5/16/2011

hey all you wonderful folks!

i'm taking advantage of the great internet access while I have it!! on my way back through penonome today from membrillo. i spent the last few days shadowing a volunteer named Ashley in her community, and now i am going back "home" for a while, back to training etc. but oh so much has happened in the last few days.....its hard to summarize! also, i'm going on one month here next week. can you believe it? crazy huh.

membrillo was AWESOME. i think that pretty much sums it up. for those who are in a hurry, you can skip to the last part with the photos for a "breve repaso" of my trip but i'll expand a little more though for those who enjoy the details....

first off, when i say Panama i mean the provence of panama, which is where most of the people in panama live. everywhere else (east west north south) is just called "the interior" and it has this very mysterious connotation for those who live in panama, because many people have never actually been to the interior, and its vastly different. panama (provence) is pretty developed as far as the land goes, the culture is different, there are malls and lots of neighborhoods that seem to stop when another begins. lots more cement, densely populated for the most part, some rich some poor some rural some urbanites, but overall has a lifestyle and a speed of life and culture marked by a typical "city feel." the interior, however, is the opposite. there are little communities nestled between vast expanses of undeveloped land (see photos) each community having its own unique characteristics, cultural aspects, cultural norms, occupations, even vocabulary and dress in some places. so this being my first time to the interior, i was very excited and surprised to find so much difference!

i got there on thursday afternoon and met with the volunteer in penonome, where i am now, and we traveled up to membrillo together in a little bus with 20 other passengers (5 rows of 4 people in each row....) which sounds like a lot, but i am told that if you stack three people per seat you can actually fit 60 passengers, and it has been done many a time!! imagine that. ashley can attest. (Bevin luna- these are MUCH like the guaguas in the dominican republic- to give you a visual representation).

once we got there she took me up to her house and showed me how she lives there (quite nice and luxiourous really, i wasnt expecting that, but i also realize its not necessarily the norm). she has electricity and running water, plus a FLUSHING TOILET- oooooh, aaahh... fancy! i dont necessarily need a flushing toilet myself (ive gotten pretty used to the latrines, they aren't so bad!) but it was pretty cool being able to hear the water whiishh down. sounds like home! hahaha

so membrillo. membrilllo is HUGE. like 6000 people, broken into 5 sectors that you cant see all in one day. i mean, its big. but really spread out. we mostly just spent time in her sector and one other sector, and we hiked a LOT just to see those two. its very hilly there and lush, lots of trees birds etc. the majority of the residents who are employed are employed in either farming, artesian craftmaking, or they go work in penonome on construction. the biggest crops are corn, name, yuca, guineo (banana), and some people also have fish & rice (called arricipice, which sounds a lot like rieces pieces and is very fun to say), sugar cane, plantains, and mangos. the funny thing about panamanians though is that they dont actually seem to eat the mangos (or any other fruit for that matter), even though they grow everywhere and are FREEEEE. they really dont eat much fruit at all. mostly just tubers, pastas, rice, and beans. at least in this particular region. oh and bananas and plantains, too.

what else? it has a school, a local puesto de salud (health center) where there is an auxiliar (a first aid helper person) that can treat basic stuff, but can also get an ambulance in if you need to go the the hospital, 26 aquaductos, some creeks, did i mention lots of hills?, lots of red clay (the soil is an issue here too...not so good for growing stuff), a primary and secondary school (a very good one, actually), a community environmental action group (they are working on reforesting around the aquaductos), and a mine. there is a lot of soap stone in there area, which is neat! and also means that many of the artesanos carve soap stone figurines to sell in the city. the other major type of crafts are panama hats which are woven from the fibers of a plant leaf (cant remember the name of the plant), and other little figurines and mobiles that are woven, as well as wood carvings and painted wooden tiles. they also produce a lot of baskets, called motetes, that are woven from vines and are used for carrying whatever to and from the fields (you strap it onto your back).

as far as the people go, they are SO SWEET. i can't even begin to describe the generosity of the membrillo community. compared to the folks i have met in santa rita (which are also friendly, though more reserved and serious) the membrillianos are just very open, arms wide open to anyone, warm and kind, eager to receive visitors, to share about their lives and their hobbies and their fotos and stories about their children and grandchildren and growing up, love to laugh and smile, love to give gifts and share their culture and teach about it and learn about other cultures. i felt so welcome there.... we visited first the volunteer's landlords family, and they showed me all these pictures of their kids and made me a snack and freshly squeezed chicha (fruit juice) and we talked about the environmental group that the mama is working with (she teaches at the school, too). the environmental group is planning a big fair for the annual environment day (this community is obviously much more enviro-aware than some of the others, they are also already very well organized in terms of their community groups, and they do refer to themselves as environmentalists. also interestingly they have had 3 PC volunteers already in agriculture, one in business, and now they have one in environment so they are pretty used to the PC by now).

i also got to meet the volunteers host family, whom she lived with for all 3 of her first 3 months (usually you do 1 month with a family and live with 3 families in total, but she loved them so much she just decided to stay put). they were the NICEST and TINIEST people i have ever met. her dad used to work in construction, but now he works at the school for padres de las familias and also crafts. her mom crafts, too (they weave), and they have 6 kids, who are all artists as well (they all draw and paint and stuff...the WHOLE family does actually, grandparents uncles aunts cousins included). the eldest lives on her own with her boyfriend and her baby, and then the younger 5 live at home. the mom and dad, sebastiana and juan, taught me how to WEAVE!!! it was really neat. with their help i made a little miniature panamanian hat! they let me keep it afterwards and they also gave me one that they had made, which was so sweet and thoughtful. all their kids drew me pictures, too, and signed and dated them. Elvira, the girl, even gave me a beaded bracelet she had made and a beatiful drawing of flowers with my name on it adn the panamanian flag and the word Membrillo across the top. they were so incredibly generous with everything....and they were super excited to teach me how to weave. they also showed me all of their plants and told me about which ones are medicinal and for what and which ones are for eating and which ones are just flowers, etc. it was AWESOME. i ADORED them. they invited us to come and spend the whole day on sunday with them at the grandparents house, which we did. they have their own church there (evangelical) and we did the church service, which i actually really enjoyed, mostly because of all the happy songs and clapping and dancing and just how they were so excited to have us there. then we had lunch there with their enormous family and spent the afternoon playing with the kids and talking to the adults. the grandparents have a big property with all sorts of crops and fish ponds and a natural springs which feeds the nearest acuaducto and they showed me all around and told me about all the plants and about their family and the history of artesians in their family and the process of how they collect the leaves, submerge them in water for a month, dry them, dye them, dry them again, split them, roll the fibers, dry them again, and then weave with them. and later that night we went back to their house again because they invited us over for dinner, so that was super fun and i drew them and colored a picture of colorado and wrote all their names on it as a thank you for their generosity and hospitality. they really appreciated it and told me to make sure i come back and see them whenever i am around. :)

what else? one of those days we hiked over and visited anohter volunteer in her site which is nearby, but in a totally different community with a totally different vibe. we hiked up to the top of this mountain with these local boys, and at first they kept saying, "well the trail got erased so we just have to bushwack", and then we got to the top and the boy goes "oops, wrong mountain!" hahahaha. so basically we scaled up the side of this trailless mountain only to discover that the other mountain, the one we meant to hike, sure enough had a great trail! we just werent on it! it was really fun though. my legs are SO beat up from the brush. we literally had to bootyscoot down the site and climb over and under all the vines and trees in the forest to get back down, but it was worth it.

well, that's probably enough to keep you guys busy for a while... and i have to go, but i send my love to all, and i am thinking of everyone lots, keeping my eyes wide open, and just taking it all in. i am excited to get back home tonight and see my familia again. i admit a miss that cutie pie miss alison. :) she's probably dying to play some more "pretend to be chickens" when i get home.

big hugs to everyone.