The last part of vacation
Well, Theodore and I made it through Nicaragua without a hitch, until the last night getting to Managua, when our shuttle SUV sort of broke down and the driver did a typical move where he refused to get help in the very nearby Granada, and instead had another car sent all the way from the town where we started. So we got stuck on a dark highway for an hour plus. Oh and I got a sting ray sting in the ocean, which hurt a LOT, but I’m oddly proud of the story.
The next day, we got to Panama City, got our temperatures read by a camera (infrared, I guess) because of the H1N1 hysteria (that is what it is), and a few hours later met Mom and Dad, who’d gotten up at 3:30am to make their flight. Of course, you couldn’t tell that Mom was tired, but Dad was dragging a little. Not ideal for driving around Panama City, but at least we had a misinformed GPS lady ordering us to turn where one can’t turn, stay left when she means stay on the same road, etc. We made it to the Panama Canal just before they were closing the doors, phew! Dad finally realized where he was, and made a beeline for the observation area. Nothing like feats of engineering and giant machines to wake him up.
The rest of the week went something like this. Mom saying her version of “gracias” (pronounced grat-see-ay in her book) any time someone Spanish-speaking got within 3 feet of her. Dad mumbling “bueno” or “gracias” with less frequency than Mom and otherwise grinning and looking at the scenery. Theodore getting attacked by bugs (they ALWAYS go for the ones who are most bothered by it, it’s a rule). Me freaking out because things aren’t as perfect as I’d imagined, despite the fact that the rest of the family is assuring me they’re having a good time. Discovering that rice and beans is always better than pizza in rural Panama. Somehow managing to navigate cities and rural areas of Panama without getting in a serious car crash, despite the GPS lady’s intentions to kill us by driving us into construction. Being at my site for the height of ant mating season, when all the ants fly in massive quantities, attracted to light (the two nights we ate dinner in my site it wasworse than I’d ever experienced, normally the bugs aren’t that bad at night).
Looking back on it, it was a very good time, regardless of how stressed I was with needing to be a part of most interactions and activities because of the language barrier. I was so concerned with making things perfect that the above picture is ALL that I took on my digital for the days my family was here. I'm kicking myself. The big highlight was being with my family. It sounds corny, but it’s true! I couldn’t do this Peace Corps thing without the support of my family (I’ve heard stories of volunteers whose families think this job is irresponsible or worse; I couldn’t handle that), and the fact that they came out to see what it’s like was the ultimate show of support. I was just so glad to be able to experience our family dynamic, give and get hugs, roll my eyes, and give an insider’s perspective of the “interior” of Panama.
Garden and weather update
It FINALLY started raining for real for real. It did the day before I left for vacation, and I figured that was the start of it. But upon my return, I learned it hadn’t done so
again until the day before. So almost 2 more weeks without rain! I guess I took my vacation at the right time, because that might have been it for me and this darn weather. But since I’ve been back, it’s rained each afternoon or night, and well.
Sometimes there’s really scary lightning and thunder, so it’s good I can snuggle up to the princess cat who does not like to get her paws wet. She seems to think I have some control over the weather, because when she wants to go out (at any hour of the night) and it happens to be raining, it’s a big ol’ whine fest. When it’s not raining, it’s sunny and humid. I don’t think it feels as bad as sunny and dry, even though it maybe feels hotter because your sweat doesn’t have anywhere to evaporate to.
Despite no rain while I was gone, my neighbor managed to keep my plants alive! I told her I’d pay her (and did), so that was probably some incentive. She may have one of the greener thumbs in town, but we never knew it before because she doesn’t keep a garden. But maybe we can do a raised bed for some basics, because she likes vegetables, but is very occupied with the 1-year old. So my zucchini is flowering (2 female flowers that haven’t quite opened), the broccoli, basil and (volunteer) peppers are holding on, I transplanted some tomatoes, and the lettuce is growing, though spindly and slow due to the heavy shade I have it under. It’s that or it gets burned up by the sun. So…still not eating veggies out of my garden, but I am more hopeful than before that they’re going to give me food. I had also planted pigeon peas and Jamaica Flower (sorrel, Hibiscus sabdariffa, used to make a delicious tea or punch with sugar, ginger and/or cinnamon and/or cloves…but it takes until Christmas to mature) back in the beginning of April. Both germinated, which is great because I now have Panamanian plants in my yard. I know why they call them pigeon peas now…the pigeons like to dig up the seeds and eat them! The papayas are growing, two guanábana (soursop) seeds have germinated, and I’ve been burying mango and avocado pits, but so far nothing has come up. I’m going to run out of planting space soon…but I want to get some banana and plantain palms planted too!
Check out this contrast. I took the top photo right before leaving on vacation, beginning of May. After just a month, not all of which was rainy, the bottom photo shows how things have greened up significantly.
And check out those giant zucchini leaves!
Projects planned update
Last week we had our trimesterly meeting, part of which is turning in a report about our activities, both completed and planned. Even though I had many lines filled out on my completed list, I don’t feel satisfied with those activities. I’m not satisfied because these aren’t so much agriculture or food-security-related activities, which is what I joined Peace Corps to do. I know, I’m hard on myself and had a major obstacle (drought!), but I need to get real about why I came and what I want to have accomplished when I’m done (less than a year left, incredibly). So, I’ve decided on a few main foci for the next few months. Briefly listed they are:
-weekly nutrition/fitness/self-esteem/”women’s issues” class with whatever women are interested (it may just be a few, but that’s okay with me)
-reforestation. Now that it’s raining, there’s no good excuse (many bad ones, however) to not start tree nurseries and plant trees. I have found a source of trees, my district’s branch of the National Authority of the Environment. Now how to coordinate the planting. I also want those who receive a tree donation to commit to having a tree nursery on their property, though that’s a long-term vision because the trees we start now will have to be nursed through the dry season and planted after I’m gone. But, if the nurseries are located near creeks, I think this is reasonable. People do grasp the necessity to plant trees, so I think my job can be getting them from knowing what should be done to taking action.
-green manures and worm compost. I would like to get at least a worm compost bin completed at my host family’s house. Knowing my host mom, she’ll name the worms and treat them with the same love she treats all other living things. I can think of a few other households that have a good chance at taking care of the worms, but doing worms does take some setup and time investment and I haven’t located a source for the specific compost worm species.
-more veggie gardens!
I turn 24 next week…I suppose events actually have progressed rapidly when I remember that my last birthday I had been in my Bolivia site for just a little over a month, and I spent my birthday morning on my hotel bed in Santa Cruz opening numerous packages from family (…seeing as the Bolivian mail system was trustworthy enough that I actually received them) and hanging out with baby Dracula. This year, maybe I’ll go swimming in our river or bake cookies or a cake to share with mi gente (my people) or go see a movie in Santiago (are there any good ones out that will reach here?) with some other area volunteers, but I’m not counting on the mail, sadly, and seeing my family last month was really the present I wanted more than anything. What I can say with quite a degree of certainty is…I’ll be home next birthday, to turn a cuada (the Panamanianization of the word for a quarter dollar) century!
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