Highlight of the week: meeting the honey bees!

Here is what I have read about the Africanized honey bees that we have in Panama (and in most parts of Central America):

“Africanized bees acquired the name killer bees because they will viciously attack people and animals who unwittingly stray into their territory, often resulting in serious injury or death.

It is not necessary to disturb the hive itself to initiate an Africanized honey bee attack. In fact, Africanized bees have been know to respond viciously to mundane occurrences, including noises or even vibrations from vehicles, equipment and pedestrians.

Though their venom is no more potent than native honey bees, Africanized bees attack in far greater numbers and pursue perceived enemies for greater distances. Once disturbed, colonies may remain agitated for 24 hours, attacking people and animals within a range of a quarter mile from the hive.”

Victoria, the master beekeeper and president of the artisan group, invited me to meet the bees this week. We met at 7am because the meanest bees are usually out gathering pollen at that time. She dressed me up in a ridiculous bee suit that made me look like a giant marshmallow. I wish I had a photo of this. We hiked out for about 15 minutes into the jungle to a safe distance away from civilization to reach the hives. Just a few yards away, she stopped to tell me that, because I was new, I would more than likely be attacked. She added that these bees were incredibly smart and would be able to get into my suit and/or sting me through it. It is not in my nature to turn back, but I was seriously considering it this time. Victoria, a devote Christian, suggested a prayer and for the first time in my life, I was more than happy to join in. Moments later, I was surrounded by millions (or maybe just thousands) of furious bees. Every drop of sweat that came rushing down my face felt like bees crawling on me. Terrifying! Deep breathing was the only thing that kept me calm (perhaps the ultimate yoga experience?). We used a smoker to supposedly calm the bees while we feed them a sugary-water mix. When it was all over, I de-suited without a single sting! Victoria commented that the bees had treated me very well and each time I go back they will be nicer. Bee keeping can be a lucrative business for this group if they can continue to have healthy bees. Each hive produces $100 dollars of honey per year. I want to work with this group to get their organic product sold in smaller bottles to tourists in nearby towns. The honey harvest will not be for several months, however, so there is time to plan.

Other highlights:
- A few volunteers from nearby sites hiked over to Cerro Iglesias to celebrate my birthday with me! We made a delicious no-bake peanut butter cheesecake that turned out amazing. It is astounding what one can still do without electricity!

- I have an official Ngäbe name! Mego. Pronounced: meh-gough. I know, it doesn’t sound very feminine, but it has become my new identity. It’s growing on me. A community leader gave me this name after the late corregidora (mayor), who was the first woman leader of the district many decades ago. They tell me that she was a very powerful and respected lady, so who can argue the name with a story like that?

- Discovered a nearby river with fun rockslides, waterfalls and swimming holes!

- Have spent a lot of time working in the children’s nutrition center garden. We have been using all natural techniques to improve the soil quality, which will hopefully serve as a good example (granted everything grows) for those who only believe in the power of chemicals.

- Homemade chocolate experiment! I finally found ripe cacao pods and am in the 2-week process of fermenting, drying, peeling and grinding the seeds. With a little sugar and spice it should turn out to be some delicious chocolate. Yum!

(photo: nearby views in the Comarca)

Hi Friends!

I realize that some of you might be trying to contact me and are having no luck. I am equally as devastated, believe me! All I can say is: keep trying! I have perfect reception in my site, but for some reason, only international calls are not coming through (Skype included). I am pretty sure it is a conspiracy by the phone company (Movistar) because they do not make any money from incoming calls. I miss hearing from everyone and hope this gets resolved soon.

ps- note new address on the right side of screen (2 addresses: one for letters, one for anything bigger)

Where do I even begin?

Everything is off to a great start, all things considered! Although I still have my doubts as to how effective of a volunteer I will be, I am nonetheless, very happy here in my new home. Everyday never turns out as I expect, but always turns into a new adventure. I have learned that no matter what time I leave the house I should carry lots of water, a flashlight and a peanut butter sandwich, just in case.

I arrived with too much stuff and a stressed out kitten just minutes after my host family had killed a massive poisonous snake (see large thing dangling off stick in above photo). I was just glad they remembered me, as two weeks had passed since my 4-day visit. My daily activities range and will continue to be all over the board until I get a firm understanding of what exactly I will be doing over the next 2 years. Some days I walk around door-to-door, getting to know the community. (I say that, although many families, including my host family, do not have doors or walls, just a thatch roof). This very important task called, in Spanglish, “pasearing,” is the essential way of building trust and relationships in the community. It typically involves hanging out and making small talk over a cup of something they call coffee. Here in the Comarca, coffee is really just a juice made with tons of sugar and a hint of coffee concentrate. It is maybe 20% coffee, at best, served lukewarm. You get used to it.

I am also fortunate enough to have several volunteers that live within an hour walk away from my site and have been able to help them on their projects or at the very least, have their support in this semi-awkward time in my new community. We have worked on painting a world map mural on a nearby school and started laying the foundation for a composting latrine. My hands are getting some nice blisters after a few hard days of working with my host family in the rice field or in the community garden at the children’s nutrition center. I was finally able to meet the artisan/beekeeping group and we are meeting next week to build a new bee box. It will be my first chance to meet the scary African bees that produce some delicious honey!

Other than that, I am adjusting to the slower pace of life in the Comarca. If one thing is accomplished in a day, such as a meeting or even laundry, it is a success. Before coming to Panama and even during training, I had idealistic plans about projects I would be working on. Even though I just arrived, I already see that patience is essential and efficiency is not in Ngäbe vocabulary. Peace Corps has been preaching to us during training that the first three months should be dedicated building relationships and trust in the community. For example, on day two, I decided to go with the coffee association to “cargar madera” (translation: haul wood). They needed 2X4 boards to construct new dryer beds for the upcoming harvest of coffee beans. Home Depot does not deliver up here, so if you want wood, you have to go to the jungle and cut the trees down yourself. In an all day adventure, 10 men and 2 women with the help of 1 chainsaw cut and carried only about half as much wood as was necessary for the job. Let me emphasize that I was only physically able to haul one 10-foot 2X4 up the mountain, but it was a several hour climb through jungle, steep cow pasture and narrow trails. So, my point is not exactly that things are not as efficient here in the Comarca, just life here is much tougher than it is back in the States. The strength and determination of my community is humbling and inspiring. I think Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, put it best:

“We Americans think you have to accomplish everything so quickly. We’re the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills... Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make relationship building as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.” (Three Cups of Tea is a story of a mountaineer who, after a failed attempt to climb K2 in Pakistan, decided to build a school for the community and then went on to build over 55 schools in the region.)

Coming into Peace Corps, I knew that I would be forced to live life at a slower pace and that I would probably gain more than I could ever give. The only difference is that now it is actually happening! Finally.

Pictures: Vicente with his snake, World Map mural project, My host brothers and sisters (photo by Arden Sherman)