After a quick recovery from my stint with parasites, the rest of January was full of feria preparations, work days on the road in Mesa, playing volleyball, swimming in the Río Dupí with kids, guandu (a type of pea-like bean) shucking juntas, two family birthday parties, and hanging out with neighbors. I went to a friend Carl's (agriculture volunteer) site and learned how to start a coffee nursery, and I'm hoping to get a mini coffee planting project going with a few families in my community soon. The first week of February was the agro-artisan fair in Cerro Mesa, and I think it went really well! There were many visitors, speeches, lots of volleyball and soccer, tons of produce and artisan crafts for sale, an incredibly awkward baile, and I led some games for the kids, which was fun. Then after the fair I went with a few other squirrels (nickname for southern Comarca volunteers) to Boquete, a very touristy town in the Chiriquí mountains and spent two days rapidly typing out my CADP (Community Analysis and Development Plan) to turn in the Peace Corps, which ended up being a 30-page report! Then I hurried back to site for a day for English class and pasearing, then went to San Felix for meetings with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Environment, then rushed back to site to hike three hours with my host family to sing in church in another community. I have somewhat unintentionally joined a Ngäbe Seventh Day Adventist a capella quintet with my host parents and another couple from Hato Julí. We've had two gigs so far, one in Cerro Gato and another in Cerro Piedra. Later this month is going to be the big one in Quebrada Guabo, a Comarca-wide baptism in the river that supposedly thousands of people attend. It's been quite fun so far, a capella is something I always wished I had time to pursue in college - never expected I would be singing in front of crowds in Panama!!
The day after the 6-hour hiking day I hiked out and took a bus to Coclé for a week of IST (in-service training), which was a lot of sitting in a classroom but quite helpful - learning how to apply for grants, some more technical aqueduct concepts, how to facilitate gender & development clubs and camps, etc.. and it was so nice to reconnect with all of our group and spend hours talking and playing games at night. Then we headed to Cerro Pita, site of fellow volunteer Sean, and spent a week building a bloque tank, ferrocement tanks, a toma, lock boxes, sediment cleanouts, and air release valves for their new aqueduct and practicing facilitating water committee seminars. I absolutely loved the community and my host family and learned a lot of great tech knowledge that hopefully I'll be able to apply in Gallina (should we ever build an aqueduct...we'll see) Now I'm heading back up to site, and my friends Shellee and Emily are coming with me to visit! :) Excited to have more guests.
I've been in Panama for nearly eight months now, and although I miss my family and friends (and am looking forward to some visitors from the States in the coming months! *hint hint*) I am content with life in Panama and excited to spend another year and a half here. I am surrounded daily by some of the most incredible friends (Panamanians, Peace Corps staff, fellow volunteers) I have had the privilege of knowing and all the love and support in the world. So no need to worry about me down here. After being with my fellow G79ers for the past two weeks and hearing all about their struggles and triumphs in the first five months in site, I feel inspired and I am so ready to get back to work in Gallina. We're in the dead of summer so my rainwater tank is empty but my metaphorical tank is full of new knowledge, animo, energy.
Fotos ~
Swimming with Jorge, Oscar, Walter, Carmen, and Melvin
God smiles on little Tito
When you go to the river...fresh-caught shrimp stir fry fo dinner!!
Checking out the plant nursery in Kuerima
Look at dat Chaco tan... swimming in the river!
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