I think the cat looks pregnant

In recent news, our house has turned into somewhat of a rejected animal sanctuary. There are now two semi-resident pets. One, is a dog named Carmencita, which rarely gets fed by old man Carmen and has taken to haunting our porch and house at mealtimes... and at ANY time. She comes in wagging and whining looking for any sort of food. Alex feeds her sometimes because everyone else in town hates her because she is a notorious food thief. Two, is a cat. Alex, for one never thought for one minute before in his life, would he have a cat, but there it is. We have named the cat Goma, which means glue in Spanish, because we are literally stuck with it. Lauren had been seeing a cat around in the jungle for about a month and at first thought it was a tigrillo, or actual jungle cat. On Monday however, that myth was cleared up because some dogs had this cat treed in our shower. (For those of you playing the home game, yes our shower has trees in it). Alex was headed for a nice shower and found it mewing away, scared and vulnerable. Lauren chased the nasty dogs away and, of all things, gave the cat an entire can of tuna. Needless to say, the cat hasn't really left our house and porch since. It is a weird sort of cat and has some bizarre behaviors. It comes when called, begs for food, and eats cookies. Above all, it is so unbelievably lazy and has a slightly oversized belly. We like to think that she is just recovering from her stint alone in the jungle, but we know it is a distinct possibility that the cat is pregnant. Abuela Chola guesses that someone didn't want it and left it out in the jungle. So, yeah... we have a thief-dog and possibly pregnant cat seeking refuge with us.

Goma la gata

On the work front, Lauren has been doing her best to support some of the young gals in our town with some empowering, not to mention super-fun activities. Maudy, our beloved host sister, applied and was accepted to a youth camp put on by the Gender and Development group in Peace Corps Panama. On Monday, Lauren helped Maudy get on her way by accompanying her to a drop-off point in Penonome. Irenes, her mother, of course came too. It is a super big deal for Maudy because she hasn't really been away from home by herself before. She was quite nervous, but she bravely introduced herself to the other participants and set off in the bus for Capira, an hour and a half away. She is slated to learn about self-esteem, goal-setting, healthy choices, and create her own community project that Lauren will help her implement. She comes back Friday, but we have been thinking about her all week.

In that same vein, Lauren organized a hike to our local look-out point for some of the girls. It was a great success. They saw a helicopter, ate snacks, and marveled at the view before descending for a swim at the river. Pretty cool outing, Lauren wants to plan more of these mini-trips in the future.

Alex is riding the roller coaster that is being a volunteer. After devoting hours, days, weeks, and months of stress to developing the beginnings of a water project, the whole thing is likely to be called off. To make the longest, most arduous story of Alex's professional life short, Group A wants Group B's water and Group B doesn't want to give it up. All is not lost due to the mountain that Alex learned along the way, but it is a little depressing to see the ship sinking.

We have started up an odd little side project of documentary-making. We have no idea how and if it will turn out, but the basic theme is to capture part of the Coclesano music culture. Geronimo, our host dad, has a musical group called Geronimo Hernandez y Su Conjunto: Orgullo de Mi Tierra, that is Geronimo Hernandez and His Band: Pride of My Land. Alex was particularly struck by their various stories of musical passion in this crazy back-woods campo setting where they live. No one in the group tunes their instruments, nor do they know how to use their sound equipment, but they manage to rock the campo on a regular basis. They arrive at gigs covered in mud with their equipment packed in rented 4 by 4 trucks or on horseback and maintain their image as some of the coolest cats in the campo.

Other than that we have been keeping busy making stoves for folks, passing out our finished community document in snazzy plastic folders, planting a new garden of watermelons and green beans and bell peppers, fixing up a pig pen, learning how to pluck chickens, and riding horses up the mountain. "It's a hiker's paradise here," says Lauren referring to our most recent excursion to a far away hill, which we discovered has a household right on top. The Señora there is a regular chatterbox and we had no idea their house even existed! We trekked over to a neighboring community called Papayal to say hi and check in. In the coming couple of weeks we are going to have a community meeting over there to see if we can help out with anything. And... yeah. We'll let you know about the pregnant (?) cat, which is currently devouring butter cookies.

P.S. Just now Lauren saw a coral snake slither across our yard and into a tarantula hole under the cement of our porch. This was not good because the coral snake has one of the most potent venoms in the world. Armed with shovels, sticks, and our neighbors Tony and his brother Manuel we managed to kill it, but not before it creeped us out by slithering in and out of holes under our porch. It is sad to see these creatures, which rarely bite because they are calm, die, but we just can't have them near the house, it is too dangerous. Another day in the life right? Another great save by our San Juanito friends!

P.S.S. For those of you that don't have Facebook and want to check out some more pictures of our adventures, you can follow this link to Lauren's photos.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151848567350077.871590.661385076&type=1

The Flavor of Shelly Masarie’s life will never be quite the same...

...because she came home with a Tablespoon of San Juanito.

Note to self: remember things like Grateful, Consume Less, Give Back, it is About the People and not the Things. I cannot fix the world, but can I perhaps do something/anything to help someone? You bet! I am home from my amazing visit to Lauren and Alex’s house. They helped me in so many ways. First, I understand more now. I understand what sustainable giving means in the Peace Corps context. I understand what Alex and Lauren are trying to do (and succeeding). One Peace Corps goal is cultural exchange and boy oh boy did Panamanian campo culture come my way. I was there long enough to understand a few things. Yes, I do feel overwhelmed by the needs those people have and I also realize that the people living in San Juanito have a very good life compared to billions of people on this planet. The people I met are, for the most part, happy and content, but there are many sad stories there too. The local school is good, but, sadly, many people cannot afford the school fees past grade six. One man told me (via my translators) that he knows there are skyscrapers in Panama City. Here, he said, he has land and lots of food. Indeed - plantains and oranges were visible from his hammock. There are also papaya and mangos nearby. And many chickens. Why is it that nobody has bred the cock-a-doodle-doo out of a rooster?

I came home with a renewed attitude that life isn’t about me, it is about the circles around me. My family, my extended family, my friends, my neighbors, my town, my state, my country, animals, the world. I will take one action in my life each day to touch each of those circles in a positive way.

I do not need half of the “things” I already have. I am going to think long and hard before I buy another thing. Alex and Lauren helped me sort out an idea that will be helpful to the people in San Juanito. I am excited to get started. Being Shelly, of course, I loved the people I met. I got to experience a very solemn speech by the mother of many children whose own father had recently died. She apologized, saying she was too sad to come down to our house to meet us. Lauren was kindly translating in my ear and I was thinking to this mother “my heart touches your heart” the whole time. Then she served us rice and tamales with a spoonful of purchased birthday cake on top. I easily connected with all the mothers and grandmothers. We understood each other the instant I said I was Alex’s mama and was introduced to their children and grandchildren. I am so grateful for the teaching and helping these people have offered Alex and Lauren. We visited the school teacher, Hilda (say eelda), who is fantastic and who not only invited me back to stay in her house where we would speak Spanish in the morning and English in the afternoon, but also sent me on my way with three ceramic butterflies that she painted and a lemon the size of my head! Ma Bell (at least that is how I heard her name being pronounced) hosted us for one night on my way back to Panama City. Her daughter is an engineer who works on Panama Canal lock maintenance and her son is nearing the end of medical school. Her house was quite comfortable and she has been hosting volunteers for 12 years. She is a good cook and has wisdom in her eyes. This family has cars, electricity, refrigerators and so are relatively rich. Her goat was being butchered in the back yard, but fortunately in a shed where I could not see.

Alex and Lauren are loved and trusted already and that is half the fight in the Peace Corps. I was silly with the kids in the mud house and in the river. My heart was singing at those times. Lauren was entertained each time she saw me conversing on a bus. Here’s how to start. Say, no hablo Espanol and shrug your shoulders sheepishly. Point to Alex and then yourself and say Madre (well that would be weird if you did that) and then just smile. People offered me crackers, helped me with my luggage, we smiled at each other when we both had to grab the seat back to make it around a corner on the bus.

For those of you thinking of visiting - GO! It changed my outlook and healed my soul. Next, know that it will be much harder than you expect. Also, know that Alex and Lauren can take care of you. Lauren parceled out the critter of the day. “Tonight, if you walk to the latrine in the dark you will pass by a big toad that will startle you but is harmless.” That happened. You will eat campo food, they will introduce you to their community, and they will lead you on adventures. It is absolutely beautiful where they live. Friend me on Facebook if you want Lauren’s pictures with my captions.

Yes, go to your travel doctor and get all the shots and take your antibiotics and stuff for a major stomach disaster with you. Also Benadryl and anti-itch cream for the 2:00 am bouts of scratching your own ankles right off. Take only three changes of clothes – and then only things that drip dry. Rubber boots! Ear plugs.  And some shorts to swim in the river. You will be glad of long sleeves and long pants even though you are hot. A head lamp would be good.

Finally, a very HUGE thank you to Lauren Hayes and Alex Masarie. I love you two! You are doing the real work to obtain a heaping scoop of life and because you are volunteering, I got a tablespoon to season my life. I am going to use that seasoning very sparingly so it will flavor my experiences for many years to come.