Life 2.0: January 2010

This is old news by now, but I just wanted to share with everyone that if you haven't supported Haiti either financially or otherwise, consider this:

My little community, where the average daily wage is about $5, is raising funds through their local church to send to their hermanos in Haiti. They are poor, but they are not desperate. The Panamanian government, in fact, has also sent in 22 rescue workers and 15 tons of food and medical supplies.

As many of you know, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is a nation that is all too often torn apart by national disasters and political instability.

My dear friend, Alex Cottin, is in Haiti now, working on the relief effort. He works for Merlin, an international nonprofit working to bring medical care and services to countries devastated by conflict, disease and disaster. Although I promised I would not be soliciting more financial support, I urge everyone to chip in for this cause. Click HERE to learn more about Merlin and donate.

If the wonderful people of Cerro Iglesias can give a little, you can too!

(Below: Text message donation that I sent to Haiti: $0.50 at a time)

(Roasting marshmellows for S'mores in the kitchen!)

I’ve been absent lately, both in body and mind, from the Comarca.

As if the torrential downpours and persistence of mud aren’t enough to turn one into an antisocial recluse during the Panamanian winter, over the past few months I have also become so self-absorbed with my post-Peace Corps academic/career goals that I lost touch with my surroundings. I became afflicted with an inner battle that wanted to be present and engaged in the community, but needed to focus on a future plan. Looking back, however, I suppose it was a means to an (hopeful) end. Nevertheless, it takes a lot of work and a consistent presence in the community to maintain a feeling of integration here and, despite winter, I haven’t been pulling my weight.

I can write about all of this now, because suddenly and quiet drastically, it’s over. One day, a few weeks ago, it just stopped raining. Just like that. The instant switch from winter rains to summer drought in Panama never ceases to amaze me. Likewise, with my future fate currently out of my hands, I have hastily emerged from my egocentric bubble and returned to the social butterfly that I truly am. Furthermore, the start of summer means I have a lot of exciting work on the horizon: latrine construction, honey harvest and the launch of a new coffee toasting business here in Cerro Iglesias!

I felt that spending the holidays at home, in the Comarca, would be a great way for me to re-integrate my mind back into the world of the people I have come to adore over the past year and a half. I did my best to create the essence of Christmas with candy canes, carols and paper cutout snow flakes, but the true spirit of the holidays is sharing time and space with the ones you care about most deeply. Although I would have loved to have been with my real family back in the States, my Cerro Iglesias family is the center of my world right now and I wanted nothing more than to be sharing lukewarm coffee and fresh guandú (pigeon peas) with them for the holidays!

So, with solar cooking and beekeeping on my agenda for tomorrow, I return, happily, to the moment!

Below are a few holiday pics from my Re-Integration-as-Full-Time-Peace-Corps-Volunteer-Again Week!