chupala (suck it)


it's orange season again. that means pasearing (visiting neighbors) has become heavy. not as in the mood is heavy, but as in the plastic bags filled with oranges are heavy. i definitely am getting enough vitamin c.

when i first moved to my community it was orange season. i learned that you don't just peel the orange and eat the slices. panamanians think ii'm crazy when i do that. no one actually eats the white stuff. gross! so to just get the juicy part, they peel and suck the orange.

here's how to eat an orange like a true panamanian:



start with an orange and a (sharp) knife.










peel the orange with the knife, working from top to bottom in a spiral pattern. once you are a pro (like me) you can do it in one piece.









once the orange is peeled, cut off the very top to expose the inside.








chupala!!!
















once you've sucked out all the juice and pulp, you're left with the white stuff that only crazy gringos eat. done!

A lot of por fin's (finally's)


The year is coming to an end and there are a lot of things that I finally did. Knowing that I'll be here for 2 years has made me put things off. I always say to myself, "I still have time to do that," and put things off (walking to El Valle, visiting the Darien, etc.). Finally, I have accomplished some of the things I said I would do a long, long time ago.

Teach Junior Achievement

Back in training, we were told about teaching JA. A lot of business volunteers decide to do it, since you're teaching kids to think about business principles and about the economy. I put it off when I got to my community because it was the school year's end. Then, since I already did a lot of youth work and was putting in my fair share of hours at the school I kept putting it off. Finally, in September, I decided to do it. So this October and November I taught 3 5th grade classes a JA course about human/natural/capital resources and the decisions a company must take to make and sell its products.

Like everything I've done here, teaching JA had its good parts and its bad parts. Good: It's always fun working with kids, and in Panama you're doing something new and exciting whenever you initiate a youth project. They learned about concepts that would never have been introduced to them (what is the economy, where do the things we buy come from), learning in a new and exciting way. The students were not used to the types of activities we did (critical thinking, creative activities, working in teams) and they had a lot of fun going along with what the crazy gringa was doing. It was a really rewarding experience and I definitely plan to continue teaching JA next year. Bad: Well, it was kind of depressing. I was teaching 5th grade (which means 10-12 year olds) and some of the things we did were beyond challenging for them. One day we were playing a game with paper money and when it came time for everyone to count how much they had, kids started yelling, "CoCo! CoCo!" I went over to help the various students and they all had the same question: "What comes after 900?" (they were counting in 100's). Maybe I'm wrong, but I think I knew that 1000 was after 900 by the time I was finishing 5th grade. Yet anything to do with math here was really hard. The students couldn't even solve 120 - 120 without writing it down and going through "0 minus 0 is zero, 2 minus 2..." So needless to say, I got really frustrated at times. And many of these kids will not continue with their educations after next year (6th grade). It makes you feel like what can you really do to help these kids out. Back to the good: Well, I can try. Next year the principal wants me to teach JA classes to 3rd-5th grades. So more kids will experience a more interactive classroom and be introduced to critical thinking. And even one of the teachers commented to me about how he liked the style of teaching. So maybe it will rub off and some teachers will start making their students think a bit more.

Visit Franco's Site

I have been a very bad volunteer girlfriend. It took me a full year (actually, a bit longer) to go and visit my boyfriend's community. I admit that at first I was a bit scared. He kept telling me about this 2 hour death hike and crossing rivers over wobbly logs and eating horrible food and feeling like you're living in hell. When I finally got over all that, our schedules just didn't work out. Things kept coming off and the visit was put off over and over again. Finally, it got to the point where Franco was going to leave me (only half-kidding) and so I got my butt out there and...I LOVED IT!

The hike in wasn't bad at all. I kept being amazed by how easy it was. 45 minutes downhill and no mud (I got lucky). Plus, it was beautiful. Once we were there, everyone was really nice and it was really relaxing. The no electricity thing wasn't bad since I'm used to going to bed no too long after sunset these days. I brought some beads and elastic string and made bracelets with the girls who live nearby, and they dressed up in their nicest hooch tops and short shorts that they own. One even baby powdered her chest for me. Another neighbor kept dropping by to stare at me. She seemed really excited to finally meet the gringo's novia. She even brought me fresh milk from her cows and homemade tortilla asada for breakfast one day. I suspect she questioned Franco's cooking abilities and felt sorry for me. All in all, it was great...until the hike out.

Leaving almost killed me. We hiked out to another town and it was all uphill. When it came time to cross little rivers, I had to suck it up and walk through because my stone jumping skills are not very good. Plus, there was barely a trail. Sometimes I felt like we were just wandering through pastures. It did make me appreciate what Franco does though. Anytime I need food or internet I can hop on a bus and be in my capital in a half hour. He has to hike out and then get on a pickup truck for an hour, then get on a bus for another hour. I've got it made.

Learn to Weave A Hat

I've been telling myself since day one that I would learn to make a hat. Finally, I've started. Sorry though, no picture of the actual hat. My first try resulted in the now famous "sombrero feo" (ugly hat). When the family that was teaching me saw my work, the burst out in laughter. They even showed it to the neighbor, who in turn exploded with laughter as well. Oh well, it was my first attempt and they sure had a lot of fun making fun of it.