Happy New Year!

Just like in the States, the end of December and beginning of January is a notoriously unproductive time of year. It’s no different in Panama. Although, we have some strongly devote Christians in Cerro Iglesias, they don’t really celebrate Christmas the way we do in the States. Neither in the commercialized, nor in the religious sense. There is no snow, no caroling, no lights, no nativity scenes, no gifts, no ugly holiday sweater parties with friends. It’s all pretty much the same as usual around here. Other than family members now working in the cities and returning to visit their hometown, there was nothing Christmas-y about being in the Comarca. Panama City, on the other hand, was filled with gaudy Coca-Cola sponsored Christmas trees and oddly placed plastic decorations of a white Santa going down a snowy chimney, with large animals from the north pole parked on the roof. You’d think they would make it more culturally appropriate. Maybe a middle-aged, overweight and drunk Latino man in a red spandex Speedo, with his sombrero and machete, riding in on a horse and bringing bags of rice and sugar to scared little kids? To avoid the non-Christmas-y Christmas in site, I decided to spend the holiday with some friends in the San Blas Islands in the Caribbean. Kuna Yala, to be specific. It was a good choice.




The Kuna are another indigenous group here in Panama that have mostly separated themselves from the Panamanian government but have their support for building roads, schools, etc. They have tactfully learned to exploit their indigenousness and beautiful landscape to attract the adventure traveler, such as myself. I found it the right mix of both cultural and geographic beauty (and not too expensive). The locals even invited us to a “coming of age” party for a young girl in the village. The men made a small, dark tent out of sticks and leaves for the girl to be locked inside of for 5 days, while the town had a big party. The men drink, the women eat and that poor girl remains confined to darkness. How do these brutal traditions get started?

For the New Year, I traveled up to the fun, but touristy islands of Bocas del Toro. Also in the Caribbean, but less beautiful than Kuna Yala, these islands are a cultural melting pot of Afro-Antilleans, Latinos, ex-pats, tourists, and indigenous groups like the Ngabes and Kunas. It was really nice to finally see some diversity, but it’s an expensive place to hang out on a Peace Corps budget. Nonetheless, we had a great time. On New Years day we rented bikes and rode 20km to the other side of the island, stopping to see some bat-filled caves on the way.

Back in Cerro Iglesias, I’m slowly getting back into my routine of working with various groups, primarily the artisan/bee group (honey harvest is just weeks away), the Tabasco pepper farmers (who are looking for funding for a small irrigation pump to be able to harvest peppers in the dry season) and the coffee group (who is filing for the legal documents to obtain a loan and expand their business). I also recently started a knitting group, thanks to another volunteer’s donation of yarn/needles and the expertise of Laura, a dear friend who visited recently. We are 8 ladies strong and they are picking it up fast! Actually, I think they are already better than I am at it. Most of them already crochet colorful purses that everyone uses here (men and women alike) called chackras but they enjoy picking up a new skill. Perhaps we can start a new knitted-bag trend in the Comarca!



(photos of Kuna Yala sail boat, my new knitting group, and the honey bees)