Saturday, December 13, 2014

Friends, Food, and a Panamanian Thanksgiving

Only the best busses sell ice cream cones

Since our Close of Service is rapidly approaching, I´ve been starting to work on cultivating a deeper post on how grateful I am for the impact Peace Corps has had on my life.  So instead of getting too deep, I´m going to save that for another time and instead share a little about the awesome Thanksgiving celebrations I was able to have here in Panama. 



As per Peace Corps Panama tradition, a majority of volunteers made the trek up to Cerro Punta, Chiriquí to celebrate Thanksgiving as a giant, happy, Peace Corps family.  After some of my busiest, sickest months yet, it was awesome to have the opportunity to spend a few days relaxing and celebrating with some of my closest friends. 

Carlos, the owner of Los Quetzales Eco-Lodge, was wonderfully accommodating and gave us all wonderful deals on accommodations, food, drink, and spa services.  My friends and I rented a cabin with stunningly beautiful views of the surrounding rainforest, and I couldn´t not take advantage of $20 hour-long massages…


 With the help of our master chef, Brennan, we created a delicious and mostly locally sourced Thanksgiving feast of roasted turkey, baked ham, cranberry stuffing, sweet potato and lentil curry, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, salad with cornbread croutons, chocolate cupcakes, and fruit tarts with a homemade custard filling.  Talk about a bule kri…full belly! 


 
Our incredible Thanksgiving dinner

We also had a talent show that was surprisingly packed with talented, well thought out acts such as a hip hop take on a traditional dance and a Panama PCV´s 12 days of Christmas:

On the first day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- a parrot in a pifá tree!
On the second day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 2 Many catcalls…
On the third day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 3 Meetings cancelled…
On the fourth day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 4 Quarts of Clos (the cheapest wine)
On the fifth day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 5 Days of School in November!
On the sixth day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 6 Pavos shouting…
On the seventh day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 7 Swines a Sqealing…
On the eighth day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 8 Outfits molding…
On the ninth day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 9 Nipples nursing…
On the tenth day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 10 Turtle eggs a frying…
On the eleventh day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 11 Random rashes…
On the twelfth day of Christmas my PanaMan gave to me- 12 Poops a day…




Obviously, a good time was had by all and tears were almost shed when we realized that this would be our last Thanksgiving together as Group 73.  Thankfully we still have almost 8 months left in country. 

And because one incredible Thanksgiving wasn´t enough, Part 2- Group 75´s Friendsgiving- followed a few short days later. Sadly, due to the initial 3 month travel ban which just barely encompassed Thanksgiving Day, our newest group of awesome volunteers, Group 75, was not allowed to attend the annual celebrations in Cerro Punta.  Since they´re a positive and super fun group, they decided to make the most of a potentially sad situation and organize their own Friendsgiving in Panama City.  They even invited some of us old volunteers (we´re almost the seniors now!) and since I was passing through in preparation for my trip to the Darien- more on that to come- I was able to spend some time celebrating a second time. Even though we couldn´t be at home celebrating with our families, I think I can speak for everyone in saying that our Panama Thanksgiving was pretty dang awesome.  

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