From Peace Corps website:
Peace Corps Director Visits Panama
Director Tschetter Honors the 45th Anniversary of Peace Corps/Panama
& Swears-in New Volunteers
Panama City, Panama, June 26, 2008 – Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter marked the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps program in Panama and swore-in the newest group of Volunteers today. The 46 new Volunteers took their official oath at a ceremony attended by Director Tschetter, U.S. Ambassador to Panama William A. Eaton, Panama’s Minister of Agriculture Guillermo Salazar and Peace Corps/Panama Country Director Peter Redmond, at the Ambassador’s residence. Following the swearing-in ceremony, Director Tschetter delivered remarks during the 45th anniversary celebration.
The Peace Corps and the people of Panama have shared a strong friendship ever since the first Volunteers arrived in 1963. The 46 new Volunteers will be stationed throughout the country, assisting in the fields of agriculture, environmental conservation, tourism and English education.
In his remarks to the Volunteers, Director Tschetter said, “You are about to make a profound commitment of service – to the communities you will serve, to Panama, to the United States and to yourselves. For the agriculture Volunteers, you are on the front lines of addressing food security. The current global food crisis can be eased in Panama by supporting the producers and helping them to help themselves to increase production and learn sustainable techniques.”
During his visit, the Director met with the First Vice-President/Foreign Minister of Panama Samuel Lewis Navarro and participated in a reunion meeting with former Peace Corps Volunteers. He also visited the local Peace Corps office and met with the Volunteer Advisory Council. Tomorrow, Director Tschetter will visit a Peace Corps Response site on the Chagres River in Panama. For information about Peace Corps Response visit www.peacecorps.gov/response.
The Peace Corps has sent more 1,700 Volunteers to Panama since 1963. There was a program hiatus between 1971 and 1989. Since their return in 1990, Volunteers have been working in the poorest rural and indigenous areas to identify, develop and promote sustainable development projects. Currently, 174 Peace Corps Volunteers are serving in Panama. Volunteers mainly work in the areas of sustainable agriculture systems, community economic development, environmental health, community environment conservation and health and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.
To learn more about the Peace Corps/Panama, visit the Where Do Volunteers Go? web page.
The Peace Corps is celebrating a 47-year legacy of service at home and abroad, and a 37-year high for Volunteers in the field. Since 1961, more than 190,000 Volunteers have helped promote a better understanding between Americans and the people of the 139 countries where Volunteers have served, including Panama. Peace Corps Volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Moving On!
The last week of training was full of excitement. To finish off our training of appropriate technologies, we built both a Lorena stove and a trash incinerator. To build the incinerator, we used old metal drums. One of the drums had previously been used to hold rubber cement. So get those cogs a rolling, and think what might happen if you light that residue on fire. KABOOM! It was pretty amazing actually. hehe Note to self, pour out all flammable substances before using an incinerator to keep toxic smoke to a minimum. Lesson learned.
We organized a Despedida (going away party) for all of our host families and had that on Sunday. We got in our last games of ultimate Frisbee, slack lining over the river, and a game of capture the flag. I'm bruised up from the first two, but at least I didn't get clotheslined by barbed wire in the third like one of my friends did. Ouch! Then bright and early Tuesday morning, we left our training community (and beautiful garden... sorry for the unturned pic) behind and made it back to Ciudad del Saber.The past two days have been filled with more meetings and admin matters. The whole office is in full swing with last minute preparations for our swearing in ceremony and big 45th anniversary celebration later today. Unfortunately that means that my laptop will remain a doorstop for a few months until I can get boot disks sent from the States and start over. (Courty and Mom, could you start searching for those for me? Thanks!!!) Updates might be a little less frequent until I get that taken care of. I was able to copy off my pictures before my laptop decided that it really didn't want to function, so I won't be losing anything when I erase the hard drive.
Later today we swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers at the Ambassador's residence. Then we've got two days to play with until we report to our communities on Sunday. My address there is:
Kerry Piper
Cuerpo de Paz
Entrega General David
Provincia de Chiriqui
Republica de Panama
It's basically the equivalent of sending a letter to the capital of your state, and then retrieving it through a series of cubbies labeled by the first letter of your first name and the first letter of your last name. It's a good thing sending mail isn't too popular within the country! Although the David post office hasn't had many problems, it is recommended to put some religious insignia on things sent to add that little extra guilt factor in keeping people from opening mail that isn't theirs. hehe
I love and miss you all!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Site Visit!
I am looking forward to moving to a place with reliable power. I tried plugging my computer in at home last night since my host family wasn’t there when I returned, but it just kept turning off. I couldn’t figure out what was up, so I unplugged it from my surge protector. Then when my host dad was taking a shower, all the power in the house kept going off. So that explains it… I’m hanging out at Sally’s Café in Chorrera right now, which is like a little slice of America.
The eco-fair was a success! I’d be lying to say I wasn’t stressed out the week before with all the planning, but I was so happy to see it go well. We were very organized with the flow of the classes. The kids loved the activities, even the ones that didn’t quite work out how the aspirantes wanted them to. The teachers at the school were impressed and picked up some ideas that they can bring back to their classes. Carlos is even thinking about continuing it for next year. I’m so glad I brought my environmental ed guides, as many of the aspirantes thumbed through them to pick out their activities.
Following the fair, we had our community analysis presentation. That too went well. We had interviewed our families prior to learn more about the history of the community, environment, and problems they saw. Then we took their most pressing problem (water) and worked with them to find a solution to it (form a water committee to bring more of a voice to their problems). We’ll all be responsible for doing a similar analysis in our communities which we have the first three months to work on.
I love my community! It is on the base of Volcan Baru and looks out over Boquete, David, and the Pacific Ocean. The houses are separated by sugar cane or tomato fields, creating a very spread out town. I like to think of my town as a lollipop with the majority of the houses in the middle of the left side of the pop. During my first three months I plan to live with three different families: one above the center of town, one below, and another on the right side of the lollipop. Then I’ll be free to live on my own in probably either a bloque (cement) house on the lefthand base of the loop, or in a wooden house more toward the center. Both only have latrines a ways from the house, but they are closer to town or offer more privacy from neighbors than the two other options.
In town there are a ton of groups. I hope to work closely with the conservation group in town that has a vivero for their reforestation project and has made five trails up in the park of about 7km each. One of the trails has five waterfalls on it, which I can’t wait to see. They are also waiting on a $30,000 Biological Corridor grant to build an eco-cabana at a lookout along one of the trails as well as expand their vivero. They already received a grant from ANCON and built a little house to hold their meetings in next to the vivero. I’d love to decorate it with lots of pictures of Volcan Baru and all the flora and fauna found up there like Quetzals, Harpy Eagles, monkeys, sloths, and orchids. I’ll also be helping them map their trails so tourists can use them too.
There is also an abono organico group that makes compost, an association of the farmers in the area who the current volunteer, Kirsten, helped make an aqueduct with, and Padres de la Familia (Panamanian PTA) that she just started up a chicken project with. Each group also has a lot of big ideas, like building greenhouses for their tomatoes so they can harvest year-round, expand the aqueduct to the other side of town, etc etc. The community has potential for a women’s group, and youth groups like Panama Verde (Peace Corps started eco-group), Muchachas Guias (Girl Scouts), and Boy Scouts. In the center of town there is also a basketball court that would make a great meeting place, but the roof was never completed. Perhaps that might also happen with a little support.
Needless to say, I won’t be without things to do. One of the teachers at the school (there are only two) wants me to be the sole English teacher for the kids. That is not going to happen. I’ll have enough on my plate without taking on that job. I will probably continue Sunday classes with the adults, like Kirsten is doing. I won’t be following in her footsteps with the rest of it like she did her first year.
I paseared (visited) all the houses in town over my first two days there. A word on pasearing… Panamanian culture is such that you can hardly ever stop to say hi at someone’s house without being offered something to eat or drink. Perhaps chicha, maybe coffee, even soda will be served. One family in town makes plum wine which was delicious. Another offered Kirsten and I a whole bunch of bananas. Now each offer taken separately is surely appreciated. Even taken all together, I appreciated the hospitality of my community. I sure was stuffed though! We each ate 8 of those bananas before we made it to the next house! And then we went back to my community guide’s house for lunch. Hehe On Father’s day we were offered lunch at one of the houses. After negotiating, we were only served a half plate of rice, beans, and meat. However, when I got back to Ada’s house for real lunch, I was served more rice, roasted chicken, and fried plantains in one bowl. …And I was also served another bowl the size of a dinner plate filled to the brim with sancocho, a Panamanian soup that contained yucca, name, two chicken legs, a chicken breast, and what tasted like chicken liver too! Boy was I stuffed!
All in all, I was very satisfied with my site visit and can’t wait to get back there on June 29th. (They’re having a big fiesta that day too, which I like to think it is for my homecoming. Hehe)
The eco-fair was a success! I’d be lying to say I wasn’t stressed out the week before with all the planning, but I was so happy to see it go well. We were very organized with the flow of the classes. The kids loved the activities, even the ones that didn’t quite work out how the aspirantes wanted them to. The teachers at the school were impressed and picked up some ideas that they can bring back to their classes. Carlos is even thinking about continuing it for next year. I’m so glad I brought my environmental ed guides, as many of the aspirantes thumbed through them to pick out their activities.
Following the fair, we had our community analysis presentation. That too went well. We had interviewed our families prior to learn more about the history of the community, environment, and problems they saw. Then we took their most pressing problem (water) and worked with them to find a solution to it (form a water committee to bring more of a voice to their problems). We’ll all be responsible for doing a similar analysis in our communities which we have the first three months to work on.
I love my community! It is on the base of Volcan Baru and looks out over Boquete, David, and the Pacific Ocean. The houses are separated by sugar cane or tomato fields, creating a very spread out town. I like to think of my town as a lollipop with the majority of the houses in the middle of the left side of the pop. During my first three months I plan to live with three different families: one above the center of town, one below, and another on the right side of the lollipop. Then I’ll be free to live on my own in probably either a bloque (cement) house on the lefthand base of the loop, or in a wooden house more toward the center. Both only have latrines a ways from the house, but they are closer to town or offer more privacy from neighbors than the two other options.In town there are a ton of groups. I hope to work closely with the conservation group in town that has a vivero for their reforestation project and has made five trails up in the park of about 7km each. One of the trails has five waterfalls on it, which I can’t wait to see. They are also waiting on a $30,000 Biological Corridor grant to build an eco-cabana at a lookout along one of the trails as well as expand their vivero. They already received a grant from ANCON and built a little house to hold their meetings in next to the vivero. I’d love to decorate it with lots of pictures of Volcan Baru and all the flora and fauna found up there like Quetzals, Harpy Eagles, monkeys, sloths, and orchids. I’ll also be helping them map their trails so tourists can use them too.
There is also an abono organico group that makes compost, an association of the farmers in the area who the current volunteer, Kirsten, helped make an aqueduct with, and Padres de la Familia (Panamanian PTA) that she just started up a chicken project with. Each group also has a lot of big ideas, like building greenhouses for their tomatoes so they can harvest year-round, expand the aqueduct to the other side of town, etc etc. The community has potential for a women’s group, and youth groups like Panama Verde (Peace Corps started eco-group), Muchachas Guias (Girl Scouts), and Boy Scouts. In the center of town there is also a basketball court that would make a great meeting place, but the roof was never completed. Perhaps that might also happen with a little support.Needless to say, I won’t be without things to do. One of the teachers at the school (there are only two) wants me to be the sole English teacher for the kids. That is not going to happen. I’ll have enough on my plate without taking on that job. I will probably continue Sunday classes with the adults, like Kirsten is doing. I won’t be following in her footsteps with the rest of it like she did her first year.
I paseared (visited) all the houses in town over my first two days there. A word on pasearing… Panamanian culture is such that you can hardly ever stop to say hi at someone’s house without being offered something to eat or drink. Perhaps chicha, maybe coffee, even soda will be served. One family in town makes plum wine which was delicious. Another offered Kirsten and I a whole bunch of bananas. Now each offer taken separately is surely appreciated. Even taken all together, I appreciated the hospitality of my community. I sure was stuffed though! We each ate 8 of those bananas before we made it to the next house! And then we went back to my community guide’s house for lunch. Hehe On Father’s day we were offered lunch at one of the houses. After negotiating, we were only served a half plate of rice, beans, and meat. However, when I got back to Ada’s house for real lunch, I was served more rice, roasted chicken, and fried plantains in one bowl. …And I was also served another bowl the size of a dinner plate filled to the brim with sancocho, a Panamanian soup that contained yucca, name, two chicken legs, a chicken breast, and what tasted like chicken liver too! Boy was I stuffed!All in all, I was very satisfied with my site visit and can’t wait to get back there on June 29th. (They’re having a big fiesta that day too, which I like to think it is for my homecoming. Hehe)
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Eco-Fair!
Okay, so sorry that last posting-email was a bit of a teast. I was at an internet cafe where I had to prepay. (Aka, they kick you off after your time is up.) I promise I´ll fill in the details eventually...
On Tuesday we started in earnest to plan our Eco-fair for the school. After two weeks of being out of the community, we weren´t even sure if it was still goign to go through. (Oh yeah, and Carlos put me in charge of the fair too!) What a nice surprise! hehe We also had to give our community diagnostic presentation on Friday and were informed that we´d be in the city on Thursday (instead of working on any of it). Oye! I also started Ngabere classes on Tuesday which on top of everything else was stressing me out.
Even though the language class and teacher were awesome, I couldn´t rationalize sticking with it and maintaining my sanity. I did pick up some of the pronunciation and a few key phrases. (Ti ta koin! I am good. etc) I´ll be getting the manual to self study in site and talk to the Ngabe in my site. So on Wednesday I told my teacher that I was too busy to go to class. Instead I went with two of the other girls to interview the Representante on the water situation in town for our presentation, make a poster for that, write out my lesson plan for my activity for the fair, draw up a poster for the fair, and todo! Then we chilled at the chorro which was much needed!
Thurday we made it in to the city for an environmental fair. I picked up lots of posters to decorate my house as well as networked with some of the agency personel. And then of course we had lots more planning of the next day´s activities.
Friday morning I used the keys I got the day before to open up the Casa Comunal for everyone to start setting up our fair. Kids arrived later, rotated through our stations (with the aid of schedules and maps directing them), played games, and learned about soil, water, trees, and animals. It went really well, especially considering we only had three days to plan it! Most of the activities came out of my Project WET, WILD, and Learning Tree books or adapted from them. I´m so glad I brought them all!
Later on Friday we presented all the information we had gathered about the community to the residents and our teachers. We found that the biggest problem there was water, and took the town through an analysis of the problem leading to a recommendation of starting a water committee to have more of a voice and education about the issue. They really got behind it which was great to see. Afterward, we all felt like we had completed finals week with our main projects done for the moment.
That night we went into the next town over for a baile. One of the two best Typico bands in Panama was playing (something Negros). They came on at midnight and I stayed for a couple dances after that. The thing with typico and it seems most music here are that the songs are sooooo long. My host dad kept introducing me to others to dance with which is pretty awkward to dance with a random guy (for example a drunk old man with many missing teeth) for at least fifteen minutes while bumping into others in a crowded room... You get the picture. The music was good, but I have not yet heard enough to judge just how good. My host dad woke me up at 4:50am when he got home calling out to anyone and everyone in our house and knocking on my window. I got our of my mosquito net, unlocked the door to my room, and by the time I got to the family room, he finally figured out that the front door was unlocked! Oye! I love him though, but I sure was missing my sleep!
We got up bright and early this morning to come to Chorrera to learn about all the poisonous plants and animals here. Hmmm, I think it may have been more helpful to learn about them before we got our bites and rashes. lol Next week we are headed to our communities for site visits. I can´t wait to get to know some of the people I´ll be living with and working with for the next two years!
On Tuesday we started in earnest to plan our Eco-fair for the school. After two weeks of being out of the community, we weren´t even sure if it was still goign to go through. (Oh yeah, and Carlos put me in charge of the fair too!) What a nice surprise! hehe We also had to give our community diagnostic presentation on Friday and were informed that we´d be in the city on Thursday (instead of working on any of it). Oye! I also started Ngabere classes on Tuesday which on top of everything else was stressing me out.
Even though the language class and teacher were awesome, I couldn´t rationalize sticking with it and maintaining my sanity. I did pick up some of the pronunciation and a few key phrases. (Ti ta koin! I am good. etc) I´ll be getting the manual to self study in site and talk to the Ngabe in my site. So on Wednesday I told my teacher that I was too busy to go to class. Instead I went with two of the other girls to interview the Representante on the water situation in town for our presentation, make a poster for that, write out my lesson plan for my activity for the fair, draw up a poster for the fair, and todo! Then we chilled at the chorro which was much needed!
Thurday we made it in to the city for an environmental fair. I picked up lots of posters to decorate my house as well as networked with some of the agency personel. And then of course we had lots more planning of the next day´s activities.
Friday morning I used the keys I got the day before to open up the Casa Comunal for everyone to start setting up our fair. Kids arrived later, rotated through our stations (with the aid of schedules and maps directing them), played games, and learned about soil, water, trees, and animals. It went really well, especially considering we only had three days to plan it! Most of the activities came out of my Project WET, WILD, and Learning Tree books or adapted from them. I´m so glad I brought them all!
Later on Friday we presented all the information we had gathered about the community to the residents and our teachers. We found that the biggest problem there was water, and took the town through an analysis of the problem leading to a recommendation of starting a water committee to have more of a voice and education about the issue. They really got behind it which was great to see. Afterward, we all felt like we had completed finals week with our main projects done for the moment.
That night we went into the next town over for a baile. One of the two best Typico bands in Panama was playing (something Negros). They came on at midnight and I stayed for a couple dances after that. The thing with typico and it seems most music here are that the songs are sooooo long. My host dad kept introducing me to others to dance with which is pretty awkward to dance with a random guy (for example a drunk old man with many missing teeth) for at least fifteen minutes while bumping into others in a crowded room... You get the picture. The music was good, but I have not yet heard enough to judge just how good. My host dad woke me up at 4:50am when he got home calling out to anyone and everyone in our house and knocking on my window. I got our of my mosquito net, unlocked the door to my room, and by the time I got to the family room, he finally figured out that the front door was unlocked! Oye! I love him though, but I sure was missing my sleep!
We got up bright and early this morning to come to Chorrera to learn about all the poisonous plants and animals here. Hmmm, I think it may have been more helpful to learn about them before we got our bites and rashes. lol Next week we are headed to our communities for site visits. I can´t wait to get to know some of the people I´ll be living with and working with for the next two years!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
La Comida
I just got back from two weeks of traveling. Looking ahead to this month, we've got a week in Santa Clara, a week at our sites, another week in Santa Clara, then a week in Ciudad del Saber, and finally Swear In when we become official Peace Corps Volunteers. It's a lot of traveling and moving around, but I can't wait. Catching up from where I left off last, I headed out to the mountains of Chiriqui for my Cultural Week. Think lots of coffee, lots of mountains and trees, lots of rain, lots of mud, and more rain. I walked through a coffee plantation to get to my host family every morning and night.
You might be thinking that with so much Arabica coffee growing, and home to the most expensive coffee in the world (that hasn't passed through an animal's digestive system), we would be drinking some pretty fine coffee. Well, just about all of that coffee is shipped out to customers such as yourselves. Panamanians drink Duran, which I've been told by an organic coffee grower contains a mix of roasted coffee beans not fit for higher grade brands and burnt corn for added volume. Yum! I'm not the connoisseur yet, and still can't taste much coffee regardless due to all the sugar each cup contains. Every morning my cup also had a nice surprise of cheese hidden in the bottom. We're talking a chunk of cheese (queso fresco) about half an inch thick, an inch wide, and another two or three inches long. I don't think it flavored the coffee too much, and I couldn't bring myself to eat more than a nibble of the cheese. Therefore the family dog could probably tell you how it actually tasted better than I can.
Panamanian dogs have been indispensable in maintaining my relationship with host families. Anything I can't or don't want to eat goes to the little guys. I have a rock at my house in Santa Clara where I can dump off any leftovers for the dog. My Chiriqui host mom took the bus to work before I woke each day, leaving me free to feed the dog any fried Spam or coffee-cheese I didn't want to consume. The dinners were all great, so I didn't have to worry about sneaking food away when the family was there. In Herrera, I ate all my food, no matter how full I was since my host family was so great to me. I did have several theme songs running in my head as I was eating. For example, the morning when I was served two whole hotdogs for breakfast (in addition to several tortillas, a cup of coffee, and a cup of crema), I had the song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" stuck in my head. They just reminded me so much of Ballpark Franks you can buy in the States. Hehe. Then on another morning when I was served a monstrous portion of alhaldres (fried dough), I kept thinking of my high school field hockey coach yelling "Finish It!" from the sidelines. Growing up we got to draw a line down the middle of our plates and only eat half if we couldn't finish. Too bad the same rules don't apply here!
My first experience with crema deserves a word. Evidently there are several types of crema.
However, I have only been served one type, appropriately named crema de harina, aka cream of flour. Basically, you pour some milk and flour into a pot, heat it up until most of the flour dissolves into the mixture, and are left with a thin yet chunky batter. Yum! There are also cremas made with strawberry, others with oatmeal, etc. Speaking of oatmeal, I also had my first taste of oatmeal chicha.
Chicha is the all encompassing word for juice here. It can be blended fresh from pineapple or mixed up from a packet of Tang. We made some chicha de caña, squeezed right from the sugar cane stalks. It is quite a lot of work, but well worth it especially with a bit of lemon juice mixed in. I even had banana chicha made by cutting a banana in quarters, popping it in a glass, adding a bit of milk, sugar, and cinnamon. This one is eaten with a spoon and was by far the most delicious concoction that I have tried. Best of all, I had banana chicha in Chiriqui, which means there is a very good chance of having it in my community many times over the next two years!
These last two weeks were filled with activities. I toured and worked in organic farms and school gardens, introduced to the Ngobere language which hopefully I´ll be adding to in site, shown many medicinal plants, learned how to make sombreros, taught in the schools, had an amazing Despidida (goodbye party) and can´t wait to see my Herrera host family again.
You might be thinking that with so much Arabica coffee growing, and home to the most expensive coffee in the world (that hasn't passed through an animal's digestive system), we would be drinking some pretty fine coffee. Well, just about all of that coffee is shipped out to customers such as yourselves. Panamanians drink Duran, which I've been told by an organic coffee grower contains a mix of roasted coffee beans not fit for higher grade brands and burnt corn for added volume. Yum! I'm not the connoisseur yet, and still can't taste much coffee regardless due to all the sugar each cup contains. Every morning my cup also had a nice surprise of cheese hidden in the bottom. We're talking a chunk of cheese (queso fresco) about half an inch thick, an inch wide, and another two or three inches long. I don't think it flavored the coffee too much, and I couldn't bring myself to eat more than a nibble of the cheese. Therefore the family dog could probably tell you how it actually tasted better than I can.
Panamanian dogs have been indispensable in maintaining my relationship with host families. Anything I can't or don't want to eat goes to the little guys. I have a rock at my house in Santa Clara where I can dump off any leftovers for the dog. My Chiriqui host mom took the bus to work before I woke each day, leaving me free to feed the dog any fried Spam or coffee-cheese I didn't want to consume. The dinners were all great, so I didn't have to worry about sneaking food away when the family was there. In Herrera, I ate all my food, no matter how full I was since my host family was so great to me. I did have several theme songs running in my head as I was eating. For example, the morning when I was served two whole hotdogs for breakfast (in addition to several tortillas, a cup of coffee, and a cup of crema), I had the song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" stuck in my head. They just reminded me so much of Ballpark Franks you can buy in the States. Hehe. Then on another morning when I was served a monstrous portion of alhaldres (fried dough), I kept thinking of my high school field hockey coach yelling "Finish It!" from the sidelines. Growing up we got to draw a line down the middle of our plates and only eat half if we couldn't finish. Too bad the same rules don't apply here!
My first experience with crema deserves a word. Evidently there are several types of crema.
However, I have only been served one type, appropriately named crema de harina, aka cream of flour. Basically, you pour some milk and flour into a pot, heat it up until most of the flour dissolves into the mixture, and are left with a thin yet chunky batter. Yum! There are also cremas made with strawberry, others with oatmeal, etc. Speaking of oatmeal, I also had my first taste of oatmeal chicha.
Chicha is the all encompassing word for juice here. It can be blended fresh from pineapple or mixed up from a packet of Tang. We made some chicha de caña, squeezed right from the sugar cane stalks. It is quite a lot of work, but well worth it especially with a bit of lemon juice mixed in. I even had banana chicha made by cutting a banana in quarters, popping it in a glass, adding a bit of milk, sugar, and cinnamon. This one is eaten with a spoon and was by far the most delicious concoction that I have tried. Best of all, I had banana chicha in Chiriqui, which means there is a very good chance of having it in my community many times over the next two years!
These last two weeks were filled with activities. I toured and worked in organic farms and school gardens, introduced to the Ngobere language which hopefully I´ll be adding to in site, shown many medicinal plants, learned how to make sombreros, taught in the schools, had an amazing Despidida (goodbye party) and can´t wait to see my Herrera host family again.
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