little bit of composting pays off. I also have three new friends Unchi (butt), chuchu ( breasts), and tuklo (belly button). Those are my 3 month old chickens that should be giving me eggs in about 3 more months!🐤🐥

With my program director, regional leader, and nearby volunteer developing a new site for a volunteer to come in September. There is a small shelf built by the community where you can get cellphone signal.

Happy host siblings after receiving the soccer ball I gave them for watching my house and cat while I was in America. Thanks for the ball mom!

My new friends,
Chuchu, unchi, and tuklo (boobs,butt, and bellybutton). Should be getting some eggs from them in 3 short months!

Just hanging out with the ladies watching the championship soccer game, my team already got knocked out.

The new spring box I built with my host family to help protect our water source! Just a little dirty…

Cuties!

Adventure Time: Panama

I decided to try something a little different this time! Hope ya”ll enjoy it!

This link will take you to my video on youtube

Also here are some pictures from the Kuna Yala

Kuna Yala women in traditional dress

Some of my group during the hike out to the Kuna Yala

Kuna father daughter

Celebrating the independence of the Kuna Yala. Showing our respect by wearing red

Panama and Kuna Yala flag

Kuna Yala war reenactments

The Light of Panama

Team orange! Fuegos explosivos!

Team orange! Fuegos explosivos!

Teaching them about the dangers of HIV through hands-on activities

Egg babies! How cute

Esteban showing off his egg baby!

A girl from my community actually smiling!

Tattoos!

Ngabere kids teaching their indigenous dance!

Peace Corps Ngabere language teacher sharing her story with the kids

Drawing their values

Right here and now I am swaying in the cool night breeze. Hammock rocking back and forth, flannel on, and a sleepy cat purring on the afghan in my lap. The stars are brilliant nothing washing out their brightness, down in this valley. In the distance I can hear a dog barking and some “gente salimando” (men do the Panamanian yell greeting). I am feeling content and appreciating the wonders my new home brings me…

This past week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be a facilitator at a Peace Corps run gender and development camp. There are four camps across Panama and all Peace Corps volunteers in Panama have the opportunity to send at least two get from their community. The camp I helped facilitate was in a neighboring province, Veraguas. This alone turned out to be a unique experience because this created a mixture of Latino and indigenous youth, two very different culture. The goal of this camp is to educate the youth on values, goal setting, sexual education, premature pregnancy, and the opportunities that education can bring.

What I didn’t expect was to get so much out of it myself. One of the most rewarding parts of my service up until this point. Watching the kids transform from not even looking at each other to giving hugs on the last day (even more amazing because the Ngabe culture does not show much affection, even hugging normally) was a truly heart warming experience for me. Some of my favorite moments came during their evening free time. After the first day of seasons a pair of facilitators were teaching salsa to whomever wanted to learn. This eventually turned into a couple indigenous kids teach the others one of the local dances, Jegi (pronounced Hegi), and of course I joined in. The next day the indigenous girls were giving the Latinos Ngabe names, I just couldn’t believe the exchange of culture!

The week wrapped up with team Olympics, bringing out the competitive side and an evening talent show. The talent show basically turned into a “school dance” which is something they don’t get the opportunity to have.
In addition, I could not be more proud of the two kids I brought, arguable two of the most shy kids there, as they speak only Ngäbere in their houses. However, when hiking back into our community they went on the whole away talking about what they learned! They want to give presentations to the community about what they learned and start on a community project, an artesian group. I feel almost like a proud mother right now. Every adventure here has it’s surprises One of my favorite parts about Peace Corps is “It’s like a box of chocolate, you never know whats you gonna get.”
I should have more blogs to come, off to visit another indigenous group on the other side of the country, the Kuna Yala.

So what am I doing here?

So what am I doing in my community? What is my work as a Peace Corps volunteer?
What is the daily life of Eti (my indigenous name)?

I have realized that in my recent blogs I have not been posting much about my site work or what projects I am hoping to do with my community in the future. Although I guess I really have not had any recent posts either…I was thinking how most people back at home have no idea what I do on a regular basis or what my goals are in my community for the next two years. So here comes a little summary of what my community wants while I am here, some goals I have, and also what is realistic!

So you gotta take a poo, where do you go. I’m assuming you walk to the next room in your house or down the hall to the bathroom at work. What would you do if there was no bathroom, no toilet…. What if no one had told you that poop is dirty and that you can get sick from it being in your water or on your hands when you go to cook for your whole family….

My “gente” are river poopers, they practice aqua dumping. So based on the request from them my first big project in site is going to be latrine construction! After talking with the “gente” about what they need in the community and then having a official meeting we decided on this project. Doesn’t mean it’s the only thing I can help them with. The first step is giving them sanitation presentations. Teaching them poop is dirty and can not be left out in the open or floating down the river! Also teaching them how and when to wash their hands and with soap! The next step is organization, forming a specialist group and teaching everyone about all that’s involved. So latrines is our first goal.

I have been helping them “officialize” their water committee as well. I would love for everyone to have running water during my service but this is more of a far out there goal. I have slowly accepted the fact that everything takes at least 3 times longer out here than back in the states. If all I do is organize and capacity build then I’ll consider this journey an accomplishment.

Other fun side project ideas:
-women’s soccer league
– English class (in progress)
– “Eco” stoves
– artisan group
– kids camp
– youth reading program

Oh I have a cat now too! His name is Messi, yes like the futboler but it is also an indigenous name! It’s easy for my community to say and trust me everyone is always asking about him! He is a little over 3 months now.

Can’t give photos proper caption because I am posting on my phone. But pictures of my people, them with their doll they burned on New Year’s Eve (burning the old year), my cat, view watching the people playing baseball in my community, and some girls watching the baseball game!

The Mountain of Emotion

Although these past few weeks since my last post have been quite the whirlwind of emotions, right now I am nothing but happy, relaxed, grateful, and excited.  I am sitting at a resort (mooching internet) right on the beach on a cool breezy day with a new storm rolling in waiting for my cousin and best friend to show up.  I just finished skyping my parents and talking to one of the best friends I could ask for. Not too mention I am drinking a beer, even if it is a cheap low quality Panamanian beer.  Tomorrow will be another day entirely when my cousin will embark in the adventure of heading into the Comarca Ngabe Bugle with me and I couldn’t be anymore excited.

Gonna kick this blog off with the “goods” and do it Peace Corps style.  This involves making a sandwich, start with the good, put the “bads” in the middle and finish it off with more “goods”. I have finally gotten start with a few more project related activities so I finally feel like I am doing something instead of just getting to know the community and people better, which is equally important.  In honor of National Handwashing Day I gave a “charla” to the kids at the nearest school in the neighboring community.  This school is K-6, includes about 4 towns, and has about 200 students.  The people in my community hardly know what soap is except to wash there clothes and definitely don’t know the benefits of using soap to wash hands after going to the bathroom or before cooking, so it is best to start by molding the minds of the young!  I thought it was a success after I finished the talk, mainly filled with activities, but wasn’t quite sure because the Ngbere people aren’t none to show much emotion or be very interactive.  However, when visiting housing and hearing kids say, “this is my soap” or “I just washed my hands with soap” or “Eti, when are you going to give another charla” makes me realize they did take something away from this!  I also had my first community meeting. I went all out and even made little invitations with colors and drawings for every house!  The day before I was so nervous that no one was going to show up because some of my main people weren’t coming! I was being a little pessimistic and planning for a failure.  It turned out to be quite the opposite of a failure.  I had many more people show up than expected, women, men, children, teenagers!  They people showed up promptly two hours late as planned!  I could not have predicted they would have been so participative and out spoken.  It was a 3 hour meeting filled with hands on activities: community mapping, daily schedule, and a seasonal calendar, all divided in two groups by gender!  The people spoke up and even did some critical thinking, still sitting on my cloud from how well it went.  They even liked my coffee and they are very picking about having over a ton of sugar in their water coffee.

It has all been ups these past few weeks.  It is still a challenge every day getting integrated especially learning languages.  It can be really hard at times when I am sick or starving because I have only gotten white rice that day but it’s how the people live too, sometimes there isn’t much food to harvest and there isn’t money!  I also have a host brother that very very sick and had been sitting in the hammock deteriorating rapidly.  He has been sick for quite some time and the doctors had thought he may have a brain infection.  Before they hiked him out of my site in a hammock, he could hardly walk, was barely eating and dry heaving a lot.  Times have been really hard in my host family so I would like all the readers to keep them in their thoughts and prayers.  When i returned to my site last week after getting internet and packages my host mom and dad were at the hospital with him. He has now been transported to Panama City for better care and my host dad went with him.  No news yet on his condition.

Sandwich. I started a garden! Also it isn’t looking all that healthy, sure is worth a shot and we will see what comes out of it.  I will have to keep a picture of it soon! My first house is being built! The guy with the chainsaw finally came and started cutting down the trees to make the wood out of.  How many people can say they watched their house being built from the trees being cut down! Can’t wait for it to be done and live on my own with my future kitty!

I saw a chicken lay an egg without a shell, I don’t know who was more confused me or the chicken…

My ladies got a great laugh picturing me in a loin cloth which is what the indigenous people used to wear…

I showed my host family pictures with my friends and it was like where is Waldo for each picture, they just didn’t know which one I was…

I learned there is a universal sound to I am walking in on you naked bathing….

I TRIED to eat a chicken neck?…

Taught my siblings to play slap Jack! They thought it was so funny!

Things I shouldn’t be used to:

• Covered in bug bites
• Giant spiders/bigs in my bedroom
• Plain white rice, more than once a day
• 3 year olds using machetes
• Walking/hiking everywhere I want to go

Sunset from my host family!

Moooooooo

Saw this on a morning jungle adventure (Run) and couldn’t resist going home for the camera!

Oh the things the camera can do

Just getting artsy

Throwing it back, the olden days.

This is me in my “nagua” with some of the kids after my hand washing talk!

Some of the kiddos!

This house is sitting up on a hill all by itself, it is super crazy because the bottom is made of concrete which is unheard of! The only concrete is at the school. What a shame that is got abandoned.

The invitations to my very first meeting 🙂

The women of the land

I was sitting on that rock in the right using my phone when this happened!

View from cell phone hill

Future kitties??

Host “sisters” and host “nephew” harvesting rice

My “brothers” heading out to spray the crops.

I have survived quite a lot coming out of the last few weeks. My return trip back from town turned out to be more than I bargained for. So caught up in blogging for y’all that I took my transit a bit to late and was left to start my hike at dusk with only a reading light, one strap on my backpack, my new machete and a torrential downpour. Hey I’m still here to tell the story. The next few days followed with a broken cell phone, broken headlamp, broken tevas, and a broken soccer ball (it took the rascals just two weeks to pop it, ohh barbed wire), but yet not a broken spirit!

The women of the land are my inspiration on a down day, or a day when I am overwhelmed my chance, or a day I miss my family and friends or even a day when I just want to kill ALL roosters! Elvia is my new found friend. I was walking around on a Saturday, their holy day because my whole community is Adventist. Elvia is a churchy lady, in fact, her husband is more or less the pastor at church, she always kick off the mass, and she lives right next to the church. I had yet to visit this family much, if at all, and decided to hang out after church. Of course I was greeted with food, even though that day I had already eaten two lunches! It was none other than white rice but there was sautéed cabbage on top! The cabbage I could manage, the rest went to the chickens I suppose. However, instead of being served corn “chicha” (juice) or sugar coffee, as most families would, I got a large Chicago bulls mug filled with homemade lemonade which I raved about. I spent the remainder of the day there during the rain shooting the breeze. She also said they don’t drink coffee because in their religion caffeine is frowned upon but they make hot chocolate from cacao. I told her how I loves that but no one had given it to me since I had been here. I asked Elvia what she was doing the next day. She said she was going out to harvest rice for her family by herself. I asked to join her. The next morning I showed up to her house and she greeted me with a big cup of hot chocolate 😊 and we went off to the farm. She showed me her ways but about doubled the amount of rice I could harvest. I went to get a drink of water and she told me she had brought me lemonade out to the field! It was only for me too, she didn’t bring any for herself. More time passes and she tells me that she packed me a lunch! Now this is a big deal for two reasons 1. The day before I told her how I was accustomed to eating little meals throughout the day in my culture 2. The people never pack food with them, they will just normally work for hours or until the rain comes without eating! It brightened my week knowing she did these special things for me. The rain is starting to come to she packs all the rice into a giant bag called a chakara in which she puts the strap on her head and carries the whole load in this manner. Meanwhile I am just carrying my little jug with lemonade. The whole journey back is uphill and she is carrying this heavy bag on her head, not needing to rest at all! I am following behind her thoroughly impressed! When we get back I tell her how impressive it is and she says that many times she carries a heavier load!

Other random jungle things:

Hiked to another town for church. Torrential downpour happened. Had about 6 rivers crossings on the way home. Grand Canyon ain’t got nothing on the Comarca!

I ate chicken from the patio…. Dire need of protein!

Wished my grandma a happy 85th birthday from Panama!

Host Mom is very curious and was asking me why 9/11 happened and what Ebola is!

Finally bought my first sword!

I had an intense, vivid dream about cake! Then I had another one about fresh cookies of every flavor! 🎂🍪😍

That sums up this blog! Check back in in a few weeks! Hopefully I will have a new update. Off to a peace corps meeting with my whole region! Then to the beach for a bit 😁