Making Myself at Home

A few days ago I was walking through a grocery store in Panama City and an Afro-Panamanian came up to me and said in English, "Are you from the Darién?" There are actually a decent amount of English speakers in the city, with a wide range of fluency levels. Even so it almost always takes me off guard. Then I realized I was wearing my Darién baseball jersey. I told him I had lived in the Comarca Emberá-Wounaan for a couple years, but now live in Chiriquí (a western province of Panama). He spoke in broken English and I responded slowly and clearly as he explained he was from La Palma, the capital of Darién. I told him, "Me puede hablar en español si quiere." Then we switched to spanish and the conversation was much easier. It still feels a bit strange to tell people that I live in Chiriquí, because I still identify more with the Darién. Not to mention telling people you live deep in the jungle near the Colombian border generates more of a reaction. But even though sometimes I have to think about it first, I now refer to Chiriquí as home. And it will be for a while yet.

San Felix, situated just off the Pan American highway

It's been quite some time since I've given an update here, and not surprisingly things have changed. I have officially extended for a third year here in Panama as the Water Systems Coordinator. That means I will be here until August of 2015. I'll be in the same location, the friendly Latino/Ngabe town of San Felix (it's located close to the indigenous reservation of the Ngabe people). Since there is a good amount going on with water projects in Panama, I've been kept pretty busy giving Volunteer support. In Peace Corps life they say that the first few months seem to drag by, the first year goes fast, and the second year flies by before you know it. I'd say that held true for me for the most part, so I can imagine what the third year will be like.

When I arrived in San Felix it felt like a really big town, which relatively it is. But after spending some months there it's starting to become more familiar as I get to know people and places. Gustavo works behind the meat counter at the nearest store, and I hired him to build a bike for me with a bunch of parts that I managed to find or buy. The first time I took it out for a spin, a bolt came loose and one of the pedals fell off. When Gustavo found out he felt so bad that he immediately came over to my house and started helping me fix it, giving me parts from his house. When I offered to pay him for the parts he told me,  "My work is guaranteed, don't worry about it!" Pincho, the landlady's 70-something year old brother, likes to come over most days to chat or get my opinion on a newspaper article he just read. Heidi, who has a tiny restaurant just down the road, has offered spinach and hot peppers growing in her yard. Edilma, aka "The Duro Lady", makes the best duros (plastic bags of frozen fruit juice) that I've ever had for 25 cents each. A different Gustavo, a taxi driver with a truck that looks like it's barely held together by wire and duct tape, loves to give rides to gringos and offers the best prices.

My house, with my bike parked outside

The house gets a lot of visitors passing through.

There is an unusually large number of Volunteers living in San Felix. I'm sharing the rental house with Amber, who is the Sanitation Coordinator for the Environmental Health program. Since it's a central location, it made sense for us to be based there to be able to travel out to Volunteer sites all over the country. The regional leader of the Comarca Ngabe-Buglé, Seneca, also lives just down the road. A Peace Corps Response Volunteer, Lucas, lives in town and travels to work in different communities. On top of that Rachel, another East sider refugee removed from site for security reasons, just moved in to finish her service there. That makes five of us. In addition to that many Volunteers regularly pass through on trips out of their communities to buy food and other supplies, check the internet, or just to take a break from living in a hut without running water or electricity. So we get a good amount of visitors.

The biggest store in town with a variety of food not found in the campo

The entrance to Las Lajas, home of a beautiful beach

When I tell people about San Felix they usually haven't heard of it, but they recognize the neighboring town of Las Lajas, which is known for its attractive beach on the Pacific. The beach is about a half hour bike ride (or a short taxi trip) from my house, and it's normally deserted. It's actually one of the nicest beaches I've been to in Panama. This is a popular place for Volunteers to get together and go for a swim and spend a night in the cabañas right on the beach.

Playa Las Lajas: a nice place to take a break, just down the road from my house

Meeting the Peace Corps Director (4th from left)

Being a third volunteer has its perks. Amber and I were asked by the Peace Corps office to represent the EH program and go to a dinner with other Volunteers to meet the global Director of the Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet. It was part of a conference with country directors from all over the region who came to see our operations in Panama. The Director listened to our perspectives on being a Volunteer in Panama and she told us stories about Peace Corps on a global level. It was exciting to meet her and she was very friendly and easy to talk to.


So as you can see I'm getting more settled into the place, even though much of my time is spent traveling to other places. I'm having a blast meeting new people, seeing new places, learning new skills, and doing what I can to have an impact on the efforts toward better water, sanitation, and hygiene for rural Panamanians.