Pros and Cons of Living in the Jungle

Pro: So many neat plants and creatures- sloths, little colored frogs, tropical flowers- the list goes on!
Con: They're not all cute and fluffy.  There are scorpions in my laundry pile, lizards on my kitchen table, rats that attack my food stashes, and snakes on the paths.  And those adorable sloths? Apparently they can give you leishmaniasis, so you probably shouldn't touch them either…

Pro: The abundance of water means that there are tons of creeks and waterfalls to explore.
Con: They're also dirty and you might get amebas from them.

Pro: You'll laugh yourself half to death over hilarious dinner conversations about who pooped their pants in the most embarrassing way.
Con: Chances are that after a few months in the jungle you too will have a story to tell.

Con: IF you're lucky enough to have running water, it will go out frequently (and also isn't safe to drink).
Pro: This is what your backup bathing situation will look like.

Con: Just go ahead and store all of your stylish clothes and good makeup.  No uses for them here.
Pro: When else can you literally wear nothing but comfy clothes, sunscreen, and a smile and not feel the least bit guilty?

Pro: Your neighbors grow some cool foods- like bananas and cocoa.
Con: Those things are hard work, man!  You'll have muscles of steel after harvesting bananas and cocoa pods (though maybe that's a pro?)

Pro: Fresh cocoa all the time.
Con: There really is no con to this one.

Con: Do you like dairy products?  Ice cream?  Cold cokes?  Anything at all that needs to be refrigerated?  Go ahead and get used to life without them.
Pro: You'll learn to cook in the campo like a pro.  Do you know how to make brownies and breakfast pizza out of only a few basic ingredients and a fire?  I do.

Pro:  You get to go to sleep to the sounds of softly singing frogs and a babbling creek.
Con: You will wake up to the sounds of loudly crowing roosters and lots of babbling babies.

Con: Between mud, random creatures, kids, and your own filth (don't judge until you've been there),
your house will get really messy.
Pro: Throw some water and clorox on the floor and sweep stuff through the cracks.  Cleaning has never been so easy.

Con: No internet, electricity, or reliable phone signal.
Pro: All the more time to nap with.

Pro: Forget about the cold, it's summer year-round in the jungle!
Con: It may feel like some weird, inception-type situation.  The months change but the weather literally never does.  Ever.

Con: As much as you love your new place, you're going to miss home a lot.
Pro: Your neighbors will do their best to make you feel at home in the jungle, so you might as well make the most of your time here!

It Finally Happened: I Got Parasites

There are currently over 8,000 Peace Corps Volunteers serving worldwide, and each of us is having a distinctly different experience based on lots of different aspects, but specifically location.  Each site has its ups and downs, and though I’d like you all to see Bocas as a beautiful, welcoming place full of warm days, stunning beaches, and nice people, the whole truth isn’t quite as sunny.  

The thing is, we get sick a lot.

The region of Bocas del Toro is notorious for a lack of sanitation, poor water conditions, and, unfortunately, parasites.  After hearing that the previous volunteer in my site was constantly plagued by various ailments, bugs, worms, etc., I was ecstatic (and too early) in thinking that I had managed to escape the same fate. 

About a month ago I started having slight stomach issues but shrugged it off and figured that it was just something food related, since my diet is never constant or normal anymore.  Unfortunately for my stomach, things kept getting worse and I spent the better part of the last two weeks in my hammock debating on whether or not to call our medical office.   I realize that this might not make sense to those of you back in America (sorry, mom) but picture it this way: You’re really, really not feeling well and have no bathroom.  Do you really want to hike 45 minutes to wait on sporadic busses that will eventually take you the hour and a half trek to the lab unless you are 100% sure the reading is going to come out positive for something?  I know I didn’t. 

In my debates about whether or not this little issue was worth the hike, I asked a friend who had dealt with amoebas how she knew for sure she had them.  Her answer- “I shit my pants three times in one night.”  Apologetically laughing, I assured both her and myself that I was not at that point.  Maybe it was the laughing that did me in, maybe it was just meant to happen all along, but two days later, I too knew I had amoebas and left first thing in the morning for our regional capital. 

As odd as it sounds, getting the official diagnosis of amoebas almost made me feel like I was finally a real Bocas volunteer.  For example, the reaction I got from telling friends back home was usually apologetic, but the reaction from volunteers here went some thing more like, “Awesome! Congratulations!” or “Oh, good!” 

Here’s to hoping that being a real Bocas volunteer will continue to err on the sunny, beachy side of things in the future. 

GAD Camp 2014

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the great aspects of Peace Corps Panama is the opportunity we have to work outside of our specific sector to help improve both our communities and the country as a whole.  Though every volunteer has different priorities and desires for these secondary projects, many choose to work with GAD, Gender and Development. 

Here in Panama there are opportunities to organize smaller community-based GAD activities such as health and youth education seminars, but there also several larger events held throughout the country each year.  One of the longest running and most successful events is the National GAD Youth Camp.  Teens in every village which Peace Corps has a presence are eligible to attend, and spots are highly coveted.  This year I applied to be a Volunteer facilitator, and was really excited to be chosen to attend (along with two of my kiddos!)

There was a race to put on the opposite gender's clothing; I don't normally dress like this.  

We attended a TOT (Training of Trainers) shortly before our annual Thanksgiving celebration where we learned all about the week-long seminar and how to facilitate our own sessions.  While I was assigned to teach a charla on Values, other volunteers received topics such as Self-Esteem, Goals, Career Planning and Sexual Health. 

Finally, the week of GAD Camp arrived and I hiked out of site at 6:15 in the morning (yikes!) along with the two teenage girls who had been selected to represent our town.  After a very long day of travel, we arrived in central Panama at nearly 10:00 pm that night.  To accommodate the growing number of applicants, separate weeks were held for different provinces this year, meaning that the camp we attended hosted campers (and volunteers) from Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Veraguas, and the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle. 

Though all of the seminars were undoubtedly important for the kids to hear, for me the greatest part of the week was seeing them come out of their shells and get to know people and places that were completely new to them.  Before GAD camp, the  two teenagers from my town had never even left their families or their provinces!

 

It was also really interesting to watch interactions between the latinos and the indigenous teens.  Though racism and bullying is sadly common between the two groups in Panama, it was incredibly encouraging to see them genuinely curious about each other’s cultures.  There was even a talent show act in which they started out with a very basic and traditional indigenous dance but later burst into a latino style break-dance!

GAD Camp was tons of fun- for the campers and the facilitators- and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to see our work in action.  Working in agribusiness, I'm starting to get used to having to wait for results, so to see the bigger smiles and budding self-confidence after less than a week was a huge blessing and morale booster!

The Little Moments

One of the things I love most about Peace Corps is the freedom you have with your work.  I set my own hours, plan my own projects, and follow things through to measure results and impact.  Some days are pretty typical to office work: I spend hours and hours preparing presentations or planning for a seminar.  Other days, I do the Hokey Pokey with a ton of kids, hand out cookies I made at midnight the night before, and hang out in my hammock reading my 3^rd book that week. 

Before coming here, I fully expected my happiest and most productive days to be those of the former- doing typical “work.”  I thought that would make me happiest and that would be where my biggest potential impact would lie.  However, after a few months in my little village, I’m starting to see things from a different perspective.

I still have hopes and plans for improving the local way of performing agri-business functions.  Though I’m no longer naïve enough to believe that I could completely change the community, I have several smaller goals: helping producers understand basic business functions, taking inventory of their farms, starting to use registers, and potentially even working with value added products (chocolate bars instead of raw beans). 

Making a difference in the way locals handle business practices is certainly important, but I’ve begun to ask myself if there are other equally, if not even more important, ways to make a difference. 

In addition to my primary project (agribusiness development) I also get to work with secondary projects of my choosing: education, youth and gender development, nutrition, etc.- essentially anything other than agribusiness.  As is common with many volunteers, secondary projects have quickly begun to be a large and important part of my work here.  There are the official secondary projects: teaching English in schools and leading gender and development seminars, but then there are also the non-official activities: days I spend playing with kids, helping with art projects or teaching songs and dances to draw shy kids out of their shells. 

As a professional, I feel incredibly happy and fulfilled when I teach excel to a local entrepreneur or when a women’s group asks for my help in marketing their products.  As a person, however, I cannot imagine feeling more fulfilled than when a kid runs up to me to show off the better grades he or she is earning, or when a group of kids starts calling me Aunt to show me that I am a part of their family. 

So, it seems like there are two stories to be told: That which is on my resume, and that which you’ll only hear from listening to the little moments. 

Biking on Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro

Looking for a fun, cheap, activity on Isla Colon? Rent some bikes and explore for the day! A plethora of rentals are scattered around Bocas Town and you'll have the choice of renting per hour or per day. Prices range greatly, but the best deal we found was $5/day or $7/24 hours (located at a small unnamed booth in the fork in the road around the corner from the fire station.) 

Though the island is a decent size, the limited number of roads makes it easy to navigate.  You have three basic options for biking on Isla Colon. Ranging from easiest to most difficult they are:

Cruise the roads of Bocas town. You can spend as short or as long as you want circling the busiest part of the island, but watch out for all of the vendors and pedestrians in the street. 

Heading north from town you'll pass some neat little eateries (and Bocas Brewery!) on the beach road. You'll eventually come to a marked fork in the road where you'll have two options. 

Head to Playa Bluff. This mostly flat road will end shortly before playa bluff, but thanks to 4-wheel drive traffic, the sand on the beach is packed tight enough to still be a decent ride. Stop at Paki Point for lunch and lounging- it's one of my favorite chill out spots on the island. 

Take the longer trip to the beaches of Boca del Drago. This 15km route definitely requires some leg muscles to get over the fairly constant hills, so if you're in the hunt for a bigger challenge, give it a go!

No matter what route you choose, I'm sure you'll have a great time biking on Isla Colon!

My Most Beautiful Day in Bocas

Though I normally shop around first, I was sold after talking to the people over at Olas tours (located just around the corner from the police station).  With no time to waste, we jumped on the boat that was just getting ready to leave and headed out to Dolphin Bay, Coral Key, and Zapatillas Island.  The thing I most loved about this tour was that each stop was beautifully different from the others, and our guide, Willy, was happy to adjust the stop times to meet our group´s preferences.  

After leaving around 11:30, we boated through perfectly still, mangrove surrounded waters to reach our first destination- Dolphin Bay.  According to Willy, you have an 80% chance of seeing dolphins on any given day, as this bay is home to a pod year round.  The dolphins are free to roam out into the open ocean, but seem to prefer this secure bay which abounds with jellyfish- one of their favorite foods.

After leaving Dolphin Bay, we grabbed at our cameras once again to capture the insanely beautiful waters surrounding Cayo Coral. To make the most of our time, we ordered lunch at the local restaurant and then headed off to snorkle while it was being prepared. 

 Though the food wasn´t anything to write home about (next time I´ll pack a sandwhich and some fresh fruit), the views made up for it.  And did I mention there were Maccaws?  

The next and final destination was Isla Zapatillas (aka one of the most gorgeous islands in Bocas.)  The aquamarine water and complete lack of development in this national park made it the perfect place to lay back and nap while listening to the gentle waves hit the beach.  

A perfect ending to a perfect day?  I think so.

Trading Sparkles for Chacos and Celebrating 2014

While I have always loved spending New Years Eve getting dressed up  and taking tons of photos with friends while playing Dick Clark's TV special, this year may take the cake for my favorite so far.

There weren't fancy outfits (or makeup for that matter), but there was plenty of rice, friendship, and locally grown coffee.  To my surprise, there was even fireworks and a *tiny* glass of wine!

Although my dad and I had originally planned to spend NYE on Bocas Island, absolutely everything was booked, and we decided to celebrate the coming of 2014 with my small village on the mainland.  Though I certainly love the island, I have to say, I'm glad things turned out the way they did.

We ventured out to town that morning to pick up fireworks and food, but were surprised to see that every. single. bus. was full by the time it got to my stop.  Three and a half hours and a few headaches later, we finally finished what is normally a 15 minute trip.  Stocked up, we returned to my little village to start preparations for the evening.

A small group of villagers who live near the center of town took charge, and together we prepared coffee and cookies, soup, rice, and a small cake (That last one was my contribution).  The one family who owns a solar panel put a movie on their laptop and over 20 men, women, and children eagerly gathered around to watch a Spanish subtitled movie while waiting for the clock to strike 12.

Instead of the usual countdown at midnight, the party host gave a small speech and then we shot off several fireworks and burned a stuffed scarecrow.  Burning these "dolls" of the old year symbolizes letting go of the past and any bad memories associated with it.  If only I had gotten a before picture!