Life 2.0: It's undeniably fall in the Comarca

(Household chores: clipping weeds to make a broom and dehusking rice)

(Welcome to winter/rainy season in the Comarca)

While most of the people reading this are probably enjoying the red, yellow and orange leaves of fall, the Comarca couldn’t be any greener. When I think of fall I imagine fresh apple cider, crisp mornings and pumpkin pies. Fall in the Comarca is officially known as winter and its most notable feature is the insane amount of rainfall.

(Aji dulce, sweet peppers provide some color and joy to my bowls of fresh rice, also reminds me of fall leaves.. ok, that's a stretch!)

For several days now, we’ve just been sitting in the clouds. The sun hasn’t bothered to make even a brief appearance. I wonder if down below at the beach it is also raining or if the rain clouds are just stuck on Church Hill. Without the sun, the solar panels at the cooperative are useless and cell phones go dead. Too much rain seems to be making the phone networks loose coverage anyway. Although we are not officially in a cloud forest, it sure feels like it. They pass right through my bamboo walls, leaving heavy wet dew on everything. Even the toilet paper is just a little too damp for comfort and now must be kept in a zip lock bag. My clothes and sheets have long since been covered with mold and its no use to wash them because they’d never dry. So, the battle with nature continues and I seem to be losing. It must be fall in the Comarca!

If I sound miserable, I assure you that I am not. All of the rain and mud has kept me indoors and has provided an excellent excuse for deep introspection. But as soon as my propane stove broke I was out of town on the next car. Life without hot beverages is just not worth living.

(Coffee drying on screens under a plastic roof that we received from the President of Panama- more on the coffee progress another day)

The only similarity between fall in the States and fall here is perhaps that its harvest season! Most notably: corn, rice, cacao and coffee. Also, many people are enjoying tomatoes, cucumbers and squash (thanks to Mr. Eadie for the seed donations – see previous entry).

(I helped out with the rice harvest with the family of my "mama")

The other obvious sign of fall in the Comarca and all over Panama is the sound of school bands for miles around. There are not one but two Independence Day celebrations coming up (… although I think they should consider a third one from the US!). From my house I can hear the drums and xylophones from several surrounding communities, depending on which way the wind is blowing. They practice rain or flood, every single day. The Independence Day school band parades are very serious business here. There are competitions and cash prizes and lots of pride to be won. (Check out the xylophone video that I posted on Flickr - it was too big for this site)

(Farmers market at the school! So much is in season right now!)

The Ngöbes have recently made national news here. Angry with international companies’ self-serving interests in mining, hydroelectric and tourism (there is no real tourism going on here, so I don’t understand that one), they have organized a 230-mile long, hot march to Panama City to protest. They even have a website dedicated to this cause! For a typically stoic, passive people, this is quite remarkable and I commend them for being passionate and standing up for their territory. However, I do believe that good old fashion protesting is in most cases, a waste of resources, especially if you do not have a strong political voice. This undoubtedly small group of protesters was not from my community. It seems, however, that revolutionary Ngöbe spirit is in the air. My community recently decided that after nearly 2 years of putting up with the director of the school, a Latina who they say did not respect their culture; they ousted her from the position. The entire community protested by not sending their kids to school for 8 days. The school is a hub for several communities within about a 3-hour radius of Cerro Iglesias and about 1000 children in all attend. Not one of them went to school until finally, the government had to do something about it. They officially fired her and named a new director of the school. I was so shocked and slightly inspired by this collaborative community effort. The kids are now back in school and the band practice is in full force, rain or flood.

(Some of the various products in season at the school farmers market (coconut, green beans, chayote, yucca, tomato, peppers, oranges, rice, corn, bananas)