Hello out there

Cerro Iglesias is a great place to live. So great, in fact, that I have completely neglected updating this blog. I apologize. For now, check out some recent photos, including those from a brief visit to the USofA:

http://flickr.com/photos/53265254@N00/

Meet: Jorge Guerra (Head of my host family)

Jorge was the first person I met from my community. He traveled several hours by bus to pick me up at our counterpart conference and took me to Cerro Iglesias for my first visit way back in May. He met me as a favor for his father, who was originally supposed to be my community guide (before he found a job that moved him out of the community). I have now been living with his family for nearly 2 months and he has opened up substantially since those first awkward days. Most mornings he is up and about by 5am. While his wife, Liliana, is getting the 5 kids ready for school and attending to the infant, he is usually chopping wood for cooking or sharpening his machete to get ready for work. All day, every day, he is working. He dedicates himself to the production of corn, rice, beans, coffee and more recently, ají peppers. Jorge only went to school until 6th grade, as did most men his age in Cerro Iglesias, but he is a smart man. He spent a few years working outside of the Comarca, as a migrant worker on Latino farms in the fertile region of Chiriquí. He also spent a short time working in construction in Panama City, but says he prefers life in the campo because it is more tranquil: less noise, pollution and more room for the children to run around. Basically, he chose to work his family’s land because he did not want to work for the ‘man’; not an easy path by any means. Similar to most New Yorkers I know, Jorge works hard, but plays even harder. After a week of long days in the field, he will get together with his buddies and they will drink themselves silly on homemade chicha fuerte. These gatherings, usually Sundays, are planned in advance, because it takes several days to for corn to turn into alcohol. They will sit in front of the house under the mango tree, sometimes as early as 7am, and stay there until the liquor runs dry or they pass out. (The women, for the most part, do not drink). Can you blame him?

During the week, Jorge is constantly trying to keep up with the different crops he has planted and finding ways to put food on the table. The ají project, if successful, will be one of the only ways (aside from the coffee harvest) that he has to earn a living for his family. He is very dedicated to his family, in ways that somewhat defy the stereotypical ‘machismo’ description of Latin American men. In the evenings, he spends quality time with his 6 children. We usually sit with the kids and chat or help them with their homework. He quizzes them on multiplication while I help the older ones with English and reading comprehension. What Jorge wants more than anything is for his children learn English. (That goes for about every Panamanian I’ve met). It is hard for me to imagine that learning English is more important than basic math skills and Spanish literacy, but I do the best I can to mitigate the Panamanian fascination with learning English.

Despite the stresses of his life, Jorge has been gracious enough to take me in and live with his family during my first few months in Cerro Iglesias. I have already shared many unforgettable moments with Jorge and his family. Although there have been some tough and/or awkward situations, the overwhelming majority has been positive. Living with this family has been an incredible learning experience for me and a very important part of coming to understand the local culture. I just hope I can return the favor in more ways than teaching kids English...

(photo of Jorge with his 9 mo old son who they just call "Bebe". Photo by Arden Sherman)

When the peanut butter runs out

July is a tough month in the Comarca. There is a saying that goes something like: "Señor Julio le roba la pila" (Mr. July robs the pot). July and August is the time just between the harvests and there is not much paid work for unskilled farmers, so families struggle to put food on the table. It’s not nearly as bad as a true famine that parts of the African continent must experience, but nonetheless, it makes for a stressful time for poor Panamanian families.

I was feeling a little guilty about not spending enough time with my host family, so I decided to go work out in the field with them one day. Our task: plant 1200 aji plants. Jorge has been trying to finish planting 15,000 aji plants on a hectare of land. There is an aji planting craze in my community right now because of the new contract with Tobasco (yes, like the sauce) that is buying peppers for export. After a full day of working in the intense sun followed by a torrential downpour, and only eating a few oranges from the nearby tree, I was starved. A few nights had gone by over the past weeks with no dinner. When this happened, I would go back to my hut and snack on a secret stash of (crunchy) peanut butter and crackers - my new staple. The peanut butter had recently run out, leaving me feeling anxious about how to control those desperate moments of hunger. I realize that this all sounds completely ridiculous especially when my host family just goes to bed hungry (although I have a sneaking suspicion that the kids were fed by the grandparents). I will contest that their bodies are more accustomed to not eating as often as most gringos. We are notorious snackers and I am the worst of them. If I had time, I’d look up some hard facts to support this claim. Anyway, as we were leaving the field in the afternoon, we stopped to harvest some yucca planted along the trail. Yucca is a tuber and requires ripping out the plant from the ground and collecting the roots, similar to a potato but with a thicker trunk. This delicious starch provides virtually no nutritional content, but serves its purpose as a filler. As we started pulling up the plants, looking for roots, they were still stuck deep in the ground and we had no tools for digging. So, I got down on all fours with my 12 yr old host brother and started digging for dinner. I was so exhausted, dehydrated and hungry, but was furiously clawing at the soil with all my might. Half laughing at myself, it suddenly occurred to me that this is what happens when the peanut butter runs out: subsistence living. Perhaps this was a fine lesson in integration. We are now more than half-way through August, and are enjoying the new harvests of corn and rice, so things are much less stressful. The other day they killed over 100 chickens in town to sell and my family got the heads to cook for dinner. I had to decline. Looking back, I should have at least tried the chicken-head soup, but I had a full jar of peanut butter and crackers waiting for me back in my hut. Maybe next time.

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)

Summer camp is over. Real life begins!

In the short time since my last post a lot has happened down here.

I visited my site, Cerro Iglesias, for 4 days. It was awkward and awesome at the same time. Ladies and gentleman, I will be roughing it for the next 2 years! My host family for the first 3 months in site has given me my own 'house' so I am very fortunate to have my own space. My house is made of bamboo with a thatch roof (see photo). I hope to build my own house with the help of the community, but those details haven't been worked out yet. The town is very spread out and each family has a compound of huts that are separated by thick forest with steep muddy trails connecting neighbors.

After returning from the site visit we had a one more week of training in Santa Clara. In our final days, I spent a lot of time with my fellow trainees, as this is our last time all together. The friendships I have made over the past 10 weeks will be my support system over the next 2 years. We've played a lot of ultimate Frisbee, slack-lining and swimming in the river. There was even a capture the flag game one night that ended tragically when I nearly decapitated myself on a barbed wire fence. Whoops! I'm hoping it won't leave a nasty scar. We organized a huge goodbye party to thank our host families. It was tough to plan to cook and entertain 200 people but we pulled it off! As a going away gift, my host family gave me an adorable kitten. They were so excited to give it to me, so there was no way I could refuse the little guy. After a tearful goodbye with the host family, we were whisked off to Cuidad del Saber (PC headquarters). We stayed there for a few days and "swore in" as real volunteers on Thursday evening. The world director of Peace Corps, Ron Tschetter, was here to administer the ceremony and celebrate 45 years of Peace Corps in Panama at the ambassador's house in Panama City.

We, the newly initiated volunteers of group 61, are having one final celebration this weekend at the beach before we disperse throughout the country. I am very excited for my real Peace Corps experience to begin, but am devastated to say goodbye to my fellow gringos. We have become a family over the past 10 weeks. So, tomorrow morning, I will take all of my belongings for the next 2 years, along with my kitten, and try to make in the mountains of Panama. If I could make it in Manhattan, I can make it anywhere, right? Goodbye internet, electricity, running water. Hello adventure!

(Photo of host brothers and sisters plus kitten)