Hallie Has An Adventure: September 2011

I've been learning a lot about Americans while in Panama, or rather what Panamanians think Americans are like. Of course there's the obvious "every American is blonde and blue-eyed" junk, but I'm spending a better chunk of my time trying to clarify some other very interesting assumptions. For instance, I am constantly reminding my host dad that no, there are not 56 states in the U.S. Everyone doesn't eat every meal from a can (well, maybe if you're in college..) and people don't fly airplanes to their work everyday like they would a bus. Perhaps the best question was when somebody asked me "How long would it take to walk from Mexico to Chicago?" How am I supposed to answer that?? They said Chicago is right by Mexico and they know people that walk there all the time. So obviously I say no, Chicago is nowhere near Mexico. I lived there, it's very far north where it gets cold. But they didn't believe me no matter how much I argued! Their stubbornness can be overwhelming sometimes. However, they did have the right to give me grief about one particular American that made the news recently.

A stupid American gringo had some pet anacondas, and one day he decides he wants to bring them over to Panama. Panama, with the incredible security and border control that it has, allows entry to this dummy and his two incredibly dangerous and nonnative reptiles. And as is natural in the life of giant exotic creatures, they got too big and escaped. This happened back in March by the way. One was found and killed immediately, while the other escaped. This other one was very recently seen munching on cattle and goats around a place called Gatun Lake (on a map it's that huge lake cutting right through Colon province). Mind you, this lake is like an hour's walk away from my community, and as big as the lake is, the snake of course was spotted fairly near that part of the water. Everyone was freaked out, which is unfortunate, not only because a ravenous anaconda was on the loose near me, but because now the people in my community were too scared to go fishing on the lake, so a good source of protein was taken away! Anyways, after many weeks of fear and suspense, I saw on the news two days ago that the anaconda was finally found and killed. I saw it on the TV; it was huge and had an inflated belly (because of all the goat chomping). Luckily these things don't reproduce naturally in the Panamanian world, or else I'd be sleeping with my machete at night..

And yet, perhaps that anaconda will help me in my work here after all. Let me explain. I'm starting up a project to build fish tanks in my community. A fish tank is essentially a man-made pond specifically managed for the breeding of fish and used as a great source of protein all year long (especially when growing delicious tilapia). And if they're scared to fish in the lake because of giant anacondas, all the more reason to build a fish tank with me, right??

But for now, they seem to prefer endangered iguanas.

They get pretty big here. And I'm not sure why the tail is going through the mouth.

The reactions to certain things here are entertaining. When someone spots an iguana, at least 5 machete-carrying Panamanians come running after it. Dinner! And if you're a relatively slow person around here, they joke that you haven't gotten your iguana legs yet. Strangely enough, it's the same machete-chasing response whenever someone sees a snake. Except this time it's to kill it, because they think every snake is dangerous and poisonous. When Americans see a poisonous snake, I'm pretty sure they run away from it, not towards it.

Speaking of reactions and fun wildlife, apparently Panama has squirrels hanging out in the jungle, which I found to be a random place for those innocent little guys. After all, they're so abundant in the Midwest I'm pretty much stepping on them on the sidewalks. The kids however will point at it and yell like it's the most incredible site they've ever seen. I'm like "yea, it's a squrriel, big deal". But then I see crazy monkeys running around the branches, and I yell MONO! MONO! because how often do I get to see cute howler monkeys?? Of course then the kids are like, "yea it's a monkey..so what?" But, no matter how crazy my fellow villagers think I am , the coolest thing I finally got to see was the magnificence of a two-toed sloth, up close and personal. One of the farmers was showing it to me, knowing it was one of my very important goals to see a sloth. Then he started poking at it with a machete (the dull side), so obviously the sloth was getting angry and started taking swipes at us. It has very long, sharp claws, and even the slow monoperezoso (technically meaning "lazy monkey") will move fairly fast if it's bothered enough. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so no picture this time, but now I take my camera with me everywhere, ya know, just in case..

In the meantime, here are some other photos I've managed to snap:

Rice still in the husk, laying out in the sun to dry.

After the rice you have to pillar it. Basically they're beating the rice grains out of their husks.

I had my go at it. It's hard stuff.

Then afterwards they shake the husks and other things off, so all that's left is the rice grain. Afterward they'll sit and pick out the rice pieces that still have their husk on, and pillar again.

Here's a video of pillando.

My host mom throws some food out to the animals, and they all come scurrying for it. Lots of pigs and chickens and ducks.

Sporting the classic Panama hat

It was a bit too small for my head.

The cute little piggies sleeping all together.

Riding horses around town. Sometimes it's just too muddy to walk in your shoes.

Cooking on a fugon, which is basically a wood fire set-up with a pot resting on three stones.

They love to eat unripe bananas, and just can't believe I've never eaten them this way.

Washing clothes in the river on stone tablets.

This is the pretty scene where I come to bathe

I really don't like this bridge to cross the stream. I fell on it once (luckily not off of it) so they were nice enough to put on a bamboo railing for me

This is the school. There's another building behind it with another classroom, and a little room where one of the teachers stays during the week, because he doesn't live in town (and its kind of a pain in the butt getting here)

I started a little semillero (seed nursery) with a local farmer. We're growing peppers and tomatoes.

The local tienda (store). It's a tiny little attachment off of someone's house, and has just your basic supplies like rice, sugar, flour, oil, and sometimes cookies.

Inside the tienda

A beautiful view of the hills

Another host mom and her parrot, Rey

The Evangelical Church. When I arrived, this was just a frame structure; they've put a lot of work into it

Delicious fruta de pan (bread fruit)

All the kids here are very shy around me. Sometimes they'll run up to touch me on the arm, and then run away as fast as they can, yelling "I touched the gringa!" I'm hoping they'll warm up to me eventually

One of the teachers at the school

It's soooo muddy here, especially now that the rainy season is in full gear. The other day some random off-roading Venezuelans were passing through town and got stuck in this mud for a couple hours. There's a reason cars don't come through here.

The house of my host family right now. I've lived with a couple different families at this point, trying to get to know more people in the community, and this is my last stop before I get to live on my own. My host mom here has had 13 children(!), and while some have moved out by now with their own kids, it's still pretty crowded.