-Yesterday my community threw a party for all the kids at school, as they are starting their big 3 month vacation. The party included sac races, apple bopping, face painting, food and my favorite activity of the day, climbing a 30ft greased pole. It took about 6 or 7 men stacked on top of each other about 8 attempts, finally with a small boy climbing on top of everyone to reach the prize on the top of $20.
the men
the ladies
- Magic circle: I had a moment last week where I actually felt like I was doing my job as a volunteer, ie sharing a new and useful technique with a member of my community. Something to be replicated and passed on to anyone interested in innovative agriculture.
I dug a hole.
But not just any hole, a magical hole, three feet wide and two feet deep. To be filled with all organic trash from her kitchen. When the hole is full of natural goodness, we will then plant platanos around the edge, so the roots can feast. Around that we will plant guandu, which does nice things to the soil. Amongst all that we’ll plant sweet potatoes. Magic.
-So the other morning I was supposed to go to the farm with someone and she canceled, last minute. This happens a lot and it got me down. So I wandered around town. I visited some houses and the lord rained down upon me many gifts. Here, in one single day, is what members of my community gifted me in no particular order. Some corn bollo with chicken neck, a cup of coffee, a cup of hot chocolate, a huge bowl of rice with 2 fresh river shrimp caught just for me, a coke, nanci ice cream, a bowl of rice, chicken and name, a great deal on two mochillas, a free taxi ride and a beer. I also stayed for about 2+hours visiting in 3 different houses. In one they showed me how to make Johnny cakes. In another we played cards. In another I was given a reaffirming talk about the difficulty of getting things done in this community making me feel better that it’s not just me. I went to bed belly stuffed and feeling all right about life again. Just a little glimpse into how awesome the people in my community are, even when simultaneously frustrating.
- Now that I am settled in, folks can visit! My PC friends Oti and Katherine came for one night to give a acueduct charla. We learned how to make flow reducing discs. Only three people showed. So it goes. My friends Lee and Josh came another night. We were going to give our first escuela de campo on grafting, which I was pretty excited about. But it rained. And when it rains here, nothing gets done, so it was cancelled. This is unfortunate as it rains a lot here. However, we did make some dank breakfast burritos, with cheese and sour cream – unheard of in the campo! Delightful.
- Last month I went far into the mountains, in the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle for 4 days of Ngobe language training. It was rad. The communities in the mountains are a lot more traditional than mine, as such, I got to wear my first Nagwa( the traditional dress here), speak ngobe with the kids at home (no kids in my community speak ngobe), eat some sautéed otoe leaves and learn lots of funny new words. For example, I learned that in Ngobe Love and pain are the same word. Also heart and sad are the same word. Also, they have no word for thank you. Now think on that.
- I spent two weeks out of site in November. First came Thanksgiving in the lovely lovely mountains. A beautiful lodge in a swiss alp like setting with tons of delicious food and friends from all over the country. Woot. Then on Boquete, a yuppied out mountain town where we ate greek food, met some Spanish friends, had a foosball tournament, and went to some hot springs where we played with a spider monkey. Double woot. Then on to Las Lajas, the beach. After all this we had our first in service training, five days of talks and demonstrations Instiututo Nacional de Agricultura ( a agriculture high school). We learned some cool stuff about gardens, rice and fish tanks and got to play guitar and hang out in the dorms of the every night. It felt like going back to college. Peace Corps college.
The SAS group working on a rice tank
Our Spider Monkey friend, chillin.
Sooo, I’ll be spending Christmas in site, with some of my fave families. On Christmas eve, a ladies artisan group that I work with will be having an inauguration for an artisan house they just built, complete with a soup feast and bonfire and I'll be bringing marshmellows! Then on New Years I'm heading to Bocas island, land of tourists and shenanigans. And that is that.
Happy Holidays to all!!!
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