Porque Sí

I haven't had internet in a couple months, but don't worry I got pics!

Toasting rice over the fire, about a 2 hour process.  Afterwards we'll pilar it, pounding the rice out of their shells

This is the day my family killed a pig and I ate every part of the pig for the next two weeks.  After my host dad stabbed it in the heart to kill it and started to bleed it out, he called me over to ask if I wanted to help...and I ran away as he laughed at me.  After a while I got the courage to come back and check it out.  They cut off the head with a machete, gutted the insides and put the organs in a bucket (to later be made into soup) and proceeded to process it.  We ate everything- the feet, the intestines, the skin.  And they even cooked the pieces of fat to get the oil from it.  Nothing wasted.

This is Jason, one of my favorites around here.

Rice drying in the sun

It's heavier than you think it is.  Rice harvesting is hard work.

Me and my host brother, Tito.

Amalia and her ridiculously long hair.

Ran into a pretty lake one day when I left my community

On the lake where the anaconda still lives.  I was apparently wrong about it's capture.  It still lurks in the waters, scaring away my poor fishermen.

On the hammock, after coming back from my trip to buy things for my new house (all the junk behind me). Due to some problems with my landlord I'm still not living on my own, but I hope to be moving soon!

The school all decorated for the 3rd of November, to celebrate Panama's independence from Columbia.

It got fresh paint and everything.

Some of my students

Cooking for the big fiesta

In the kitchen helping out

Quite possibly the cutest girl I've ever seen

The boys were helping to make bags of goodies to hand out to the kids.

We got some sassy girls.

Some kids from my host family.  They wear the banners across their uniform to symbolize the Panamanian flag.

The kids lined up by grade (1st-6th).  Not all of them came for the celebration.

The sun was hot that day..

Some kids gave presentations

We played a lot of games as well

Scarfing down some treats

This is the school kitchen/dining room

Serving up some delicious chicken and rice

For some reason Panamanians rarely smile in photos

Chishi, grinding up corn to make tortillas

These are the gigantic tortillas we made.  Usually they're smaller and look like a hockey puck.

This is when I left for some more Peace Corps technical training for 8 days.  We studied more about gardens (and the difficulties of  growing stuff in hard, red, nutrient-deprived clay soil), other plants, organic fertilizers, insect and fungus control, fish tanks, farm management, etc. Plus it was nice being able to see all my friends from my training group before we got split up over 4 months ago.  The picture above is a pepper plant.

A pretty tomato plant.

Mixing up an organic fertilizer called bocashi.

My group, all together again.

A beautiful wetland we checked out.

Some of the girls from my group

This was the most shady watchtower.  No more than 5 people could be on top at once because the boards were flimsy and it was noticeably shaking.

But I made it.

Slowly making our way down.

Half the boards were broken on this thing.

Piling onto a truck, the only way to get around in Panama

I know it doesn't look like it, but this is the most horribly dangerous bridge.  As you walk it swings from side to side and people usually end up falling down because it shakes so bad.  

During training we visited a former volunteer (from the 70's I think) who decided to come back down to Panama , buy some land, and experiment with organic farming.  It's called Finca de los Perezosos, or Lazy Farm, because he's trying to come up with the most efficient growing methods with the least amount of work possible.

After our training, our group, along with most other volunteers in the country (like 200) traveled to a mountain resort in a new touristy place called Cerro Punta to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It's a big tradition with Peace Corps Panama, because after all, we're all away from our families on such an family-loving holiday, so for now all we have is each other and our Peace Corps family to celebrate with.  And we did it right- making traditional Turkey-day food.  ABSOLUTELY NO RICE AND BEANS ALLOWED.

Prepping for the big dinner

I made a jelly using tomate de arbol (tamarillos) and cranberries.

Delicious meat and stuffing

And Dios mío pumpkin pie.  I know this must seem boring to most people, but I hadn't had decent food in a very long up to this point.

It was very beautiful at the resort.  And since it was so high up in elevation it was cold!  It felt like a Colorado ski resort.

The little cabin where we stayed

Again, everything was picturesque.

Dracula Farm.  Awesome.

The rich volcanic soils and cool climate makes this one of the few places in Panama where you can grow things like carrots and potatoes (vs. the red clay soil at my site).

I'm getting way too into agriculture these days..I was practically drooling at how the dark and beautiful the soil was.

Awesome flowers

And my giant Thanksgiving dinner in all its glory.  Hands down the best meal I've had in Panama.

All gone.

The bartenders put on some costumes and did some traditional Tipico dances for all of us.

Here's a video of the dancing.