Jatuaita Kwitubtä

I’M DONE. I can’t believe it.

Well actually, I’m not done. I have a whole 11-something months of Peace Corps left before I am actually an RPCV. But I have finished two years of service in Cerro Gallina and it feels really good.

My despedida on August 28th was a day I will never forget, and I want to tell you, my dear readers, about it in detail so you can envision my last day as a Cerro Gallina resident.

On Monday morning, I hiked out to purchase all of the food & supplies for the party. Good thing I live frugally because I used over three-quarters of my monthly stipend on just this single meal!! It was so worth it though. The shopping list included 100 lbs. of rice, 65 lbs. of chicken, 45 lbs. of vegetables, 5 kg. of tomato paste, etc. My host brother Victor met me at the road with Mogo (my host family’s two horses are named Cariñoso and Mogo, “Caring” and “Idiot” respectively) to load him up with all of the goods to hike them to the community. He was an hour late and there was a downpour, all was well though. The women got to work salting the chicken and a barrage of people arrived at my house. I had been running around like crazy the past two days and was pretty wiped, and all of a sudden I got the worst stomachache, like I actually had to lie facedown on my yoga mat on my front porch while Jairo, Dionicio, Melvin, Carmen, Dominga, etc. continued to hang out at my house haha. But I made some mint tea and eventually they left and I was able to finish making some posters and prepping for the next day.

On Tuesday I woke up early to do a last-minute load of laundry (maybe my last time washing my clothes in the creek, sad!!), made breakfast, and then starting hauling things from my house to the galera, the location of the party. Corbyn showed up and helped me a ton. My five chefs Benita, Dominga, Ana, Lleya, and Celia and cooking pailas arrived, and people started coming around 10 AM. I made the rounds talking to people while trying to arrange all of my stuff around the galera for the raffle. Charles, Jake, Raúl, and DJ also came! Before the food, I led some games for the kids (and adults, let’s be real haha) - balloon stomping, pass-the-orange-without-using-your-hands, marble tossing, and a slingshot competition. The gente trickled in and then came in droves. To my surprise, nearly every household in my community came to the despedida, which meant the world to me. The food was finally ready around 3 pm, and we had a short program with Reynel as the master of ceremonies. My host mom Benita led a prayer, then I gave a welcome. The floor was then opened for the gente to speak, and Victoria, Luciano, Javier, Dinora, and Clemente gave some heart-warming palabras of gratitude to me :) Then I gave my speech. Honestly I don’t remember what I said, haha. I tried to write something beforehand, but then I just said screw it and spoke from my heart. It was mostly various words of thanks, of how much my community has enriched my life forever and made me a better person. Then we ate! The cooks had made three pailas of rice, two of guiso, and one of potato & beet salad. There was enough food for everyone, and that was the only thing that mattered to me. I was the last one of 170+ people to eat and there was a liiiiittle bit left over - success! Then the piñata, the raffle, the chaos. I don’t want to get into much detail here but I’ll say that the raffle was an utter disaster. I distributed a number to each person and called them one by one to choose an item. But no one could even see the items available because there were so many people pushing & shoving. Between Reynel, who is a muscular police officer, Corbyn, and I, we literally could not control the crowd descending on my stuff! But in the end, I was just satisfied to get rid of all of my things - most of my possessions honestly, I didn’t bring much to San Félix - and hopefully my gente will enjoy the recuerdos they received. 

And then by the time the raffle mayhem subsided the sun was sinking, and I hardly got to actually say goodbye to anyone. I wanted to give everyone hugs and proper goodbyes, but it’s okay because I’ll come back to visit this upcoming year and see the important people. Some kids and teenagers came to my house, and Dinora and Jeuris actually kissed me on the cheek when saying goodbye, it was the sweetest thing. Corbyn and I hiked back up to the galera with our solar lamps, and it was a MESS. We cleaned a little but got hungry, so we went back to the house and made stovetop pizza. Enrique & family came over for a final movie, so I put on Zootopia out on the porch while Corbyn and I sat on my floor and ate pizza. I was so grateful to have a PCV friend with me for that last night in site so I wasn’t alone. 

The next morning, Luisa, Enrique, Dionicio, Reynel and various other gente came over. They helped me finish cleaning out the house (read: took all the stuff that was left over haha), we took some last-minute photos, and I closed El Castillo Kwitubtä and handed over the key! I already miss my house. I said goodbye to my host family and Enrique’s family one last time. Dionicio helped me carry my stuff to the Gallina entrada. I stopped in Mesa to gift Chavelita my favorite non-stick skillet and spatula because she couldn’t make it to the despedida. And then I was off! 

A shout out to my community members that made the two years vale la pena. I wish I could write about each person individually and what they mean to me, but there are too many so I am going to list them. These people are my family and each one of the names below has made a lasting impact on my life.

Thank you to mi papa Victor, mi mama Benita, Victor nuevo, Diana, Jairo, Debora, Walter, Pricila, Roderik, Tito, Nulio, Lleya, Domingo S, Ever, Roger, Reynel, Enrique, Ana, Tatiana, Elvin, Ana Doris, Dionicio, Claudina, Rosibel, Melissa, Yoriel, Melvin R, Luisa, Eduardo, Yesi, Lucila, Lucelina, Ehinar, Emil Yohany, Clemente “Chiduli”, Emilia, Rodolfo, Dalky, Hiraldo, Juliana, Melquiades, Dominga, Vidal, Jorge, Melvin P, Oscar, Carmen, Xavier, Leila, Yolinda, Edilsa, Emiliana, Julio, Felicia, Asaiel, Petra, Alejandro, Gloriela, Justavino, Marcelino, Elsa, Miriam, Leopoldo, Daniel, David, Victoria M, Milton, Henry, Marita, José, Chavelita, Rudy, Carmen, Marisabel, Jackson, Dinora, Jeuris, Christian, Rustia, Ernesto, Fidel, Tomasa, Walter, Raquel, Yelenia, Danitza, Nila, Reynaldo, Fermina, Victoria P, Hilda, Moises, Venancio, Cecilia H, Carolina, Gloria, Rosa, Plinio, Edgar, Maicol, Juanita, Luis, Aminda, Nina, Hilario, Celia, Manuel, Vladimir, Maira, Darinel, Ubaldino, Cindy, Dina, Rosa “Bei”, Meibi, Javier, Girljolie, Gracie, Merilyn, Winner, Isaías, Casilda, Catherine, Joel, Yosel, Nereyda, Isaías nuevo, Manuel “Otilio”, Ermelinda, Maritza, Eugenio, Felix, Ylka, Marisol, Elieser, Amado, Fredy, Gabriel, Calixto, Israel, Cecilia M, Simeon, Manuel R, Luciano, Marta, Rigoberto, Javier R, Yolanda, Jacquelín, Juana, Domingo R, Rosina, Aisa, Edgar, Minerva, Lucas, Roswell, Minerva nueva, Adriana, Monica, Adrián, Valentín, Dioselina, Melida, Javier, Tatiana P, Tatiana nueva, Elida, Vladimir, Geronimo, Ester, Emilio, Elodia, Israel P, Dori, and MANY MORE people (whose names I may or may not know haha) from my community. As well as all of the gente from Cerro Mesa, Salto Dupí, Soloy, Hato Julí and various other parts of the Comarca whom I also consider family.

"See you on the other side, my family. -Bei"

Juan, Yohany, Lucila, and Jonathan. Partial muchach@ squad

Matando la piñata Diego

Yoriel, Ana, me, Dionicio at their house

Dinora, Lucila, and Carmen. Seeing them grow up these past two years has been a delight.

BYE

I’m now living in San Félix, Chiriquí! I spent a week and a half in Panama City meeting my new volunteers, getting in some much-needed friend time, daily ice cream, and relaxation, and learning how to be a Regional Leader in training at the Peace Corps office. I’ll write another post soon with all the stuff I’m working on now as the Comarca RL.

 Visiting Santa Rita

Group 83 swear-in - WASH ladies!

Chelsea & I climbing La India Dormida in Valle de Antón, Coclé

My 15 new Comarca volunteers from Group 83 after site announcement!

New crew - the regional leaders :) 

Farewells & Feels

"Bei when you’re gone, I’m going to dream of you” – Ana, last week, in her kitchen at night while drinking cacao before The Road to El Dorado movie night.

I’m writing this post from my porch because my computer is charged and I’m feeling sentimental tonight. The moon is almost full, the crickets are singing and it didn’t rain today so the bugs aren’t too terrible. My borrowed cat Luna is on my lap nibbling on my fingers as I type, and I don’t even mind. After two years in the Peace Corps, there is very little that can faze me.

Today Victor, Domingo, and I worked on putting another coat of mortar on the water tank while Lleya cooked us lunch of rice with a tomato, onion, and jiraca (foraged leafy green than I love) topping. Then the Vejerano siblings, Victor, and I harvested oranges, I lost count at around 60. Then I helped Dionicio practice for his English exam on Wednesday for a couple hours. Then I made brownies with my host parents. They fed me dinner of rice & sardines – the classic meal – while we waited for them to bake. Then I played games of checkers with Victor, Jairo, Roderik, and Pricila until I was too tired to play another and retired for the night, but of course not before playing their favorite songs from the Moana soundtrack.

Roderik, Victor, and Benita making brownie batter.

When I left our makeshift English classroom today – an old chalkboard hanging from some bent rebar in the corner of the chicken coop and a plastic lawn chair for Dionicio – he asked me the usual (mostly in English! He’s getting so much better!)

D: When can we study again? Will you be in your house tomorrow?

Me: Yes, at night.

D: Thursday?

Me: Yes.

D: Friday?

Me: Yes.

D: Saturday?

Me: Yes.

D: Sunday?

Me: Yes.

D: Monday?

Me: Yes, at night.

D: Tuesday?

Me: Dude, Tuesday is my despedida (going away party). It’s a day to celebrate. I’m not going to teach English that day.

D: And then you’re gone? Bei…why do you have to go?

And I literally saw his face fall as he realized how soon I’m leaving, and how I’m simply not going to be here anymore. Although I’m not going too far and I can visit whenever I have free time, it’ll feel really different not actually living here. I feel ya, Dionicio. I’m excited to be done and I’m ready to move on to my new role…but I’m going to miss these days a lot.

The past few weeks have been full of goodbyes. First, the artisan group despedida! What a beautiful celebration. It was mostly for Zach, because he was the one who worked with the artisans as one of his primary projects, so I was shocked with they called me up as well to receive gifts and give palabras! I was presented with two small chacaras made of natural fibers (my favorite), a homemade diente’d bag, and a diente’d headband. There were speeches, some tears, the most incredible meal, an entire barrel full of chicha dulce, and lots of photos. The generosity of the artisan group never ceased to amaze me. They gave me so much without expecting anything in return.

 Miriam.

Chavelita <3 Marita and Marcelino in the background.

Probably laughing at a fart joke.

With the OG tocaya, Bei!

T

100% not posed. Zach made a fart joke, and Marcelino lost it. This is us reacting to his reaction.

I went to Sophia’s despedida in Quebrada Mamey. She planned a whole bunch of fun games for her gente, and then a bunch of them spoke, prayed, and sang about how much she meant to them in the community. It was incredible to see the outpouring of love and emotion. Again, there were tears. The next day we hiked over to Zach’s despedida in Cerro Mesa. More speeches, giveaways, hugs, photos. Then we hiked out and I got to spend two final nights with my closest friends before they left Panama. It’s not going to be the same without them, and it was really tough saying goodbye.

Sophia saying her final goodbyes.

After Zach's despedida. Raquel (dark green nagua) and Walter (orange tshirt) have been good friends of mine as well.

Me, Jake, DJ, Michael, Zach, Sophia. Five people I love very much.

I have a week left in site. I’m uneasy leaving things here in the community unfinished – namely, the aqueduct improvement that is still incomplete and won’t be done when I leave. Then the two newly formed water committees that I wish I had been able to train more, latrines we built that are still not in use, baking classes that I never got to…there’s a whole laundry list of things. My fast-paced American agenda clashed with the leisurely Panamanian agenda, much frustration ensued on both sides, things got put off, and time ran out. But it’s okay because I know I did as much as I could, and there have been several good things that we’ve accomplished recently in the 11^th hour. First - I did a daylong seminar for the Bajo Conejo water committee. I spent a lot of time planning it so I was annoyed that the president didn’t show up… but oh well. The members of the committee that did come learned about the responsibilities of each member of the directive, Ministry of Health laws, proper household water treatment and storage, aqueduct maintenance, and did some team-building exercises. Second, Isaías, Javier, and I built a latrine for two of the few families in the community who until recently didn’t have any sort of latrine and pooped in the creek/woods, so this is a huge step up. Lastly, the sheets of zinc for a new health pavilion that Enrique, Vidal, and I solicited a year ago from our representative (if you remember this from my post from a year ago, major props to you) were finally delivered!! Seeing this come full circle gave me a sliver of satisfaction.

It's pesada de nance season! All the kids came over to eat pesada.

With Manuel, Dionicio, and Eliseo at the World Indigenous Peoples Day festival in Hato Pilón. Love these boys.

Eduardo's whatsapp status. An honor to be featured with such flattering graphics, lol

On July 30^th, I finished my year of 1-second videos. I had started this on September 14^th, 2016, the day we swore in as PCVs, and had about 10 months’ worth of video until my phone got stolen on the 4^th of July last year. I hadn’t backed up my videos and lost it all. Back up your stuff, y’all!! So I started over and finally finished a year. Watch it here!