Mountain Roads and Green Bean Casserole

After some Peace Corps training followed by our Thanksgiving party, I've been out and about for over two weeks now, the longest time I've spent outside of my community.   Normally if I leave for more than a day or two, people ask me if I went back to "Meecheegon" to visit.  So even though I told people where I was going, I can imagine they probably think I left for good at this point.  Hopefully not...

Our training sessions in Coclé made for a good time to catch up with old friends - well, more like new friends that I hadn't seen in several months, since they live on the other side of the country.  Our whole group got together and learned all kinds of fun stuff from filling out grant applications to building a model aqueduct for water committee seminars.  One of the best parts was the food.  I forgot what it was like to actually be full.

We ended up having a few days to kill before most of us headed out to the Peace Corps Panama Thanksgiving party.  A small group of us decided to visit Peña Blanca, Chet's site in the mountains of the Comarca Ngobe Bugle.  The community is another indigenous group called the Ngobe, with their own language and traditional dress.

Hanging out in Chet's new house in Peña Blanca

Everything about the area is completely different from my community.  That was the first time I've actually been somewhat cold at night in Panama.  All the houses are long distances from each other, there are huge mountain ranges to look at, and the people are very shy.  So pretty much the opposite of my community.  While there is actually a road to the village, I think I prefer cruising on a river.  Getting tossed around in the back of a truck over mountain roads can be quite painful and exhausting.  When you have almost thirty people in the back of a pickup, sometimes you have to get out to lighten the load going up certain slippery hills.  We only had to push it up a hill once.

Taking a walk to let the truck make it up a hill

Traveling even further west into the mountains, we made our way to Cerro Punta to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I really enjoyed the cold weather there, it was a great relief from constant heat and humidity.  Let's just say I've been missing the change of seasons here.  Some volunteers worked hard to bring us a legitimate Thanksgiving meal, with all the essentials.  I was very impressed.  It definitely wasn't the same without my family, but we've all become a kind of family here.  One thing that I am thankful for is having all the other Peace Corps volunteers around to share stories, laugh with, get cheered up, and quite honestly keep me from going insane.  We are all from different backgrounds, beliefs, and stages of life, but when we get together it's like a family reunion.  That's been a great support for me.

Enjoying our delicious Thanksgiving meal

Happy 3rd of November

Sometimes it feels like I'm in my own little world out in the jungle.  Without regular access to internet, TV, or news, I often have no clue what's going on in the rest of the world.  Every once in a while I'll get a little piece of news from another Peace Corps volunteer or a family member on the phone, but it's like a quick snapshot without much background.  Apparently there was a hurricane in New York, and Obama is still the president.


The month of November is patriotism month in Panama, with many holidays including two independence days - one from Spain and the other from Columbia.  We celebrated the 3rd of November (separation from Columbia) in my community last week.  There was a parade with so many people in it that there was hardly anyone left to watch it.  I also joined in the marching up near the front of the line, representing Peace Corps.  Before the marching started the entire community sang the national anthem.  I didn't actually know the words so I pretended to sing.  It reminded me of the time when I was helping teach a ninth grade English class in the school.  The teacher randomly asked me to sing my national anthem in front of the class.  She wanted them to practice listening to English.  I was not prepared for this.  I told her I wasn't much of a singer, but she insisted.  As I was singing I remembered there are some really high notes in there.  It was a struggle.  Then the teacher asked me to translate the entire song into Spanish.  Everything is a lot harder when you're standing in front of a bunch of giggling teenagers.  I don't think I'm cut out for that, I don't know how teachers do it.  Speaking in front of adults in the community is a lot easier.

The kids representing all the cultural groups of Panama

The parade marched around town

The 3rd of November celebration was sort of like our 4th of July, except instead of fireworks and burgers we had loud drums and arroz con pollo.  American holidays here have been pretty disappointing so far, since generally nothing special happens.  I forgot about Halloween until the day of, when I realized what the date was.  Fortunately Thanksgiving will not be forgotten, since I'll be celebrating with other volunteers who are making all the traditional Thanksgiving food.  Not sure how my stomach will react to that sudden change in diet, but hopefully it will be worth it.

More pictures...

Helping make some arroz con pollo with the women