Hallie Has An Adventure: July 2011

It’s difficult to update this blog very regularly- so much happening and so little time. Peace Corps training has had me scampering around busy every day, while internet availability has become rarer. Training is over now, and I’ve visited my permanent site. I’m actually sitting in the Chicago airport right now writing this blog, on route to the next 2 years of my life. But I’m jumping ahead. Here are some highlights from the last month of training:

For a whole week we had something called Tech Week. This involve my class splitting up into three groups and traveling to another region in Panama for more advanced and site-specific training in agricultural areas we would likely need in our future site. Some went to an agricultural school and learned about fish and rice tanks, while others went to the province of Bocas Del Toro to learn about cocoa trees. I went to learn about coffee production and management in a touristy little city called Boquete, a place famous for its cool fresh climate, Panama’s only volcano, and of course, some very delicious coffee. The week was full of lots of trips to many coffee farms in various conditions- from the well-managed multimillion dollar resorts, to the small organic farmer focused on quality, to the farmers who plant coffee trees and don’t think about them again for years. I'll be headed to a community in the coffee negligence group, and work to improve production efficiency and agribusiness skills.

During one visit to a coffee processing plant my group saw some fancy coffee of a variety called Geisha. I’ve heard of this stuff selling in the U.S for around $80/lb, so pretty crazy high prices. We saw a particular batch of Geisha coffee sitting in storage that we heard was going to be shipped to the White House in a couple weeks; Obama’s going to be drinking this stuff! The next day we did a “coffee cupping” of four different coffees (including the Geisha), which is pretty much the equivalent of a wine tasting. We put on our best snobby faces as we sniffed the freshly ground beans, inhaled the aromas of freshly brewed coffee, and aerated the liquid across our tongues as we tasted it. Later we heard stories of other groups walking through fish tanks up to their waist in the pouring rain with dead fish on the bottom getting squeezed between their toes… and I felt good about coffee. Trees I can do.

The next week we had a “Culture Day”. Granted we’ve been living with host families for the past month, so we have already learned all about the culture (or art) of indirect language, a slower living pace, showing up at least an hour late for meetings, and the tight-knit families with five living generations in the immediate vicinity. But this day was different. We spent the whole morning making traditional Panamanian dishes like arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), sancocho (chicken soup with root veggies like otoe and yucca), and other dishes with beans and plantains and pineapple. All the girls dressed up in traditional Panamanian clothing according to the region in which their site is located. My type of dress was called a “pollera”. It’s worn for dances and special cultural events, while the other dresses from the indigenous communities are worn on an everyday basis. We learned traditional dances while our host families gathered around and giggled at us “gringos” (white people) doing weird stuff like always. But to end our day of cultural sharing we had to do the most Panamanian thing of all: climb to the top of 30ft greased pole. Earlier that day they literally cut down a tall tree, stripped it down smooth, and greased the crap out of it with butter. It was the Panamanians versus the Americans. It took the better part of an hour for the mesh of greasy feet and butts and red faces to eventually climb to the top. Naturally, the Americans proved too heavy to be able to hold so many people up the pole, but the tiny Panamanians were struggling as well. The two teams ultimately had to join forces in order to make it all the way up (A cute moral lesson worked itself out very nicely there).

But enough about culture day, everyone was getting super anxious about our sites! We wanted to know what our community would look like, what work we were going to do, what the people were like, etc. I was placed in a small community in the province of Colón (I can’t get more specific due to PC regulations on safety and security). We got to visit our communities for a few days during training to see if we were compatible with our sites and to test our commitment to living in there for 2 years. My community of course will mainly involve coffee-oriented work, but I will also do projects with things like home gardens, nutrition, organic fertilizers, etc. There are about 160 people living there, all super friendly. I mentioned to someone how much I like pineapple because it’s expensive in the states, and the next day three separate people whom I didn’t know came to the house I was staying at and brought me a pineapple. Like any true small town, the gossip is abundant and fast-spreading. Perhaps even moreso here because their is no electricity available to entertain them.

They greeted me with big grins and kisses on the cheek while others looked at me with timid eyes and zero talking. I know their exposure to white people is limited because the community is pretty remote. After several buses and off-roading in the back of a truck I have to hike for an hour to reach the community since there is no road that goes there. So I can imagine that seeing a big blonde American walk onto the scene saying crazy things about organic fertilizer and living there for 2 years can be a little intimidating.

There’s a small school there, with about 50 kids up to grade 6. I attended a PTA meeting to introduce myself and explain my work to some of the parents there, said hi to the kids in the school (of course they want me to teach English), visited the coffee farms, and went socializing at some houses. I didn’t get to visit all the houses because so many are far apart from each other, like over an hour’s hike away. I did learn that when visiting houses, people love to give you food and drink for while you’re visiting and to take home with you. Everything from pineapple juice, a bag of rice, a bundle of plantains and some eggs from their chickens, to mashed banana with hot milk poured over it. And so much coffee. They drink like 5 cups a day and somehow are able to sleep at 8pm. I’m trying to adjust, to the coffee and also the food. My training community near Panama City at least had access to vegetables, but not here. They only eat large portions of rice, pasta, bananas, plantains, and other starchy root vegetables, with the occasional piece of chicken or can of tuna. I’ve had banana in every way possible here, in both rip and unripe forms: mashed, mashed with hot milk over it, boiled, boiled in chicken soup, fried, grilled, smoked…

One of the greatest things about my community is that I feel like I’m a cowgirl living in the old west. I was lassoing cows to bring them in for fresh milk that morning, and riding horses everywhere since the community is so spread apart. One of the teachers in the community has two horses and wants to give me one to use while I’m there. It’s like I’m a little girl and my mom finally bought me that pony I’ve always wanted!

I’m going to live with a host family or two for the first 3 months at my site, so I can get to know the community better, and then I will rent a house so I can live solo. There’s only one empty house available, and it has a painting of a big tiger on the front, so I think I’ll be happy..

As many of you know, after I officially swore in as a volunteer I flew back to the states for my brother’s wedding. It was so amazing to see everyone again and attend such a beautiful event! And that brings me back to the beginning, writing this post at the airport in Chicago after a great weekend. I’ll be in Panama soon, where I finally have the chance to settle down in one place for a little bit and relax from the overly-stressful training, be on my own from the other volunteers and trainers, think only in Spanish, and really get down to my work. The enthusiasm for change and new ideas from the people in my community is evident, which makes me ever the more motivated to work together with them.

Make sure to check out my pictures below:

Officially looking Panamanian

Always chilling in the hammock

Swimming in the river and watching the boys jump from the tops of trees into it

During Tech Week. Saw the drying process post-harvest

The coffee beans are inside these shells

This guy's name is Tito. He runs a smallish organic farm in Boquete and produces some really quality stuff, including Geisha

A healthy looking coffee tree

Nice view from the farm

When we visited another coffee farm it was necessary to drive through a river and up a muddy mountain to get there

It's always something in Panama

Coffee storage facilities. It smelled great.

These are the coffee bags that are going to the White House

At another farm

This farm was huge and included a luxury resort and restaurant

The coffee cupping!

Using a spoon to whaft up the coffee aroma

At my site announcement

I had to take another picture of our chickens, look how big they have gotten! We killed and ate 22 of them for a big fiesta that we through

At Culture Day wearing our traditional dresses

My host family and I

Dresses from the indigenous areas

Some local girls

The amazing greased pole competition

At my site in Colon. The jungle surrounds me on all sides and I can hear monkeys howling in the distance.

More views from my new host family's house

The house I'm going to live in for a month or so. It's under construction right now and still pretty basic. No electricity and dirt floors is the way I roll