I feel the need to take a moment to apologize for not posting about my awesome host family until now. My previous posts have been about trips we have taken within Panama, but my host family has been taking care of me for almost 2 months now! I will post some pictures soon (before I move to my permanent site, promise). The family is much like my real mother’s family in that all of the children (all 7 of them), although most are grown and have their own families now, live within shouting distance from the house they grew up in. Although it can be overwhelming, it is wonderful to have a house full of family all the time. Until recently, I was still unsure of exactly how many people slept in our house (final count: 9). Santa Clara has been the host training community for 3 years now so my family is well-accustomed to the needs of us gringos (personal space and more fruits and vegetables than the average Panamanian, to name a few). My room here is 3x as big as any room I ever had living in NYC! My host father is the local political figure (Honorable Representative) here in town so my accommodations are relatively more luxurious than most of the other volunteers in our training site. For example, my family has a car, flush toilet and tile as opposed to concrete floors. Santa Clara does not have cell phone reception or landlines so my host parents also serve as the community ambulance drivers. On several occasions they have left in the middle of the night or day to rush someone to the hospital. They are truly incredible people and I am very grateful that they have made me feel like a part of the family since day 1! (On a side note, politicians are very much like celebrities here and their photos are posted all over town. See attached billboard photo of my host father. More photos coming soon.)
Ngäbere class:
I graduated from Spanish class a few weeks ago and am focusing my time on learning the indigenous Ngäbe language now (along with sustainable agriculture techniques, but more on that another day). Panama has 7 indigenous languages, but Ngäbe is the largest group with almost 200,000 people. There are only 3 of us in the class so we are lucky to receive a lot of 1x1 attention. Our teacher conducts the Ngäbe lessons in Spanish, so there is an added level of complexity in trying to grasp the language. The multiple meanings that nearly every word contains are a constant source of laughter. For example, the Ngäbere word “Kä” means: land, name, year, weather, place. The word “Ü” means: father-in-law, ax, yucca. The word “sulia” means cockroach and Spanish language (I’m sure there is a great story behind that one but I don’t know it yet). One phrase that we learned the other day while struggling to concentrate in our outdoor classroom was: “Ti bike se antlan kamike biombo bti”. Translation: I’m going to kill that rooster with a slingshot. Seriously, those roosters are more distracting than the NYC M14-A bus that used to shake my entire apartment building. Between the roosters, semi-wild dogs and the delicious mangos that come crashing down like bombs on the zinc roofs around us, it is a miracle we get anything done. Who knew the campo would have so many distractions!
Today we are traveling to a conference center a few hours away where we will each meet our community counter-parts. All I know about mine so far is that his name is Jorge. I imagine that he works with the coffee cooperative, but not necessarily. After the 2-day conference, Jorge and I will travel together to my future site, Cerro Iglesia in the Comarca Ngäbe-Bugle. I will spend the rest of the week in site getting to know my community and compiling their expectations for the upcoming 2 years. I have no idea what to expect, but I am very excited to find out. Stay tuned!
Ngäbere class:
I graduated from Spanish class a few weeks ago and am focusing my time on learning the indigenous Ngäbe language now (along with sustainable agriculture techniques, but more on that another day). Panama has 7 indigenous languages, but Ngäbe is the largest group with almost 200,000 people. There are only 3 of us in the class so we are lucky to receive a lot of 1x1 attention. Our teacher conducts the Ngäbe lessons in Spanish, so there is an added level of complexity in trying to grasp the language. The multiple meanings that nearly every word contains are a constant source of laughter. For example, the Ngäbere word “Kä” means: land, name, year, weather, place. The word “Ü” means: father-in-law, ax, yucca. The word “sulia” means cockroach and Spanish language (I’m sure there is a great story behind that one but I don’t know it yet). One phrase that we learned the other day while struggling to concentrate in our outdoor classroom was: “Ti bike se antlan kamike biombo bti”. Translation: I’m going to kill that rooster with a slingshot. Seriously, those roosters are more distracting than the NYC M14-A bus that used to shake my entire apartment building. Between the roosters, semi-wild dogs and the delicious mangos that come crashing down like bombs on the zinc roofs around us, it is a miracle we get anything done. Who knew the campo would have so many distractions!
Today we are traveling to a conference center a few hours away where we will each meet our community counter-parts. All I know about mine so far is that his name is Jorge. I imagine that he works with the coffee cooperative, but not necessarily. After the 2-day conference, Jorge and I will travel together to my future site, Cerro Iglesia in the Comarca Ngäbe-Bugle. I will spend the rest of the week in site getting to know my community and compiling their expectations for the upcoming 2 years. I have no idea what to expect, but I am very excited to find out. Stay tuned!
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