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.  

Stakeholders & Ice Cream

I think it's pretty obvious that I love my job as a National Agribusiness Coordinator for Peace Corps Panama.  So far I've spent most of my time doing community visits, training new volunteers, and developing materials.  A few weeks ago I had another great work opportunity- I was invited to be a part of the semi-annual Stakeholder's meeting for Peace Corps Panama's Sustainable Agricultural Systems program! 

About 20 stakeholders gathered for 3 days in Santiago, Veraguas to talk about how we can work together and plan projects for the upcoming year.  There was a great group of people present that I was really excited to work with- my boss, Aimee, the other coordinators (Zoe for Cacao, Jed for Fish and Rice Tanks, and Elena for Agribusiness,) a few other volunteers to represent all regions of Panama, several community members, and representatives from many of the Panamanian agencies that we work with.  

Zoe and I with our Bocas del Toro MIDA Representative

After Elena and I presented a short informational session on Peace Corps' agribusiness program, we were excited to talk to various representatives from the Department of Agriculture, MIDA, about the many ways in which we can work together.  We even solidified a great work plan in Bocas in which I'll get to co-facilitate 11 agribusiness seminars in communities that MIDA is financially supporting.

  

And it wouldn't have been a Peace Corps gathering if certificates weren't handed out and copious amounts of ice cream wasn't eaten- so we made sure to take care of both of those things.  Can 6 volunteers put away 2 half gallons of ice cream and 6 frozen snickers bars in one setting?  Why yes, yes we can.

The Life of Chocolate

November is here and that means some awesome things are happening in Panama: Independence days (yes, plural) parades, random festivals, and most importantly... chocolate season.  

While chocolate (cacao) trees can produce fruit all year long, the biggest harvests are November-early January.  Having always been a chocolate lover, I was ecstatic to learn I'd be working with the production and processing of one of nature's most delicious fruits.  Though I've always preferred the business side of my job, even I have to admit that getting to work with each step of the chocolate process is pretty cool.

From pre-service training (PST) to chocolate week at in-service training to simply working with my neighbors in site, I've learned so much about chocolate this year and am excited to finally be blogging about it! 

Fun Facts

Cacao trees take 5 years to produce their first fruits, but can continue producing for ~50 years!

Ripe cacao pods are bright yellow, orange, and red and roughly the size of a nurf ball

The beans aren't brown- they're actually a deep purple until toasted

The milky white gel that surrounds each bean tastes like a watermelon jolly rancher

White chocolate is made by cooking the natural fats out of the darker chocolate

Cacao trees can only grow at certain latitudes 

The Ngäbere word for chocolate is Oreba

I can get a fist-sized ball of chocolate for 70¢... it's almost dangerous

Agroforestry

Cacao trees are generally started in small bags in a vivero- a tree nursery that provides partial shade and protection from the elements.  After a few months, they are ready to be planted in forested tropical areas with plenty of heat, sun, and rain.  Three-five years after planting, the trees should be producing their first harvests and with good care and maintenance can continue to produce chocolate for up to 50 years- though they generally produce their highest volume harvests between 10 and 20 years of age.  

Harvesting

Our trees produce the majority of their fruits between November and January, and when it's time to harvest, the whole family heads to the farm!  After being clipped from lower branches or guillotined off of higher ones, cacao pods are collected (usually in a backpack basket) and then cut open in order to get to the good stuff- cacao beans surrounded by a white, milky fruit. 

Processing

After being collected from their pods, cacao beans are fermented in wooden boxes for 3-7 days before being sun-dried for another ~10 days.  Some driers are much nicer than others and have rollaway rain covers or multiple floors, but the most basic option is a simple raised wooden platform.  Ideally, beans should be mixed with a wooden rake every few hours to ensure even drying.

Next, the cacao beans are toasted for up to an hour, thereby making your house smell wonderful. After they take a moment to cool off, the beans are then peeled.  At this point they're called nibs and can be eaten just like that.  They're pretty bitter and taste similar to a coffee bean.  To continue with the chocolate making process, the nibs are ground into a thick paste.  No liquids are added in this part- it becomes pasty thanks to all of the natural oils present in cacao!  If desired, you can then put the paste in molds (or banana leaves) to let them harden over the next few hours.  

Finally- chocolate!  Though expensive, modern machinery is needed to produce the smooth chocolate bars we buy in stores, there's something seriously delicious about eating the same chocolate you picked off the tree.   

Marketing and Selling

Depending on how the community intends to use or sell their cacao, from this point there's a few different routes they can take.  If they're using their cacao, the mothers of the family will likely heat the cocoa with water and sugar to make a dark hot cocoa which is delicious when cooked with lemongrass.  While some communities do sell fully processed chocolate bars, most sell the raw, dried beans to a cooperative or middleman who can then sell them on the international market.  Beans are usually cut in half and tested for moisture content and overall quality before an offer is made.  After that, the beans are packaged according to quality and are on their way to becoming the chocolate you know and love!

Interested in learning how to use cacao in baking or cooking recipes?  Check back next week for my favorite chocolate recipes!

Panama's Patriotic Days

November is a month full of holidays in November, six to be exact.  And when you have six holidays in one month- plus any other unofficial festival that might be going on- well, the country seems to just be on one long break.  

On the agenda of things to celebrate are:

November 2   - Day of the Dead
November 3   - Independence from Colombia
November 4   - Flag Day
November 5   - Columbus Day (And seeing as though he named many cities in Panama...)
November 10 - The Uprising of Los Santos against Spain (Literally translated as "The first scream of                           the saints)
November 28 - Independence from Spain

Needless to say, there are plenty of celebrations throughout the country and though I was sad to miss my town's festivities, it was really neat to be in the national capital for these patriotic days.  

Flag Day, November 5, was the big party day, and I was excited to have another Bocas volunteer around to celebrate with!  Zoe and I meandered along the Cinta Costera, munched on delicious street food, and took tons of photos of stylishly clad marching bands and kids in typical Panamanian dress. Having spent my entire first year in an indigenous site, I thought it was really neat to see the more Latino side of Panamanian Culture.  

And can you believe those stilettos the band girls march in?!  

I got sent to the capital to recover from pneumonia...

Now I have pneumonia, a skin infection, and gastrointestinal parasites. 

Looks like I'm 3 for 3 this week...

Micro Finance in Panama

The week before my little Pneumonia fun I was invited to facilitate an agribusiness education seminar for recipients of micro-finance grants from MIDA (the Panamanian Ministry of Agriculture.)  

Ecstatic to be doing very official sounding work, my Agribusiness co-coordinator Elena and I made the trip to Santiago, Veraguas to meet with representatives from MIDA and the 30 or so seminar participants.

Each attendee was representing a small farmer's group from his or her rural town that had recently received a business development grant from MIDA and would be implementing agricultural projects to produce products such as organic meats, eggs, vegetables, and/or fruits.  

A few years ago the agribusiness coordinators developed a seminar series that we've continued to improve each year.  The series is a complete set of lessons and workbook activities for themes like accounting, marketing, product (line) improvement, personal and group finance, farm inventories, and costs of production.  Since almost all of the preparation and practice was done ahead of time (Elena and I have both given the charlas throughout Panama during our first year as volunteers,) we were free to take things easy and focus on getting to know the producers and what specific business themes we could help them with. 

Even though the training was a mandatory stipulation to receiving their grants, I was really impressed with the positive attitudes and participation we received from both men and women.  They brought up really great topics like how to manage group finances and pay dividends and how they could overcome logistical issues through marketing and vendor relationships.  

Throughout the week we received tons of positive feedback, and by the end of our seminar many of the attendees were asking how they could get their own Peace Corps volunteers! It was great to see Peace Corps in action in a different setting than usual, and reminded me how excited and proud I am to continue to work with such a great organization!  

One of my favorite sessions- the 5 P's of Marketing!

Signing participation certificates

The Five Things I Couldn’t Live Without in the Peace Corps

A good, big backpack.

As you may have guessed by this and some of my other posts, I didn’t own any outdoor equipment before my move to Panama.  I figured that my giant, 70 Liter NorthFace backpack would be used once to move to my site and once to move home, but that was before I had to hike 2 weeks worth of groceries into site or carry a week’s worth of stuff throughout the country.  I use this bag almost every time I leave my site, and can’t imagine having to use one that didn’t have plenty of space or good support.  

My Chacos.

Though I grew up in the countryside of East Tennessee, I never would’ve considered myself an outdoorsy type of person before joining the Peace Corps.  I couldn’t remember the last time I had gone camping and almost all of the outdoor activities I did participate in focused more on the outfit and photos than anything else.   Needless to say, Chacos had never claimed a spot in my closet.  But oh, how times have changed.  My trusty outdoor sandals are the only shoes that can put up with anything I throw at them.  From gravel to grass, flooded rivers to muddy slopes, it only took a month without them (my hand-me-down pair finally gave in last December) to realize that no other Panamanian shoe can fill my city and village needs.

Massy.

I picked out my sweet pup two days after he was born and we’ve been inseparable ever since.  Whether we spend the day hanging out in my house or are on the run from dawn to dusk, this dog can put a smile on my face no matter how rough the day may be.  I get a lot of questions about what it’s like to keep a pet as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and I can’t repeat it enough- the benefits outweigh any and every cost.  Especially when you’re lucky enough to end up with one as great as this little guy. 

 

My iPad.

I had no idea how much free time I’d need to fill while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  Obviously, I like to be productive as much as I can, but I still found myself overwhelmed by endless, empty rainy afternoons, unlit evenings, and hours upon hours in busses and waiting for busses.  The iPad my dad got me last Christmas has made me so, so much happier.  I’ve powered through tons of books- no headlamp required, filled hours of public transport with podcasts and document editing, and checked my social media accounts at the drop off any wifi zone’s hat.  Though I haven’t had experience with other tablets, I love the durability and versatility of my iPad, and the battery life isn’t too bad either.  Just make sure you stock it with a strong, waterproof case to guard it from any children or flash rainstorms. 

Hammocks. 

You’d be hard pressed to find a Peace Corps Panama volunteer who doesn’t own at least one hammock, and I’d be quick to claim that there’s good reason behind that.  Our hammocks are the perfect place to sit back and relax with a book, take an afternoon siesta, chat with a community member, or daydream about all the foods we’re missing.  Parachute hammocks do double duty since they’re the perfect accompaniment to any site visit in which bedding could be questionable.  A comfortable night’s sleep that can roll up into the size of my Nalgene?  I’ll take two, thanks.