Oh yeah, Alex will have to learn how to dance, which is perhaps a far more immense barrier than language deficiencies! Hahahaha!
But we think integration is a challenge well worth undertaking. Sit back and relax as we take you on a little tour of the places we have gotten to know so far in San Juanito. Remember we are on the start of a journey here and these are first impressions full of our gringo biases and such.
Abuelo and Abuela Cholo's Rancho... A of all, these folks are our host grandmother and grandfather. B of all, the closest translation we came up with for cholo was "hillbilly." C of all, a rancho is like an outdoor gazebo with a roof made of penca palm fronds. This rancho is incredibly large and serves as kind of this downtown hangout area. We watched a pirated version of Men in Black 3 here. On the far end there is a light-switch that turns on the latrine light, which is a short walk up the hill from the rancho. At night, this walk must be made while carefully avoiding sizable toads.
El Mirador... This is the look-out and boy-howdy what a look-out it is. If you haven't navigated over to our Facebook album, do it, now! There are pictures of El Mirador there. Consequently, this is also a zone of great cellphone reception. It's about a 30 minute hike from town.
La Granja... Lauren will likely have a lot of work here. On the route to El Mirador, you can take a detour into La Granja or community farm. There are all kinds of things growing here including organic fruits and vegetables, pigs, fish, and recently bread in the ovens they have on site! There seems to be a lot of interest in San Juanito for increased productivity in their fish tanks, which falls into Lauren's area of expertise. A fish tank system is essentially a way to grow fish for food. There are typically several pools for different stages of development in the life of a fish, seems like an easy concept, but to cross the T's and dot the I's there are LOTS of details to consider. At some point during the day we were visiting the fish tanks of the town Lauren got some chiggers on her and they ATE HER UP pretty well!
La Toma Principal... It is looking like the community will be looking to Alex for troubleshooting and enhancement of the water system or the community's aqueduct. A first pass San Juanito seems to have a pretty rockin system of providing potable water to its residents, which is quite the feat as it involves taking spring water from the hills above the town and delivering it to the households below in a way that won't get everyone sick. Like the fish pools the devil is in the details so to speak. Alex's advantage is that the committee in charge if the water system is well organized.
Casa de Irenes and Geronimo... This will be our first home-stay family and we are super excited to live here! They have three kids and our host dad plays the accordion like a magician.
La Escuela... San Juanito is home to a national-award-winning primary school. It boasts over 40 kids, two computers, three delightful and dedicated teachers who jumped for joy when they learned we were moving in for two years, an equally dedicated parent's group, awesome facilities including flush toilets and a kitchen, bright, beautiful classrooms supporting grades K-6, and a school garden system that garnered the aforementioned awards. Needless to say, we arrive on a Sunday and Monday we plan to get to work acquainting ourselves with La Escuela de San Juanito.
That brings you up to speed on our new digs! Hopefully you feel a little more oriented and keep these places in mind as we start the road to becoming true Coclesanos!
Hugs and kisses,
Lauren and Alex
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ReplyDeleteWell, that was a fun update. Will you write the name of the nearby village again so I can find you on a Panama map? And Ryan says, "Hi and next time you come to Boise, Alex, will you bring your gorilla mask?"
ReplyDeleteOh, we found them. They are La Pintada and Penonome.
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