All work and all play makes Jack a...???

I've found in Peace Corps Panamá the work feels a lot like play and the play feels a lot like work. So what are we left with? Whether playing or working we are actually working or playing meaning it's all work and all play. As an aside, this makes it really important to pursue the completely inert state of neither work nor play, which is most readily achieved in near total darkness in a hammock. Thus, be you in an over, under, or middle-of-the-pack achieving mood, you are most likely working. Here are some examples. The day before yesterday Lauren and I woke up late, didn't really look at a watch until 5:30 p.m. and laughed the whole day through. Play? No, work! That day was probably one of the most productive we've had recently because we visited a bunch of people and got together a very satisfactory plan for an upcoming Earth Day activity we've schemed up. We even got to bathe Goma AND her three kittens. On the other hand, I spent yesterday traveling to a training. Trainings are dull, traveling to trainings is like the dull before the dull storm...work, work, work. Wrong! Four bus trips sleeping like a baby on Panamá-strength Dramamine, then a three-and-a-half hour walk through the beautiful Comarca countryside to be met by three new friends, one actually named Fidel, and guided to a tree house where, after some phone calls, I realized I was a day earlier than everyone else, including the tree house's owner, spending the evening watching the mist roll over the mountains and then clear to reveal a breathtaking night sky as I faded into the solitude of an 11-hour night's sleep with the only thing to do is wait 24-hours for everyone else to show and dry out all my belongings because a torrential down-pour caught me an hour into said three-and-a-half hour walk. For me, that's play. There is no clock to punch in, much less punch out. So what? Why am I sharing this with you? It seemed like a fun idea to write this, but I guess one of the main parts of my job is to share my experiences with folks back home...DOH!

Busy, busy, busy!

Life is great, but man have we been busy!  Most of you know that we recently returned home for a week long surprise visit. The visit was short but enjoyed. Most of the time was spent relaxing, using the internet, sharing stories with family and friends, and eating lots of healthy home cooked meals. (Thanks mom and dad!)

We returned to Panama ready to dive back into our projects! Here's an update about what’s been happening.

-Alex has been super busy with two major water projects.  His time is mostly occupied by planning, organizing, and/or facilitating meetings, measuring hills through the jungle with a giant rope, mediating between community members, and other various tasks associated with the projects.

*Good news- In the last meeting, the community decided the project is a go! AND they elected their own community water committee! AND as I am writing this Alex is in the Comaraca Nogbe Bugle building a water system for another community so that he can learn more and be ready to start on San Juanito’s water system when he returns.   

-In other news, Alex and I pulled off a pretty successful Earth Day fair in San Juanito! The topic was Reducir, Reutilizar, y Reciclar! (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!) We had three stations with educational games about each of the three R's, plus a fourth station dedicated to all things about plastic bags. As an attendance prize each family took home their very own reusable canvas bag made especially by our very own Shelly Masarie! As an incentive to get our campo friends to use their canvas bags we talked with the stores in our community to offer a 15 cent discount to customers that use their canvas bags instead of plastic bags. :)

-I'm excited to be a facilitator at a Woman's seminar coming up in June. The seminar offers all sorts of sessions such as basic business skills, self-esteem, woman’s health/nutrition and technical art classes. I was asked by our Gender and Development committee to do my own session on domestic violence. So I have been busy planning that. Also I am running for vice president of the Gender and Development committee, the elections are in May. If I win it will be my job to travel around the country with other members of the board organizing/giving educational sessions on things like HIV/AIDS, youth empowerment, women’s empowerment, domestic violence, men’s health, and sex education. Wish me luck!

-I also have started teaching English at the school on Mondays. I have an hour with the Kindergartners  a hour with 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th graders then another hour with the 2^nd 4^th and 6^th graders. And then FINALLY I finish the day off with one more hour with the teachers! Whew! Mondays are busy days.

-Another little project that is still in the works is something called SpayPanama, I am trying to get the non-profit organization SpayPanama to come to my community and spay and neuter all the dogs and cats. There are so many stray unwanted animals and no one can afford to spay/neuter their pets. The organization will come to my community and bring all the equipment and doctors and spay and neuter ALL the animals for $20 each dog and $10 each for cats. It costs about $80 if you take your pet to a normal vet. This doesn't seem bad to us but $20 is still really expensive here and people still cannot afford it. I am going to see if we can do some fundraising type things to earn the money so we can pay for a least 50 animals. I’ll keep you all posted!

I am sure I am forgetting some things, but I think that is it for now.  We are coming up on our one year anniversary of being in Panama May 1^st! Can you believe it??? Come visit us. 

Guna Yala

After hiking 30 miles through virgin rain forest, crossing the Continental divide, passing by howler monkeys, poison dart frogs, and an uncountable number of colorful birds, we arrived at the Caribbean Sea. We took a boat to the island of Ustupo, but...not before trekking a quarter of a mile through the ocean, fully clothed to board the over crowded boat. It was dark.

The following day we awoke to a tropical paradise. Turquoise blue waters, the Guna Yala women dressed in bright textiles, traditional molas and gold jewelry. The men in camouflage and the sound of gun fires filling the air...oh wait.

February 25th marks the Guna Yala revolution in which this native indigenous group gained independence from Panama. During the week of the 25th, the entire island puts on reenactments of the successful expulsion of the Panamanian government  (Hence the camouflage and gun fires.) We spent the next 2 days celebrating the 88th anniversary of their revolution

with "chicha fuerte."

The direct translation of "chicha fuerte" is "strong juice" and yes it is strong. It's a fermented drink made from sugar cane, cacao (chocolate plant), and coffee. (Tastes like coffee chocolate wine) There is a "casa de chicha" (drinking hall) where pretty much everyone on the island, excluding children, but including the oldest of the oldest 80 year-old abuelas get trashed on chicha fuerte. This all started at 8:30 in the morning and also included dancing, harmonicas, whistles, and tobacco.

This all may sound a little chaotic and crazy, but to be honest it was one of the coolest things I've experienced. The island is beautiful. The Guna Yala people are amazing. They have so much pride for their culture and were so excepting and willing to share with us.

"Mm-hm" moments in the campo

Are they awkward? Are they strange? Are they just more examples of culture clashes in this lovely world we live in? These are the David Letterman top ten campo moments that make you say "Mm-hm..." No specific emphasis, no exclamation points, just a couple short breaths... Just "Mm-hm..."

10. Upon noticing one of the rancho dogs looked particularly rotund Lauren asked Abuela Chola, "Esta embarazada la perra?" Wanting to know if the mama dog was pregnant again. Startled, Abuela Chola responded, "Nah, está llena!" Which means, "Naw, she's full!" And then added that she gave her some injections so that she wouldn't get pregnant any more. "Mm-hm..."

9. Alex toiled away one afternoon to carefully calibrate and re-calibrate a PVC gutter on one side of the house so as to save Lauren's newly planted flower garden below from torrential roof run-off. As the afternoon skies opened up, Alex sat back and admired his work, a true trial by fire. At that moment Raulin, his good campo friend, hurtled onto the porch to get out of the rain. Following Alex's gaze Raulin fixed his eye on the gutter as well. "The water is falling weird," he said and reached up to give the gutter a good yank, dislodging it from its riggings. "Si. Mejor." As we watched the water wash away the soil and the seeds I had to agree while crying on the inside, "Yes Raulin. That IS better." "Mm-hm..."

8. Lauren and I returned from a visit to an Embera community excited to share our experiences with this awesome Panamanian indigenous group. Abuelo Cholo was brimming with questions... Well okay, not brimming, he had two questions. "¿Llevaban sus tetas afuera?" Which roughly translates to, "Were their tits out?" To this we answered in the negative, which prompted this follow-up question, "¿Habían hamacas?" Or, "Were there hammocks?" Yes Abuelo. The women had their tits "in," but at least there were hammocks. "Mm-hm..."

7. A recent Sunday sermon had passed into the announcements phase during which everyone gets a chance to give news and share upcoming activities. Padre Isidro was making an announcement about an upcoming multi-cultural activity and said roughly the following, "We will be sharing foods from all around Central and South America. You all will have the opportunity to try dishes from Guatemala, Panama... ... ... and some other countries I just can't think of right now." "Mm-hm..."

6. We fell into a conversation, also at the rancho, about a veterinarian for our new found cat's skin ailment. Gaspar, the oldest son of Abuelo and Abuela, began enthusiastically recommending his friend from La Pintada who was an expert on fixing this, that and the other affliction on cow health. The ever astute Abuela Chola giggled, "Pero, no es vaca, es gata!" Meaning, "But, it isn't a cow, it's a cat!" "Hm-hm..."

5. At Santos Lorenzo and Maria's house the other day we were just about to leave when they asked us to stay another minute to help them with something. We agreed and Maria whisked away returning with a small box in hand. She said they didn't know what it was, but thought it was valuable. They showed us a set of gold cuff links and a tie clip. We explained their usage and how the box said 18-carat gold. She said she knew they were valuable because they had not rusted even though she found the box abandoned in the mud. "Mm-hm..."

4. Lauren and I descended to the rancho one day to find our campesino friend Benigno passed out sitting up in a chair. Having had too much to drink he decided to sit right down in the middle of the patio and sleep it off. Conversation continued normally as if he weren't sleeping in between everyone talking until Omaira, Abuela Chola's oldest daughter said, "Man, his neck is gonna hurt later." All of this transpired on a Tuesday afternoon at about 2:15. "Mm-hm..."

3. As we returned from La Pintada on the bus one day, the driver made a quick stop and the Pavo, the driver's assistant, hustled into a corner store and returned with two six-packs of Balboa, which he carefully tucked behind the door. Upon arrival in San Juanito we had to stop short on our exit as the Pavo handed down the precious cargo to an expectant Abuelo Cholo who had jogged out from the rancho to collect. He flashed a sheepish grin when he saw us. Apparently Abuelo Cholo has learned how to order beer to his house. "Mm-hm..."

2. The other day on our ever gracious guide Anacleto's farm we were planting some cucumbers and Lauren was heard celebrating the great fertilizing properties of "caca de vaca" or "cow poop." In his quiet, unassuming manner as if to avert a future embarrassing situation for a dear friend he interjected in a serious tone, "Lorena. Here we call that material mierda de vaca," which literally translates as "cow shit." "Hm-mm..."

1. Abuela Chola sat on our porch one day, carefully scrutinizing a children's book of animal pictures, a recent arrival from the U.S. of A. Turning the book to show us the current picture she said, "En antes, antes de maquinas y tractores, se amarraban estes animales juntos para trabajar y alcanzar cosas." Which means, "In the olden days, before machines and tractors, they used to tie these animals together in order to work and reach things." The picture was of two giraffes. "Mm-hm..."

And that's it. Perhaps you laughed, cried, or just kept reading wondering what the heck this is all about. This is about our people and how much we love them. They are the gentlest, most honorable, say-it-like-it-is people we have ever met. They are doubly infinite in wisdom and kindness. They simultaneously remake our world and include our souls in their world on a daily basis. They have taught me how to grin and bear it and bite my tongue in order to suppress laughter. May "Dios los bendiga siempre."

I am not sure if the cat is pregnant or not and other things that have changed 180 degrees lately

Sorry for the long title and even sorrier for not having got to blogging for some time, but this oughta be a nice and positive one to make up for it!

They have a saying here in the Latino campo of Panama, "El mundo siempre da vuelta," which means the world always turns around. This is very true and to know/remember and it will help you along the path to infinite wisdom if you know/remember it, I am pretty sure. So here we go.

Most of the town thinks so and we often think so, but there are times when we doubt the cat is pregnant. Goma, the name that stuck for the cat (which, no pun intended, means Glue in Spanish), seems to have a larger than usual belly, but not huge. Her little cat nipples are pink, but not super-pink. She is lazy, but not overly lazy for a cat. The bottom line is she may not or may be pregnant. Truth be told we have no idea what a pregnant cat does or looks like. Having talked to everyone from Abuela Chola to Andrew Hayes over the phone about the matter we have come to cling to one fact. A cat gestates for 9 weeks, we found her on January 14, so if she has babies by March 21, then she is now (on February 14th) pregnant. If there are no babies by this time, then she is not presently pregnant. Until then Lauren greets Goma by saying, "Where's your babies? Show me your babiiiieeeessss!"

The other thing that has "dio una vuelta"

Organizing seeds in the mud hut

by 180 degrees is the work load we carry. For all the January days we sat in the hammock devouring books and learning new guitar songs, we are now sweating, walking all over God's green Earth visiting people, and mixing it up with a dozen or so semi-serious projects. It's all going down big time now. How do we know? A Panamanian agency showed up at our doorstep and brought an armload of seeds and said, "Here. Hand these out and plant them." This is practically unheard of in this country. Lauren is having a great time divvying up the seeds and looking for homes as fast as she can. So far, the seeds are even germinating, which is also rare since hand-out seeds are usually "get-what-you-pay-for" and that is nothing. I have gone from having no leads in any water-related work to having two viable sources as options and all the leg work that comes with preparing the people and myself for a water project. All this new energy we assume is tied to the other 180 degree change... the weather.

Preparing for meetings with Goma

It threatened to become "dry season" for a long time, but there was always soggy ground, plenty of water, and rain. Now it seems as if someone has flipped a switch that says "San Juanito Dry" leaving the ground dry and parched, our faucets dry during daytime hours, and lots of dust. It is hot as heck and when rain falls it seems to do little to fill up our water tank. We are going to be changing up our lifestyle greatly to accommodate the lack of water. Our house is relatively high up in the water system and we are piggy-backed to the Abuelos down the hill so we are among the first faucets to dry out in the morning. Today we had our first experience of washing clothes at the river, which was actually really fun and a refreshingly different set of challenges than our typical washing rigamarole. We have taken to bathing in the river too like the Jungle Book or Robin Hood "never thinkin' that a schemin' sheriff and his posse were awatchin' them and gatherin' around."

We have walked far and wide in these days too. We are finding San Juanito proper is pretty well off and content if not overly busy with their various pursuits in life. We have found that the outskirts of town, a neighborhood called Santa Cruz and a smaller sister town called Papayal, have been somewhat forgotten and are slightly more game to work with us on their goals. Working in the outskirts means a fair bit of walking and "honey, there ain't no metro-link round here!" We walk, walk and carry stuff, and walk, carry stuff, and plan the meetings we are headed to at the same time. Of course that doesn't bother us in the slightest. As hikers, this puts us in fine spirits and we down plates of spaghetti at the end of each day to replace what we burn. Our nights are spent struggling sleepily from hammock to bed as early as 7:00 p.m. sometimes. We are happy, healthy and always ready for more hiking!

Our days off and vacations are full of stupidly long walks too. We summited the highest mountain in our vicinity Orari last Friday with a group of Peace Corps folks. We are taking a significant chunk of vacation time February 21st through the 27th to plunge into the indigenous region of the Guna Yala people and hike across the continental divide to the Caribbean Ocean side. This adventure is a guided hike with a group of 20 or so Peace Corps folks that involves a couple hard hiking days that culminate in a visit to an indigenous Caribbean island where they will be celebrating, with ferocity we hear, their independence day.

At the summit of Cerro Orari 

All these changes have been much welcomed and the time is flying by again. We can't believe it has been over nine months now that we set out our doors to discover Panama. It is shocking to think we are a third of the way through our service! We have learned so much, but still feel so young and new in this country. I can't believe how incredibly lucky we are to be where we are at with the people we are with. Life is just about perfect and would be exactly perfect if the stupid male dogs would stop fighting claw and tooth over the female dogs in heat!

Lot of love to everyone,

Alex (and Lauren too!!!)


Sent from my iPod

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.