tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51962161186581402402024-03-19T05:43:17.970-07:00Welcome to the jungle?I live in the Panamanian Jungle. Opinions and writings here are mine and do not reflect Panama, Panamanians, Peace Corps, the United States Government or any such agencies.Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-4745062218823438172009-03-09T12:37:00.001-07:002009-03-09T12:50:58.141-07:00FebruaryIt’s been about a month since I’ve blogged last. It has been quite an interesting month. I’ve journeyed to the United States and back, as well as all the way to Santa Fe, in the Darien Province in Panama (East of the Canal). I also had a week of In Service Training (IST) with everyone from my training group. Following this week of IST, I hosted Ngobe-Bugle language classes in my village for volunteers in the province of Bocas Del Toro. Basically I’ve spent the last month traveling all around Panama and the USA.<br />In Service Training was from February 9-13th in Rio Hato, Cocle, Panama. Rio Hato is roughly 10-11 hours of travel from where I live. This training consisted of more language sessions and technical sessions similar to what I went through for Pre Service Training (PST), what I did for the first 2.5 months in Panama. Another facet of IST consisted of being able to see and catch up with all the individuals that I arrived in Panama with. It was great to see everyone!<br />Following this training, I returned to my village to prepare for a week of language classes with other Bocas Del Toro PCVs and a language teacher from the Peace Corps. 4 other volunteers and the language instructor lived in my village for 5 days. We had daily language classes, and cooked delicious gringo food for my host family. The mornings consisted of language training in Ngobe-Bugle, and the afternoons consisted of training in Spanish. Check out the following pictures from the language class week!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2hy3fNfo_A54klDiSdJ2nBKMvNY0GYJFMB3VxMejkn2wsB5J_7ngEhbJyFSyCjaw9Jwwm2XKcXv_py5y3dDC1wsskukgOg9MgY8_p7H6hgjZ3siuIhBaWySRLT9JXULHn9JoOw4a2lM/s1600-h/meandlulu.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2hy3fNfo_A54klDiSdJ2nBKMvNY0GYJFMB3VxMejkn2wsB5J_7ngEhbJyFSyCjaw9Jwwm2XKcXv_py5y3dDC1wsskukgOg9MgY8_p7H6hgjZ3siuIhBaWySRLT9JXULHn9JoOw4a2lM/s320/meandlulu.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311275102781279874" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lulu deciding to climb around on my back while I was cooking.</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3V3jhFM1XbdHSmiEMq4JxHIu86Upja6B-GcFQbeYlkGpOE06lUMrHuCtTu1FxA0VDmeqHrG-rvSy92z0df1_06fGpXMSY5nOxEO6vJk1UbuBlxD7J0EItuaM4meH04Ryt1S0tKfwjdio/s1600-h/cooking.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3V3jhFM1XbdHSmiEMq4JxHIu86Upja6B-GcFQbeYlkGpOE06lUMrHuCtTu1FxA0VDmeqHrG-rvSy92z0df1_06fGpXMSY5nOxEO6vJk1UbuBlxD7J0EItuaM4meH04Ryt1S0tKfwjdio/s320/cooking.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311275087930990514" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Piper and I cooking Panamanian hojaldres (fried dough, kind of like small elephant ears).</span></span><br /></div><br />On Sunday February 22, I received a phone call from my mother in the US informing me that my grandfather had passed away earlier that morning. I received the phone call shortly after my soccer game; we lost by the way. Anyways, after receiving the call, I had to back up a few clothing items and hike out of my site so I could get a bus to Changuinola in order to book a flight home to the US for the funeral. The following morning, I left Changuinola at 5:15 in the morning to make the long journey to Panama City. I traveled from Changuinola to David, took a pit stop in David for lunch and to use the internet a bit, then I traveled all the way to Panama City, arriving at 10:30 PM. I checked into a hotel so I could shower and get a few hours of sleep. I checked out of the hotel at 5:30AM and proceeded to grab a taxi to the airport for my 8:20 flight. After flying from Panama City to Miami, I then had an 8-hour layover in the Miami airport. I grabbed some lunch and coffee and found a nice floor spot next to an outlet so I could use my computer and the Internet to try and catch up on all the news in the US. Basically, I found out that the US economy is falling apart and the United States may not exist when I finish in the Peace Corps. My flight for O’Hare left at 8:15PM EST, and I was giving my mother a hug at the airport at about 10:45PM CST. Returning home for a funeral is not necessarily a happy homecoming, but it was nice because most of my family was in one location. Therefore, I had a much easier time getting to see everyone while I was home. To my grandfather, my you rest in peace. I will always carry with me the many great memories we have forged together. I will continue to celebrate your life with every breath of my own.<br />While I was home I did get to catch up with friends and family. I spent most of my time hanging out with my family. I did manage to sneak away for one day of snowboarding.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyr5vg1FzLSNAj9GmwpA7uZyMgRLPeh2kcGCA9Iv5sfL3YjTbtS9TgdpKWpKLQ17p9kgh8Tklqof-kqf6fTV2pA8VfxgA-4oPstos1BOlOqyITnV2zEjNjMxZtXTdycoPycSKMdV5VI_c/s1600-h/tinaandI2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyr5vg1FzLSNAj9GmwpA7uZyMgRLPeh2kcGCA9Iv5sfL3YjTbtS9TgdpKWpKLQ17p9kgh8Tklqof-kqf6fTV2pA8VfxgA-4oPstos1BOlOqyITnV2zEjNjMxZtXTdycoPycSKMdV5VI_c/s320/tinaandI2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311275104892038082" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:78%;">I love snow!<br /></span></span></div><br /><br />I also made a short trip down to my old college campus and to Indianapolis to visit old friends. I arrived back in Panama on Wednesday March 4.<br /><br />Upon arriving back to Panama, I traveled to Santa Fe in the Province of the Darien. The Darien is the Province farthest east in Panama. It borders Columbia. The highway into the Darien actually stops at a dense forest before the Columbian border. There technically is no full constructed highway connecting Panama and Columbia. Anyways, since I flew into Panama and was all ready in the middle of the country, I decided to go visit some volunteers in the Darien and help out with a feria (fair). The feria was actually pretty neat. It was very similar to a fair in the US. There were a bunch of food vendors, small farm-like attractions, and fair rides.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKO-L5ZjLN2vDb5K7NeAh6RNfTFyOw1rthbu74KZxLusGoVQG9IekRl8Qe4NIBokJDjKgMMwwjizYOQUiInK_JjSg3hdRYpH2fXZfAuzI7FdU2l_D9XNuvuhbMF3EVHsOJH200QL33uE/s1600-h/mappanamacountry.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKO-L5ZjLN2vDb5K7NeAh6RNfTFyOw1rthbu74KZxLusGoVQG9IekRl8Qe4NIBokJDjKgMMwwjizYOQUiInK_JjSg3hdRYpH2fXZfAuzI7FdU2l_D9XNuvuhbMF3EVHsOJH200QL33uE/s320/mappanamacountry.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311276765452229346" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I was east of the canal in Santa Fe. Santa Fe is inbetween Metiti and Aqua Fria</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjJ5EBlr_XiZfGaxbOuFcniH2zs7DWgH-79GQQJCorxk8f1qD_d8vaEGez-kuJ4keJQkFPgWkDl127U3hfhqdFkt2nDtzxmgCTyR5H6ArxrtqZNcuJ9-HWE_vw3YTMCmowUCz5gmn3oQ/s1600-h/Felix.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjJ5EBlr_XiZfGaxbOuFcniH2zs7DWgH-79GQQJCorxk8f1qD_d8vaEGez-kuJ4keJQkFPgWkDl127U3hfhqdFkt2nDtzxmgCTyR5H6ArxrtqZNcuJ9-HWE_vw3YTMCmowUCz5gmn3oQ/s320/Felix.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311275090784718722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Felix is the Regional Leader's cat in the Darien, and yes, he is ferocious</span></span><br /></div><br />Following the feria, I traveled to David and then to Changuinola in Bocas del Toro where I am now. I will be traveling back to site shortly. Supposedly while I was in the States, my community was going to finish my house. I have doubts that they have, but my fingers are crossed! I’ll post up some pictures soon of my completed house!<br /><br />Aqui en la lucha,<br /><br /><br />KokiraBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-14414963741827883822009-02-01T12:04:00.000-08:002009-02-01T12:23:51.685-08:00Marine Life and the House Skeleton<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Playa</span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpHlCJpxspoMC-CVO3ZW3tC02FiTkyQ01a4LsBKthnxe53skWesKXngsR9SQiwtlAtcH1qsdKsOwYu_lfl5g8CnAlLXqhQS_IwWDgnzs0E3YgG5OMRgw0L80Zr9KJYj7QXblQZP1AziQ/s1600-h/beach.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpHlCJpxspoMC-CVO3ZW3tC02FiTkyQ01a4LsBKthnxe53skWesKXngsR9SQiwtlAtcH1qsdKsOwYu_lfl5g8CnAlLXqhQS_IwWDgnzs0E3YgG5OMRgw0L80Zr9KJYj7QXblQZP1AziQ/s320/beach.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297923203807711202" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Playa Blanca (White Beach) Pacific Ocean<br />Farallon, Cocle, Panama<br /><br /></span></div>Before I proceed into my housing update, first I would like to deliver a small anecdote about a recent visit to my friend’s beach house in La Playa Blanca (The White Beach), a beach on the Pacific. First, I would like to provide a little background information to preface the story. I have a friend from Chicago that has a Panamanian mother. My friend’s nuclear family lives in Chicago, but she has family here in Panama as well as a wonderful house on the beach. She was recently in Panama, and I made a very quick trip to see her and her family at the beach. I actually spent more time traveling back and forth from my village to her house than I spent hanging out with her and her family. The trip from her house to my village consists of two bus rides. The first bus ride from Almirante to David is roughly 4 hours, and the second bus ride from David to her beach house is roughly 5 hours and fifteen minutes. It was a lot of traveling, but it was great because they all had wonderful questions about my Peace Corps experience. It’s always fun to share all the craziness of the jungle. Anyways, shortly after breakfast, we ventured to the beach to swim, play Frisbee, and enjoy the beautiful Panamanian weather (it is technically the Panamanian summer right now, so it’s warmer and doesn’t rain as much). I decided to take a short walk down the beach. As I was walking back to our spot on the beach, I stepped down into the water only to feel something move very quickly and a quick shot of pain in the top of my foot. Since the water was murky, I couldn’t see what I had stepped on. So I exited the water to analyze my foot. Looking down at my foot, there was a small hole in my foot above my third toe. There was a little blood coming out but not to bad, and there was not a lot of pain. Not knowing what it was, I decided to go back up to my friend’s house to clean up the wound and further research what type of animal I had encountered. On my way back up to the house, I passed by one of my friend’s family members; she asked where I was headed. I said I was headed back to the house to clean up my foot. I pointed down to my foot only to realize that now, the top of my foot and my toes were covered in blood. She took one look and decided it would be best to come help me clean up my foot. While we are cleaning my wound, everyone else shows up, and they decide it would be best to take me to the doctor to have it looked at since we did not know if it was a stingray or some other kind of marine creature. So we wrap up my foot and drive to the closest clinic roughly a 3 or so minute ride, very close. The doctor gives it one look and just said “raya” the Spanish word for stingray. By this point in time the pain was a little worse, and they told me it would continue to increase as the stingray’s toxin begin to spread further into my foot. Anyways, the doctor further cleaned the whole in my foot and I received two injections in the buttocks. Quick note here, Panamanian’s love to give injections in the buttocks, not sure why, but they do. This was my first encounter with injections in the buttocks. What better way to start then to receive two injections in the buttocks? The doctor was nice and gave me one in each cheek. After receiving the injections and sitting around the doctor’s office, I was beginning to experience more pain in my foot. I could feel the pain crawling up my foot and into the lower portion of my leg. The pain was also pulsating with severity. I know I just made it sound horrible, but it was not that bad. Although, I believe I did not experience the worst of the pain because I received an injection for the pain so quickly after I had been stung. Oh yeah, I received one injection for the pain and one to stave off infection. After receiving my treatment, we returned to my friend’s house where I was instructed to sit in the hammock and soak my foot in hot water, drink a few cervezas, and read a book. Anyways, the trip was extremely short, but I had a wonderful time!<br />A few notes on stingrays<br /><br />Stingrays bury themselves in the sand and wait for their prey, in this case me, to pass above them or step on them. When this happens, they flip up their barbed tail and stab their prey. Frequently, the barb in their tale breaks off in the wound, lucky for me it didn’t. They usually dwell in relatively shallow water. It is recommended that when walking in waters that are largely populated by rays that the individual shuffle their feet as they walk through the water. This act makes them flee the general vicinity. Their toxin causes localized pain and swelling as well. Soaking the stung area in hot water, the hotter the better, causes the toxin to break down quicker, thus reducing the severity and duration of the pain. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrQkI_1CspHo0GTBpYTFw0HKOknswKDr_6oXsC9CnMOihZ3NZs14icufjE4b58auUTPHvq0QNmJj4UUQCyix476F6cwwJCBYIrzcE_NRX0aVwpDqVjeDAts2cBcm9T85ayvBWfDL6wIw/s1600-h/sting.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrQkI_1CspHo0GTBpYTFw0HKOknswKDr_6oXsC9CnMOihZ3NZs14icufjE4b58auUTPHvq0QNmJj4UUQCyix476F6cwwJCBYIrzcE_NRX0aVwpDqVjeDAts2cBcm9T85ayvBWfDL6wIw/s320/sting.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297923209268401890" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:78%;">The wound is above my toe. Roughly two weeks have elapsed; therefore, the wound has healed up nicely.<br />My feet are kind of gross and hairy. Enjoy!<br /></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">House Update</span><br /></div><br />Last week we constructed the “skeleton” of my house if you will. Tomorrow Monday Feb 2nd we will be hanging the zinc for the roof and hopefully getting the floored built. Check out the following pictures!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQY4SuUG0lgvL3CXnhrsi9RLeCaMASxnwrFZhh3Mhtp3WeLixhERtFAz1sT7Z53Vt0emSxCX5lvk0h4__chSXAEI4lQCECk97ZpuLHb77LvxlJh_MVVG0SlFe48udVcWZM9L1jEc7OZo/s1600-h/house3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQY4SuUG0lgvL3CXnhrsi9RLeCaMASxnwrFZhh3Mhtp3WeLixhERtFAz1sT7Z53Vt0emSxCX5lvk0h4__chSXAEI4lQCECk97ZpuLHb77LvxlJh_MVVG0SlFe48udVcWZM9L1jEc7OZo/s320/house3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297923213458952674" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The little guy above loved to have his picture taken, as all little children in my community do.<br /></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupMTKo7D2AEONcV4BHkkzJn-0XW14V4EZhUtxxNnnKv3nelmJe7CHVNjnaGtRdQq-C7z-FqFgWZV2C72esIFC3u9SG7MWrpB0un1gb6NUJeHYg3KOpY90XVwt6opSPdXT-WBOobAHqp4/s1600-h/house2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupMTKo7D2AEONcV4BHkkzJn-0XW14V4EZhUtxxNnnKv3nelmJe7CHVNjnaGtRdQq-C7z-FqFgWZV2C72esIFC3u9SG7MWrpB0un1gb6NUJeHYg3KOpY90XVwt6opSPdXT-WBOobAHqp4/s320/house2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297923208721645650" border="0" /></a><br />We built this structure in roughly three days. It seemed to want to rain a lot when we were working. So that definitely slowed down the process.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1BOh2srcBsBf7hv9D1xBa21wXM8bthZXgmnkdnVnZ6SOJlB8zGphq9jHptu_h0VHCVGJ8paw8SS0DNsZFZbBOPNUfrJPrHc0jds5aY03tRaWtJQMg3AMn7o6y7f61BWJglAnk0MxwKQ/s1600-h/house1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1BOh2srcBsBf7hv9D1xBa21wXM8bthZXgmnkdnVnZ6SOJlB8zGphq9jHptu_h0VHCVGJ8paw8SS0DNsZFZbBOPNUfrJPrHc0jds5aY03tRaWtJQMg3AMn7o6y7f61BWJglAnk0MxwKQ/s320/house1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297923209232960130" border="0" /></a>Hopefully I'll be able to complete my house in the next few weeks. I actually have a week long training event coming up from February 9-13th in the province of Cocle, about 10 hour trip from my village. I hope my villagers will continue to work on it while I'm at training. My fingers are crossed. <br /><br /><br />Aqui en la lucha,<br /><br /><br />KoguiraBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-31657111770621431222009-01-16T12:02:00.000-08:002009-01-16T12:08:06.565-08:00¡Junta Grande!On Wednesday January 14th, I, with the help of my neighbor Cornelio and my friend Charlo, organized a Junta for 30 people to haul the wood for my house from the three different locations where it was cut to the center of town, where I am building. For the Junta, I purchased 30lbs of chicken, 15lbs of sugar, 15lbs of flour, butter, pinolio (ground up processed corn for a strange drink), milk, salt, 3 dozen eggs, onions, peppers, garlic, coffee, and 30 lbs of rice. There may have been a few more items that I can’t remember. I spent about $80-$90 on food. The deal with juntas is that if I provide the food, they will work. The day of the Junta was also the same day that my boss was coming to visit and see how I was doing. Originally the Junta was going to be scheduled for the 17th, but since my boss was coming, I was able to arrange for the Junta to be the 14th instead. I told them my boss, jefe in Spanish, was coming and that he really wanted to work. Since the wood was in three different locations in my community, hauling it was a great way to show my boss, Zach, my beautiful community. The hikes ranged from 30minutes to an hour one way. One of the hikes was practically straight up hill. The longest hike was mainly flat ground. The hike was beautiful, but hauling heavy wood on your shoulder through sticky, slippery mud can be a bit tiresome.<br />Anyways, my boss arrived at about 6:30 in the morning in time for breakfast. I wish I had my camera with me for breakfast. We had egg sandwiches and coffee. The bread was made fresh the previous day; its actually called a Johnny Cake. It’s made with the water from coconuts as well as a little shredded coconut as well. The Johnny cake was cut in half lengthwise, a slab of butter was tossed on it followed by some eggs scrambled with peppers and onions. I think this was by far the best breakfast I’ve had since I’ve been living in Rio Oeste.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlkgtFHkvKb8wnL1ZaSXRQ57Ij_BzveYBM_Kq3PmdkmukTkF-Em3GlOXQ5FuJT8by4vpFpDzPQzzEJ40UJ0pEUHTc8WYGGslFUIUL1oYtpMMLODQxVxWLtlzHTsTzC8HjV2NLVwmWsXY/s1600-h/Johhny.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlkgtFHkvKb8wnL1ZaSXRQ57Ij_BzveYBM_Kq3PmdkmukTkF-Em3GlOXQ5FuJT8by4vpFpDzPQzzEJ40UJ0pEUHTc8WYGGslFUIUL1oYtpMMLODQxVxWLtlzHTsTzC8HjV2NLVwmWsXY/s320/Johhny.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291985164141336626" border="0" /></a><br />The above picture is of Johnny Cakes. This first batch was made with some funky yeast. They didn’t rise properly. They should be a little thicker.<br />After breakfast Zach and I were each handed a length of rope before we started the uphill hike to the first location of the wood. After arriving at the location, we tied together 3-4 10-12 foot boards and then tied our rope around one end. After everything was secured, we just started dragging the wood down the side of the hill. It almost became a race. There were about 20 of use running down the side of this hill guiding the wood between the trees and the bushes. The wood would start to gather momentum and you just prayed that it didn’t knock you off your feet or your neighbor. If you think of lumberjacks directing logs down a river, that’s what we were doing, only we were directing boards down the side of a steep, steep hill. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBC5ctb0qePQs-3Lvw1yB2A0fXXl825FkCn4UragB7ZV_dfIzbgixGN3hG2f_-lbm9YqBGs55Bndxs9p7sfvTgMWPiPrjP_azkh31YE6bUFWIPWjrpIHcpiR-zUh4FlPxaCj51LEQ_RHY/s1600-h/woodhaulin.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBC5ctb0qePQs-3Lvw1yB2A0fXXl825FkCn4UragB7ZV_dfIzbgixGN3hG2f_-lbm9YqBGs55Bndxs9p7sfvTgMWPiPrjP_azkh31YE6bUFWIPWjrpIHcpiR-zUh4FlPxaCj51LEQ_RHY/s320/woodhaulin.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291985167137798242" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The guy in the middle in the gray is my boss, Zach. This is Zach and I with our leashed wood almost to the bottom of the hill.</span></span><br /></div><br /><br />From the bottom of the hill we tied the boards to horses to finish hauling them to my future house location.<br />After this first trip, we replenished our water supply and started the hour hike to the farthest wood location. It was a beautiful hike that followed the course of the river.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtLryIAeJZ8V79kVMl8aV8qfSXXkyGRiT8JHlM_vWYbnSFGLa73nPE5sdWstr7XydS6qg8IBvyU5mxWTSJXHl1spa0LWXYveo68G2clLD5cvZqmdCHC6enVB8vk9KSk6-VEGsd3cPglEk/s1600-h/junta!.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtLryIAeJZ8V79kVMl8aV8qfSXXkyGRiT8JHlM_vWYbnSFGLa73nPE5sdWstr7XydS6qg8IBvyU5mxWTSJXHl1spa0LWXYveo68G2clLD5cvZqmdCHC6enVB8vk9KSk6-VEGsd3cPglEk/s320/junta!.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291985161286697090" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Loading up the horses.</span></span><br /></div><br />We arrived at the site to help load the horses, grab a few boards, and start the hike back with the boards on our shoulders. This hike was rough because we forgot to grab our pads to cushion our shoulders for the long haul. My shoulder was bright red with the skin beginning to peel off by the time we were done. After that, we grabbed lunch and went to the third location up in the hills of my host family’s finca. This hike was short and easy, which was a nice way to finish the workday.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sMb_lxQCV6BM-hnI_acKSEOdf16MRwsfywROk5Gm_omwGX17sGdtIYYHKEsGWKBwcwXvysKvl29f87Sh4PrprEEnUTfy6NmNu9nba38OIcjmrGVk2vDrTw95caWxqGx4g3GEziB3a9w/s1600-h/housesite.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sMb_lxQCV6BM-hnI_acKSEOdf16MRwsfywROk5Gm_omwGX17sGdtIYYHKEsGWKBwcwXvysKvl29f87Sh4PrprEEnUTfy6NmNu9nba38OIcjmrGVk2vDrTw95caWxqGx4g3GEziB3a9w/s320/housesite.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291985156204153986" border="0" /></a><br />This is the site where I am building. I’ll provide more updates as my house comes together.<br /><br /><br />En la lucha,<br /><br /><br />KBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-38353292360613545242009-01-16T11:57:00.000-08:002009-01-16T12:02:31.284-08:00New Year’s Eve The Isla Colon AdventureFor New Year’s Eve, I along with about 12 other volunteers, ventured to Colon Island and the town of Bocas Del Toro. The actual town of Bocas Del Toro is the tourist hub in Bocas Del Toro. This central location in the islands is full of little restaurants, bars, shops, hostels, and hotels. There is a beach on the island, but the most beautiful beaches can only be reached by hiring a boat driver to take you there.<br />The main launching point for this island paradise is the sketchy town of Almirante. Almirante is the closest town to my village. Every time I venture into Almirante to purchase supplies, I am constantly hassled as a tourist. Everyone always assumes I’m going to the islands, and I’m constantly giving them disgusted and annoyed looks and telling them that I’m not a tourist. I live in Panama. As I passed through Almirante on New Year’s Eve day, to my dismay, when asked if I was “Going to Bocas Man,” sadly I had to say yes… Anyways, we took one of the water taxis through a company called Jampan. The price quoted to us at first was $3 per person. By the time we actually started paying the price began to increase to $3.25 then $3.50. Arriving on the island was a strange experience. Getting off the boat I was greeted by the signs for a Subway Sandwich shop. It was strange to be back in a place where a majority of the people spoke English and were of fair skin.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilXxCkRFRgfqsjgt1hq7JC-5IyL8Wa50ofj8N-sl75mKbLJArIxWu6CIyyCLYEMXMFc-cfbtvbMAXSdkHA5yeR8C9In6SyloR2WAJjXxoE8Qef-1sAmDKve00bllhn8jAXmYnwmL9XXCA/s1600-h/Subway.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilXxCkRFRgfqsjgt1hq7JC-5IyL8Wa50ofj8N-sl75mKbLJArIxWu6CIyyCLYEMXMFc-cfbtvbMAXSdkHA5yeR8C9In6SyloR2WAJjXxoE8Qef-1sAmDKve00bllhn8jAXmYnwmL9XXCA/s320/Subway.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291983906956320210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After arriving on the island, my friends and I made our way to our hotel. It was called Hospedaje Dona Irma. It was basically a house with the top floor turned into a hotel. Each room had two beds and a fan. At the end of the hall there was a sink and mirror along with two bathrooms, each with a shower and toilet. The fee per night was $8.50, which was great for the poor Peace Corps volunteer.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YY31wbWgUbnzJFJbLgoyo9bJqgckRfDTVv0Ru5D0W9vfyejwF7WKlK8j3-CpLyNorKQbOUw7kc8my_3uucYaHA0M3zxrz3vRjNeTJuzIFoE7LxVoDDhA6z8WLzHNgV8z_QkSdoIVZq0/s1600-h/donaIrma.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YY31wbWgUbnzJFJbLgoyo9bJqgckRfDTVv0Ru5D0W9vfyejwF7WKlK8j3-CpLyNorKQbOUw7kc8my_3uucYaHA0M3zxrz3vRjNeTJuzIFoE7LxVoDDhA6z8WLzHNgV8z_QkSdoIVZq0/s320/donaIrma.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291983902951506770" border="0" /></a><br />On New Year’s Eve we explored the bar night scene on the island. When midnight hit, I was sitting on a pier watching fireworks over the water. The following day, two other volunteers and I rented some bicycles from a hostel and road them to the beach for the day. It was nice to go relax on the beach. Also, on our bike ride there was a cave off the road that we explored; it was full of bats! Check out the pictures of the island and the beach in my Flickr account!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpc0H_XRlA2HOvm0hsqGuK9lAtxfOyp8Hw5bUrYYm56m6Q6Q4xsvkFETrQJfWOHKghiZIgE4Un8UyFm8Ye123T7hiubsXbZOtHO2oBujgWY1ie-wzt_K1QMrHi94aDUlDwlkZ3CXSWCzc/s1600-h/cabana.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpc0H_XRlA2HOvm0hsqGuK9lAtxfOyp8Hw5bUrYYm56m6Q6Q4xsvkFETrQJfWOHKghiZIgE4Un8UyFm8Ye123T7hiubsXbZOtHO2oBujgWY1ie-wzt_K1QMrHi94aDUlDwlkZ3CXSWCzc/s320/cabana.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291983898963536210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />En la lucha,<br /><br />KBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-31414740735675532872009-01-02T12:05:00.000-08:002009-01-02T12:17:42.572-08:00Feliz año nuevoHappy New Year!<br /><br />I spent my new year on Isla Colon (Colon Island) in Bocas Del Toro, Panama. I'm currently uploading pictures into Flickr. So go check those out when you have a chance. I'll update this New Year's blog in the next few weeks with some pictures and more descriptions. <br /><br /><br /><br />Aqui en la lucha,<br /><br /><br />KBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-54661314464262909592009-01-02T10:59:00.000-08:002009-01-02T11:12:41.665-08:00Ngabe CookiesStill having large quantities of chocolate, I recently put it to good use. Therefore, I thought I’d share some pictures of my most recently chocolate cooking adventure. So I made No Bake cookies or “Ngabe” cookies as our village residents have named them. Check out my pictures of the “Ngabe” (No bake) cookies with fresh, delicious cocao.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The initial mixing<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjc5Hjr5fzo4HwvT9n6VehxzZBZAt4C-CkrSlRX1A4qhF9g6damrgCeZmQbIcigKAeMSgneZMs21PXk7btDhAcjGrwzTtFp5kx-XMLvThij_PDryCLxY2WFbDxHnIi3C_gIhtayz_lIk/s1600-h/cookies.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjc5Hjr5fzo4HwvT9n6VehxzZBZAt4C-CkrSlRX1A4qhF9g6damrgCeZmQbIcigKAeMSgneZMs21PXk7btDhAcjGrwzTtFp5kx-XMLvThij_PDryCLxY2WFbDxHnIi3C_gIhtayz_lIk/s320/cookies.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286775350349727138" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Looks lovely doesn't it.....<br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fU9ZGBWbLucf_DNUASf_0vU-jNByxaT3xyADSsNxuKPX2SGB9YujILsEdvdG8clKy1L1plRJdkE7ixL6T_0EbQPrewxQM6JoQSS9JPlsR-xv4cJCYsG2URAGfavaErGcJuiTDXSHhwc/s1600-h/cookies2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fU9ZGBWbLucf_DNUASf_0vU-jNByxaT3xyADSsNxuKPX2SGB9YujILsEdvdG8clKy1L1plRJdkE7ixL6T_0EbQPrewxQM6JoQSS9JPlsR-xv4cJCYsG2URAGfavaErGcJuiTDXSHhwc/s320/cookies2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286775356816800818" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br />They were delicious and did not last long. <br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cX1i6cWHePM1BGjAYHw5isD5Og6kyzj55BlV7_I9K_jeL0jn2EuVwWc8cQ-dDFP3hfGxCuUyjgpVgrbIrkCVzeypUKDip_bQpWQSdI-dW5SEVmREq3r6BkuklUwn_nrXa7rFVqvvIqo/s1600-h/cookies3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cX1i6cWHePM1BGjAYHw5isD5Og6kyzj55BlV7_I9K_jeL0jn2EuVwWc8cQ-dDFP3hfGxCuUyjgpVgrbIrkCVzeypUKDip_bQpWQSdI-dW5SEVmREq3r6BkuklUwn_nrXa7rFVqvvIqo/s320/cookies3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286775362923207058" border="0" /></a>Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-4325408421699035612008-12-26T09:06:00.000-08:002008-12-26T09:34:58.055-08:00Christmas in the Jungle....average at best.Christmas in the Jungle, or rather a lack there of….<br /><br /><br /> Yesterday was Christmas. I wouldn’t have known it was Xmas unless I looked at a calendar or called home. On Christmas Eve I climbed into bed after a day of cutting down wood in the jungle for my house only to have my host family in the room above me turn on their tiny TV (the screen is probably 3 inches by 3 inches) and watch some Xmas movie in Spanish. I’m not sure what movie it was, but all the voice acting was dubbed in Spanish. Although the dialogue was in Spanish, all the Xmas songs were still in English. So here I am lying in bed in the middle of the Panamanian jungle, mildly depressed because I’m not with my family in the snowy climate I’m used to for Xmas eve being forced to listen to the song “White Christmas,” an expression that has absolutely no meaning to Panamanians. I sat there praying that it would start raining as hard as possible to drown out the noise of the TV…sadly, the rain waited till Xmas morning.<br /> On Xmas morning I woke up at 530AM Panamanian time (530CST) to get dressed and prepared to go cut more wood for my house. Depending on how smoothly the cutting went, we were slated to finish cutting the 2105 ft of wood necessary for constructing my house, but I’ll talk a little more about that in a second. All right, so I wake up to get ready to leave to work by 6 only to be greeted by rain. Panamanians aren’t ever on time in the absence of rain. When it rains, they are even less punctual. So I climbed back in bed to listen to the rain while I waited for my host father to wake up so I could find out when and if we were still going to cut wood. The rain slows down and he wakes up around 7. I climbed out of bed, made the daily trip to our composting latrine, put on the dirty sawdust-covered clothing I’ve been wearing for the past 3 days, took my drug cocktail (malaria pill, vitamins, anti-inflammatory I twisted my other ankle last Sun in a soccer game so now I have two bogus ankles), brushed my teeth, readied the gas and oil for the chainsaw, and headed to my neighbor’s house for breakfast. Anytime you have a workday in my community, the person who is getting help with work is expected to provide breakfast and lunch for all the workers. Most Panamanians run on rice, sugar, and green bananas; therefore, buying food for the day isn’t that big of a deal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC38WHzQMWbKZVuW4iD74N7RHt2aEoYyUFwyl07q3g0-UNnwgJkc3aGWHcVc7gYCsB9u3U6jxSNIp_V-ZH6czxb8bvAzjm_JVlJWM_P8zi73ENxj1NbTwILgUjTSY_dOoM4VWqXxE7cI/s1600-h/mexmas.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC38WHzQMWbKZVuW4iD74N7RHt2aEoYyUFwyl07q3g0-UNnwgJkc3aGWHcVc7gYCsB9u3U6jxSNIp_V-ZH6czxb8bvAzjm_JVlJWM_P8zi73ENxj1NbTwILgUjTSY_dOoM4VWqXxE7cI/s320/mexmas.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284152682249985122" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Merry Christmas! The above picture is of me on Xmas morning. I’m holding my wonderful snowman and getting ready to put on my mud-crusted dirty pants and rubber boots. I don’t really know why I have on two different colored socks; they were both clean and close that’s the best explanation I have.</span><br /></span></div><br />So we venture to my neighbor Cornelio’s house where his wife has prepared the food for us. Breakfast was a few fried eggs, rice, green bananas, and coffee flavored sugar water. Not the usually Xmas breakfast of biscuits and gravy that I know and love, but hey I did get two eggs. After breakfast we made the 30-minute hike to the huge tree we cut down 2 days prior. This tree was roughly 3.5 feet in diameter; see the picture below. I put my hat on top of my machete in front of the tree to trying and give a little scale.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoWD2uU4iXep53xtTjSsiObL09cGFbkeiiNmxNfxXmcQc4hZP1F41Roj3gzvooi4ltAfMxSQollOhz2rPoowrnSyddJemU4_cY8xvWFkF2USzvgnq1rvd4JWOeFO8rEVdr60hxb6alDE/s1600-h/tree.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoWD2uU4iXep53xtTjSsiObL09cGFbkeiiNmxNfxXmcQc4hZP1F41Roj3gzvooi4ltAfMxSQollOhz2rPoowrnSyddJemU4_cY8xvWFkF2USzvgnq1rvd4JWOeFO8rEVdr60hxb6alDE/s320/tree.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284152682862682306" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Anyways, after our hike we started cutting down wood. We cut about 5 boards and then the chain on the saw broke. Luckily, we had an extra chain. So the guy cutting the wood, his name is Benicio, puts on the new blade and we get back to work for about another hour before the saw just stops working. Also, during the morning, we were periodically drenched with rain. Lunchtime was approaching, and Cornelio’s two sons had all ready been sent out to bring us our lunch, so we packed up our stuff and sat around waiting for them to show up with our lunch. The picture below was our lunch on one of the days we worked. It was boiled green bananas, rice, beans, and tuna served to us in big green leaves.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aXo1bMm32eiavKlYLl5foLnCp6r_qZRnhmwzY_6FUJtm4xfotz6OWS9u7iHVHEIu5Gd67ibqIf-ufW-sS__kMTYRdw0osIZ0PoPJe1Ma0zTTZZPO4q6_9NuVefeg8XQbKfqUMoJ7i84/s1600-h/lunch.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aXo1bMm32eiavKlYLl5foLnCp6r_qZRnhmwzY_6FUJtm4xfotz6OWS9u7iHVHEIu5Gd67ibqIf-ufW-sS__kMTYRdw0osIZ0PoPJe1Ma0zTTZZPO4q6_9NuVefeg8XQbKfqUMoJ7i84/s320/lunch.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284152676528496786" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So after lunch, we returned home to talk about working on Saturday to finish cutting the wood. I needed to go to Changuinola to get more money and food to finish working on the wood. So after hammering out the details of working this Saturday to finish, I backed up a bag and grabbed a bus to Changuinola to get supplies.<br />Not really your traditional North American Xmas. Although it was a new experience, it was definitely a Xmas experience I wouldn’t like to repeat. It was my first Christmas away from home and my family. Every year I know others go through Xmases without their family, but being my favorite holiday, being away from my family was rough. I was actually dreading calling home at first because I knew my mom was going to answer the phone with a “Merry Christmas.” When I did call, she did she did exactly that; it brought a tear to my eye. To all my family, I love and miss all of you! Thanks for being so supportative. I will be home for the holidays next year!<br /><br />Anyways, a quick summary of the housing project. I’m building my house in the center of town. We are cutting roughly 2105 feet of wood for the house. The house will be 16ft by 16ft with 2 rooms (8ftx8ft) and a porch(16ftx8ft). The kitchen will be on one end of the porch. We have cut down wood in 3 separate locations, all of which are between a 25-35 minute hike from building site. After we finish cutting the wood tomorrow, Saturday, I will begin playing a big work day of roughly 20-30 people to haul all the wood to the building site. It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds. Some of the lumber locations are crazy difficult locations to hike to without having to carry a large quantity of lumber. Plus, there is no way to get a horse into these places to haul wood either. So it should be interesting. For more pictures of cutting down trees, check out my photos. I’m also going to try to load a video of one of the trees being chopped down. As of now, my house is slated to be finished by the end of Jan or beginning of Feb. My fingers are crossed.<br /><br /><br />En la lucha,<br /><br /><br />Brian “Koguira Noin”Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-47329315105005070782008-12-18T14:09:00.000-08:002008-12-18T15:31:24.746-08:007 Days until Christmas…. Still no snow….Some days I wake up, thinking that my Peace Corps experience has been a dream only to be jolted back to reality by the mosquito net hanging over my bed and the crying 2 year old in the room above. Anyways, this past week I’ve attempted to work on my house and have made one very small advance, I purchased oil for the chainsaw. I attempted to buy gasoline for the chainsaw so we could begin cutting the lumber for my house, but all the gas stations in Almirante were out of gas. So little to nothing has been done to work on my house. Although, my host father still insists it can be completed by sometime in January. I’m starting to have my doubts. Anyways, I’m currently in the regional leaders house in Changuinola (see pictures below).<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2xlrsL0s_31vaFUgtmASUiVujmSwBLl0fm3HAZ2UPkbaht6dMRn5AVALLxiMq83fNkxYrs9ZAqTRo7ZM_bf2f9kiTQEeOspOkznS672Nb2mogNL0cvK2bazJdSqFg4n71Yoa04h2AQ0/s1600-h/RLHouse.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2xlrsL0s_31vaFUgtmASUiVujmSwBLl0fm3HAZ2UPkbaht6dMRn5AVALLxiMq83fNkxYrs9ZAqTRo7ZM_bf2f9kiTQEeOspOkznS672Nb2mogNL0cvK2bazJdSqFg4n71Yoa04h2AQ0/s320/RLHouse.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281270206685898178" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />A third year volunteer currently lives here and acts as the Regional Leader of the Bocas Del Toro province. He is currently on vacation in the US. If a volunteer decides to extend beyond his or her initial two years of service, they are required/given a one-month vacation. Anyways, regional leaders live in a central location in their province. Their duties consist of aiding the other volunteers in the province, helping develop future locations for volunteers, and working with the many agencies that exist in Panama. Our benevolent regional leader (RL) allows the volunteers in the area full access to his house, even when he is not home. So a big thanks goes to the RL of Bocas. Also, the house is located right next to the Chiquita banana company’s banana fields. See the picture below for a view of the back yard.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1DpNxqOiW764OZb0J0d9xwE3loKg_lB7HbIArbPasKRO1TJVC1yaER4HHMO-P0PNf0L8Qsz29lFu2RwfU99KsPX9LcpsplPO8eJBNrN7UhO4fb11lVryZ59z-kVVz7DrfGsnmUO5RFgI/s1600-h/bananafields.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1DpNxqOiW764OZb0J0d9xwE3loKg_lB7HbIArbPasKRO1TJVC1yaER4HHMO-P0PNf0L8Qsz29lFu2RwfU99KsPX9LcpsplPO8eJBNrN7UhO4fb11lVryZ59z-kVVz7DrfGsnmUO5RFgI/s320/bananafields.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281270193021544962" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The blue bags hanging are housing the bananas. Being this close to the banana fields, we periodically are sprayed with pesticides and fertilizers. Hopefully I’ll grow stronger and be bug free, time will tell..being bug free would be nice…<br /><br /><br />As I’m typing this blog, this little guy keeps jumping in my lap and trying to type on the keyboard. He belongs to one of the volunteers close to where I live. He has two black kittens. I can have one of them when I have a place to live. I’ll probably take one to help keep rodents and other small animals out of my house.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPDPKUKdOI38KzjzbABRtjoMoLxuUjvH9zhqbxH7uOfo2pziG2BCKxEYo5M2fJGaAsRRcTiNSLxpbDdBWlLPSHt1Wu6cdKfTqmyj8n5b95Zurq_NutgPxZ1xRw9ewHYFcMiBmUF_5gZs/s1600-h/Photo+9.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPDPKUKdOI38KzjzbABRtjoMoLxuUjvH9zhqbxH7uOfo2pziG2BCKxEYo5M2fJGaAsRRcTiNSLxpbDdBWlLPSHt1Wu6cdKfTqmyj8n5b95Zurq_NutgPxZ1xRw9ewHYFcMiBmUF_5gZs/s320/Photo+9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281276710042654642" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSXW-y23ly91MizdOR8yx7E36bEX0MYlyEWPE1lwhI9BL2j1cCTbe4jeKaTUGDJXYmdhioi69G7LPYd_0rkjd2pHwb1HhQIqiEZGGVavyOROjxRp1ywAVYdMPqjxPBRFkova2t2ctirNI/s1600-h/Photo+4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSXW-y23ly91MizdOR8yx7E36bEX0MYlyEWPE1lwhI9BL2j1cCTbe4jeKaTUGDJXYmdhioi69G7LPYd_0rkjd2pHwb1HhQIqiEZGGVavyOROjxRp1ywAVYdMPqjxPBRFkova2t2ctirNI/s320/Photo+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281276701412182002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Well I was going to talk about my projects, but I’m not entirely in the mood to talk about it, plus I’m still watching potential projects unfold. So I’ll have an update on that later. Now I’m going to talk a little about soccer or the lack there of. Last Sunday, Cornelio(my neighbor) and I showed up for our soccer game in Miratre(not sure if that’s spelled right but it’s my best guess). We showed up before our game began and got suited up to play. Our game was to be on the same terrible mud hole as the previous weekends. So the game starts in 15 minutes and we are the only ones from our team at the field. Since we only had two players, we ended up forfeiting the game. 5 minutes after forfeiting the game, the rest of our team showed up. Panamanians aren’t very punctual. I’d like to make a few other comments about soccer while I’m on the topic. Ngabes don’t know how to play defense, and Panamanian officials don’t like me. I’m not sure if they dislike playing defense or they don’t know how to play defense, further investigation is needed. At one game, anytime I made minor contact with anyone on the other team, I was called for a foul. I made a comment to the ref that “I can’t help that all of the Panamanians are tiny.” He didn’t think it was very funny. I thought it was hilarious. For the rest of that game, anytime I thought I was going to make solid contact with another player, I would knock the guy down to at least warrant the foul. We did end up winning the game. Anyways, there is another game this Sunday on the Rio Oeste field. Hopefully the rain will stay to a minimum so the field isn’t a swamp; my fingers are crossed. (My jersey below.. it's a little big but neat looking.. also Benicio Robinson is a politician. Politicians here put their name on everything)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIqVX-RanSfD5xQLcgvYpfSrefux4ro1oHbIqwlykwjF67oCn0q1Wh3CDJJEmHw_QX5Ky9EnNEgid73OgxgFpLVz6Tq0Jren7nrtn6iKcFETkVxHeZJtfdVJz1Hp5AfY0NIRDgfiMu6I/s1600-h/jerseyfront.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIqVX-RanSfD5xQLcgvYpfSrefux4ro1oHbIqwlykwjF67oCn0q1Wh3CDJJEmHw_QX5Ky9EnNEgid73OgxgFpLVz6Tq0Jren7nrtn6iKcFETkVxHeZJtfdVJz1Hp5AfY0NIRDgfiMu6I/s320/jerseyfront.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281270203246090626" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY8UWEVp4f0Oqf7UGhNmfTFS33c9TTHMK8qi7DJZvm8NTMSYo18xI1tlfYTyg6gy4bjsJReSopjyaHAL_ITOZ3LPn_FpEjycTrb5ty1wC7QsWzIRvuw1hJCgn29iCm1sOCji7lRb2qe_Q/s1600-h/jerseyback.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY8UWEVp4f0Oqf7UGhNmfTFS33c9TTHMK8qi7DJZvm8NTMSYo18xI1tlfYTyg6gy4bjsJReSopjyaHAL_ITOZ3LPn_FpEjycTrb5ty1wC7QsWzIRvuw1hJCgn29iCm1sOCji7lRb2qe_Q/s320/jerseyback.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281270199147978034" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Oh well I need to finish checking my email and get some groceries. Tomorrow morning I’ll be headed back to my site to hopefully work on cutting wood for my house. On my way to Changuinola today, I checked and made sure there is gas, so we should be good to go.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Merry Christmas to All</span>! This will be my first xmas away from my family and out of the states. It doesn’t feel like the Christmas season at all. I occasionally see xmas decorations, but without snow and cold weather; it just isn’t the same. Oh well, my next post will have thoughts and photos from my xmas. Don’t expect much, it all ready feels like it’s going to be a very anticlimactic day. Although, New Year’s should be a good time, most of the volunteers in my area are going to the island of Bastamientos to celebrate. I’m looking forward to that! To all of those in cold weather, enjoy it! I’m getting slightly tired of blazing hot days, humidity, and rain. Make a snowman for me!<br /><br /><br />En la lucha,<br /><br /><br />KoguiraBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-80855692625095558842008-12-13T10:32:00.000-08:002008-12-13T11:02:25.926-08:00CasiCasa, the Mudhole, 9lbs of chocolate, and “Xmas is in less than 2 weeks, where’s the snow?”It’s Saturday December 13th, and it’s currently raining, big surprise. I’ve been back in my site now for over a week and most of the flood waters have receded. My community has sustained negligible if any damage from the flood. I’ve spent the last week hanging out in my community as well as making plans for my future house, playing soccer, and watching it rain. <br /><br />Last Sunday, December 7th, my soccer team played a game in a local community. It had rained for the prior two days. Therefore, the field was in absolutely horrendous condition. My teammates and I grabbed a cab to the game after we hiked to the main road from the village. I had the wonderful privilege of riding in the back of the pickup truck in the middle of the rain. So upon arrival to the field, I was all ready soaked. Our game didn’t start until about 230; we arrived at the field at about 11. Therefore, my team had plenty of time to sit around, smoke cigarettes, and drink sodas before the game….. such a wonderful idea before doing an intense cardiovascular activity. Also to my dismay, the field was literally a giant, festering hole of mud. I would estimate roughly 3-4 inches of mud on the entire field. So there I sat in the rain dreading the impending circus in ankle-deep mud while watching my teammates destroy their lungs and drink carbonated beverages. The game began and was indeed a circus. I’m not even sure what the final score was; I was too busy scrapping pounds of mud off my feat through out the game. The final score was either a 2-2 tie or we lost 3-2. We physically assaulted the field as well. It was utterly destroyed by the end of our game. Well it was actually destroyed before our game even started, and it was further destroyed by the game after ours. Afterwards we had to find a river to wash all the mud off our gear before we ventured home. Overall, the experience was mildly entertaining. The muddiness of this province of the country is starting to eat away at my nerves.<br /><br />About a month ago, I made plans to move into one of the local houses that was disponible or available. The house is all ready furnished with all kinds of goodness. It had a bed, pots and pans, a stove and gas tank, and even wires run for light bulbs. On Tuesday Dec. 8th, my host father and I drew up the plans for the additions we were going to build for the house. These plans consisted of constructing a rainwater collection system next to the kitchen so I could have water in my kitchen, a shower under the water collection system, a composting latrine, and a solar panel system to charge my cell phone and have light. So Tuesday night we were up till about 130AM drawing up the plans and making a shopping list of items I would need to purchase to build and construct all these system. The following day, Wednesday, I was informed by my host father that I could no longer move into that house in two weeks. I was rather upset because that was the only house available for me to rent. So now I must build my own house. Therefore, I won’t be able to move until it is finished. Supposedly my villagers are telling me that we can cut down all the trees needed for the food and have all the materials ready before Christmas. They seem to insist that we can construct the house in a week and a half. I hope this is true so I can hopefully be moved into my own place by early to mid January. I am hoping to start cutting down the trees tomorrow or Monday. My fingers are crossed. As a consolation prize, my host family gave me 9lbs of freshly ground cacao(chocolate powder). I have no idea what I’m going to do with 9lbs of chocolate. See the pictures below.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXmv1k8-YX3Hw3SxdUf6PeO6sJ-wUyDBXeHApNGTvCDYiXvTRcZUBgV6fgvNrsjk0tL7FE3X8bYAaOwFBXa-YMuFp8qHKTd_LqmhdyAWGDNcHw-PQk8y58anR0LL6CAwk1E1tCzNZLDQ/s1600-h/chocolate.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXmv1k8-YX3Hw3SxdUf6PeO6sJ-wUyDBXeHApNGTvCDYiXvTRcZUBgV6fgvNrsjk0tL7FE3X8bYAaOwFBXa-YMuFp8qHKTd_LqmhdyAWGDNcHw-PQk8y58anR0LL6CAwk1E1tCzNZLDQ/s320/chocolate.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279348560641199906" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br />Well there are less than two weeks till Christmas it feels like it’s still the middle of January. The days are sunny and hot or rainy and hot, usually the latter. Every now and then I’m reminded that is almost Christmas. I’ll walk around town and see Xmas decorations up, but it just isn’t the same when it’s not cold and there is no snow.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZ3oA9QdfNV9a5Wm6O5noP4I-LPpdS6mctYAOlHPpt4vYQlY3eMXMmNR86w_Nk6PSciEGpcozju5_1h7Gz2XO6pm0nQzxjRBxty4-BSAtN3k-O9QjQcfIWEou6rCxsf8vhrlAKYifXyg/s1600-h/Photo+6.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZ3oA9QdfNV9a5Wm6O5noP4I-LPpdS6mctYAOlHPpt4vYQlY3eMXMmNR86w_Nk6PSciEGpcozju5_1h7Gz2XO6pm0nQzxjRBxty4-BSAtN3k-O9QjQcfIWEou6rCxsf8vhrlAKYifXyg/s320/Photo+6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279349277122458098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The above photo illustrates the closest I will be to snow this winter season.. Thanks to my mom and dad for sending the little guy. <br /><br /><br /></div></div> Some days it feels like it’s the middle of August and I must return to college in a few weeks. Other mornings, I wake up and I forget that I’m actually living in the jungle in Panama. Each day is an emotional roller coaster full of new and often very foreign experiences.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxF9eb1sptLTfgT2Vak04wMkM4e7Yr91ZizInJ8RZnDrAzqzaHbHXygEaWy77Jyq9eb6AJrYvnuAAeO0N2ievzXjfjL5r8NWWk1AhZzhbU-2e-PlPzzMnj_5efGSJwbtOjUNQtfMXYgkM/s1600-h/sunsetrioO.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxF9eb1sptLTfgT2Vak04wMkM4e7Yr91ZizInJ8RZnDrAzqzaHbHXygEaWy77Jyq9eb6AJrYvnuAAeO0N2ievzXjfjL5r8NWWk1AhZzhbU-2e-PlPzzMnj_5efGSJwbtOjUNQtfMXYgkM/s320/sunsetrioO.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279348569650063170" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br />In my next blog I’ll provide some more insight to actual projects I’ll be working on in my community. Yes I’m actually doing work; I don’t just play soccer, kill small animals, eat bananas, and poop in a hole. More to come next week!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br />Aqui en la lucha,<br /><br /><br />KoguiraBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-84188803038882091792008-12-05T12:06:00.000-08:002008-12-05T12:13:16.619-08:00<div style="text-align: center;">Lluvia, lluvia, lluvia.....<br /></div><br />Tuesday November 18th started out as a normal day. I woke up early that morning to participate in a “Junta,” the Spanish equivalent of a workday. After breakfast, I ventured into the farm of one of my neighbors with him and 5 other locals. We spent the morning clearing a portion of his farm with our machetes. When these guys chop with their machetes, it looks like a lawn mower cleared the area. Anyways, we spent the morning clearing the farm and killing chipmunks, supposedly they eat the cacao. Another benefit to killing the chipmunks is that we get to eat them. There is not a lot of meat on a chipmunk, but it surprisingly has a decent flavor. After we finished clearing the farm we ate lunch, which was accompanied by a fresh glass of hot chocolate from the cacao in the community. After lunch I returned to my house to relax a little and read for a bit before another Peace Corps volunteer from a close by community arrived to learn how to make chocolate from dried cacao seeds.<br />My fellow volunteer Rebecca arrived a few hours later. Her, Charlo (the guy I live with), and I talked about Rio Oeste and cacao for a while. We then ventured to the town center to meet up with other community members to process dried cacao beans into chocolate. This process consists of roasting the beans over a fire to make sure they are sufficiently dry. After the roasting, the shell of the bean must be removed. We did this by hand. It was a long, tedious process. Afterwards, the meat of the seed is then ground into unsweetened chocolate mush. We added a little water to the mush to make it a little smoother so we could roll the mush into balls and wrap them in foil to sell. Rebecca and I had fun learning and helping to create the fresh round globs of chocolate. We then made some fresh hot chocolate by boiling some water, adding some of the fresh chocolate, and mixing some sugar. It is the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. After drinking a few glasses of the hot chocolate, Rebecca returned back to her community in Bella Vista, and I returned to my house for dinner. Luckily, I arrived at home right before the rain started. As the rain started, so did another adventure…..<br />The rain started on the evening of Nov. 18th. Well the rain did not stop until about Nov 28ish. Panama has just experience the worst flooding it has had in 40 years. My province of Bocas Del Toro was more or less underwater.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxb5TzPGuF8YjStjKtLTDTJlWSpWmrV93vUhaoogW259goaH-nqGTROGtmGpHGlkcQE1rc38Vg_mYBXBO0AO14lA1PkZj-07K0cs6p0IYTOA11ykx5SCNFBxbz9ufiPcmRfnU-FnFa0XM/s1600-h/Road.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxb5TzPGuF8YjStjKtLTDTJlWSpWmrV93vUhaoogW259goaH-nqGTROGtmGpHGlkcQE1rc38Vg_mYBXBO0AO14lA1PkZj-07K0cs6p0IYTOA11ykx5SCNFBxbz9ufiPcmRfnU-FnFa0XM/s320/Road.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276400458170334962" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Luckily, my site is somewhat elevated. Therefore, the flooding in my site was not bad at all, although, the above picture is from my friend Ray’s site. As you can see it was rather terrible in other places. The picture below is also from Ray’s site. He was in one of the worst spots. In some places in his site, the water was 8-10 ft above the ground.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUGoEfAanFdQyQW9yFPoKZ88ZuXQlM3KLliEkoWDxgHtLyQCwZu0-4folMjVVEyd2tSnXt94DchBiWcxH1d9gOPNosiQEOrrKtbnnLE5NoWORWPA0RezbGAtq2LqJGvWAJfOknLh3KBo/s1600-h/wherestheroad%3F.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUGoEfAanFdQyQW9yFPoKZ88ZuXQlM3KLliEkoWDxgHtLyQCwZu0-4folMjVVEyd2tSnXt94DchBiWcxH1d9gOPNosiQEOrrKtbnnLE5NoWORWPA0RezbGAtq2LqJGvWAJfOknLh3KBo/s320/wherestheroad%3F.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276400457079860242" border="0" /></a><br /></div>The rivers in my site were incredibly large, but didn’t cause any damage. Many farmers in my area were losing cacao because they could not dry the seeds that were quickly molding in all the moisture.<br />On November 26th, the Peace Corps office in Washington DC issued an order to evacuate all the Peace Corps Volunteers from Bocas Del Toro. Although, this ended up being a somewhat difficult feat because the road between Bocas and the second largest city of David in the province of Chiriqui had sustained heavy damage from landslides. Roughly 70 kms of the road have been damaged, and roughly 20 kms of the road have been completely destroyed. Also, during the flood, cell phone service was periodically offline. So it was quite an adventure getting coordinating with the office and all the volunteers in the province. Eventually, we were all consolidated to the city of Changuinola. On Nov 27th, Thanksgiving, we were flown out of Changuinola to the city of David. The picture below is some of us sitting in the airport waiting for the plane.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_6w13uwxNeH-PVzz8DFUwaW10xIpOQvG0mVTz_TuZ_quk8JoTXzkCH0jGztYZ-psb-TKTgn_8O7QwFiTaFhLfjPJdinOA0L7e9Lk4wnVTbXFEMW1CbdDKy0hGyNAd6EZnPm6IWhN9oc/s1600-h/turistasabandonbocas.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_6w13uwxNeH-PVzz8DFUwaW10xIpOQvG0mVTz_TuZ_quk8JoTXzkCH0jGztYZ-psb-TKTgn_8O7QwFiTaFhLfjPJdinOA0L7e9Lk4wnVTbXFEMW1CbdDKy0hGyNAd6EZnPm6IWhN9oc/s320/turistasabandonbocas.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276400466799289986" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Even though my site has no sustained extensive structural flood damage, my community and the surrounding communities have been affected by the lack of transportation into the province. Stores began to run out of food. Gas stations were running out of gas. Water lines had been broken; therefore, eliminating supplies of clean drinkable water.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgSNZ5L8V8nQWAZ11PvDMuK8uN68vkTSBdCFC1p_k9PoGGCUwPmR76oHtCfrGMTfH4hetoqAsDDoKRi3bTnEPBsjj2zJkBpE0oZXtrUzPe2hUl07v_A_-NA94eadsrMXps0sxy1dW5es/s1600-h/america.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgSNZ5L8V8nQWAZ11PvDMuK8uN68vkTSBdCFC1p_k9PoGGCUwPmR76oHtCfrGMTfH4hetoqAsDDoKRi3bTnEPBsjj2zJkBpE0oZXtrUzPe2hUl07v_A_-NA94eadsrMXps0sxy1dW5es/s320/america.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276400464608572098" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />After 8 days in David living in a hotel taking hot showers and not eating green bananas, I’m in the town of Almirante buying groceries and heading back to my village. Our time in David was spent making contacts with agencies and gathering materials to aid in the disaster relief efforts. On Wed Nov. 3 a group of us went to clear flood debris in a community called Boquete to the north of David. Well I need to get to the grocery store. I’ll try and provide an update of the flood damage in my next post.<br /><br /><br />En la Lucha,<br /><br />BrianBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-2021436134131919072008-11-14T10:15:00.000-08:002008-11-14T11:06:42.524-08:00A boa tried to eat my chicken....and I have a new name.The morning after I returned home from watching the elections in David, my host dad woke me up to show me the 8 or so foot boa that had tried to eat one of our chickens. There are pictures of it in my Flickr, check them out. So after we stood talking about it and poking it with a stick, we buried it in a hole. I tried to convince him that we should eat it because I needed and still need more protein in my diet, but he didn't think it was a good idea. Which brings me to another rather trouble area, my diet. <br /><br />The people in my community eat what they have, which makes sense. So for the last few weeks I have been eating rice and green bananas. Occasionally I get some protein, but it is only when I bring home some type of protein rich food from the store. Even then, it is only a small amount. So I've adopted the hot sauce diet. I load down all the food with habanero pepper hot sauce hopping to add flavor to the food or eventually kill my taste buds so flavor won't even matter anymore. <br /><br />Life has been a little slow lately, I've done a substantial amount of reading. I find I've started to miss home a bit. Every now and then I spend too much time reclining in a hammock thinking about what I'd be doing if I were in the US. I just finished Atlas Shrugged. It's a great book, but a little too long. The weather has been relatively nice, not to much rain. I have another soccer game this coming Sunday. <br /><br />Wednesday, the 11th of Nov, the community gave me a new name. My new name is Koguira Noin. The village had a big meeting where they talked about and eventually voted on what my new Ngabe-Bugle name would be. I was named after one of the founders of Rio Oeste Arriba. He may have also been a "botanico" or the equivalent of a witch doctor. The botanicos here know all the herbal remedies for different ailments. Some of the remedies work well, others not so well. One botanico said he could cure AIDS..... I slowly walked the other direction.... <br /><br />Anyways, I have to go buy groceries get some food and get home for soccer practice. <br /><br />Aqui en la lucha<br /><br />KoguiraBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-78612383035100827462008-11-05T09:18:00.000-08:002008-11-05T10:19:27.938-08:00Mi primero semana en la selva... and other thoughts..Hey all! <br /><br />I've spent one week in my new home hanging out with the people, killing scorpions, working on the chocolate farm, naming the bat that lives in my room, and playing some soccer. Anyways, first of all, I have posted new pictures in my Flickr account. I wanted to put some pictures on my blog here, but I need to get some photo editing software to shrink them down a bit to post them within my blog. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Although, I have posted a link on the the right side of my blog that should take you directly to my photos! Check'em out!</span> Another note on the pics, they don't have descriptions yet because I ran out of time to put descriptions on them. So I'll go back and do that soon..... I hope.<br /><br />Anyways, I'm currently in the city of David. I ventured down here yesterday to watch the elections with other PC volunteers. It was a blast! There were about 25 of us in a local casino watching CNN. It was great to finally meet some of the other volunteers that live on my side of the country. Plus, it's always nice to see the volunteers from my training group. I was a little sad when we all parted ways after our swearing in as volunteers. <br /><br />All right, I need to talk a little about my first week in the jungle, and I don't have much time because I have to catch a bus back to the jungle. So I'm currently living with another host family in a house on 10 foot stilts. I have a host father, he's 28, a host brother, he's 2.5, and a host mother, I'm not sure how old she is, I'd guess 22-25ish. Anyways, speaking of my little hellian host brother, he is a bit of a terror. The aquaduct in my community rarely functions correctly; therefore, we acquire water from the rain and a little stream behind my house(the same place I bathe... Don't ask). So anyways, the other morning I finish up with my breakfast only to walk to my room and see the little turd peeing from a little walkway to another part of the house into one of our water-collecting vessels. I wish I had been close, I would have wacked the little turd in the back of the head. Instead, I had to settle with yelling at him in Spanish and English(he doesn't understand English, but I wasn't to happy with his urine in my drinking water). I also live with a random assortment of dogs, a small kitten that I named "Perro" which is the Spanish word for dog, they thought that was hilarious, a few horses, a rabbit, chickens, and a few other random animals. Ahh I forgot, I live with a parrot too. He is constantly making annoying noises. We actually put him in a cardboard box the other day to get him to shut up. <br /><br />So my first morning living in my new site, I made my morning journey to the composting latrine. I'll be posting pics soon of my glorious poo receptacle. It actually has a pretty nice view. So I return to my room to find a scorpion chilling out in the middle of my floor. He caught the broadside of my show, then I fed him to the dog. I thought it was a good start to my first morning in my new community. Speaking of other animals in my room, there is a bat that comes to visit me ever evening. I named him Vicente. He eats insects; so he's cool to have around.<br /><br />A few other highlights.<br /><br />Most of my time is spent wandering around the community and talking with people. I still need to work on the Spanish skills. Although, it rained for about 4 days straight when I arrived. So there were a few long days where I just sat around reading and sharpening my machete. <br /><br />Anyways, on Sunday, the community plays soccer. So they tell me to show up at the field around 4PM. I show up thinking it will just be a pick-up game of soccer. When I arrive, there is another official game going on between two teams with refs and everything. A guy walks up to me and hands me a jersey and tells me to go warm-up with my team. It was a pretty sweet experience to show up and play a full 90 minute game with my communities team, not to mention I have a sweet jersey. Although, we didn't win, I need to teach my team how to pass; it was great, and the field was a swamp. <br /><br />Anyways, there is much more to talk about, but I really need to catch my bus so I can make it home before dark. More to come soon, sorry to cut off in mid-story!<br /><br /><br />En la lucha,<br /><br />BrianBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-8318659219560578682008-10-28T08:09:00.001-07:002008-10-28T08:09:18.647-07:00Training and other randomness..Sorry for the delay in updating my blog, but the last 10 weeks of training have been ridiculously packed full of training events. Anyways, I have finally arrived to the community I will be living in for 2 years. The name of my community is Rio Oeste Arriba in the Province of Bocas Del Toro (very close to Costa Rica). My community is very close to a city called Almirante. Almirante used to be the headquarters for the Chiquita banana company. Now the town is rundown and trashy. Anyways, let me go back to the beginning of the Peace Corps experience. <br /><br />All right, well I left for Miami on August 11th from Indianapolis with a suitcase and a big backpack. I arrived in Miami, FL for staging or orientation. At staging, I met the other 34 people I would be training with as part of the 62nd Peace Corp group in Panama. The 35 of us were split into two groups, Community Economic Development (CED) and Environmental Health (EH). After a few boring days in Miami dealing with logistics, signing papers, and policies. We left for Panama on August 13th. <br /><br />Upon arrival to Panama, my group went to Ciudad del Saber (city of knowledge). This place is similar to a college campus with dorms and offices. It also contains the Peace Corps office. We stayed in ciudad del saber until Sunday August 17th. Our time there was packed full of meetings to go over more orientation, set up our bank accounts, receive vaccinations, etc. On Sunday August 17th, we departed for a community called Santa Clara de Arraijan, a little southwest of Panama City. I would be training and living with a host family for the next 9 weeks in this community. <br /><br />Training consisted of four hours of language training and four hours of technical training Monday-Friday. Occasionally during the week, often on Fridays, we would go to a conference center in a close city call Chorrera. Conferences consisted of more Peace Corps policy, safety, and medical issues. Anyways, back to training. We trained in our sectors; therefore, I, being part of CED, trained with all the CED individuals. Training as a whole was beneficial for the most part. I needed more language training then tech. So often during tech training, I would take an additional hour or two of language instead of tech. Tech training consisted of learning different tools for presenting information to our future communities. As a CED volunteer, our goals are to work with Cooperatives in Panama, help them strengthen business practices, and cultivate leaders. Also during training, I spent a great portion of my time traveling around the western part of Panama. During the second week of training, I went to visit a volunteer in La Comarca Ngabe-Bugle in the city of Soloy. Soloy is a huge indigenous town next to the Soloy River. This was an interesting experience because the Ngabe(the indigenous people that live there) don’t really like to talk. So they just stared at me as I walked around checking out the town with the volunteer I was visiting. After 4 days in Soloy, I returned to Santa Clara to continue training. During training, our language skills and adaptability to the culture are always being monitored. This is done so that my boss, Associate Peace Corp Director (APCD) Zach can place me in a community that I can easily live in for 2 years.<br /> So week 4 finally arrives and I was placed in a community called Rio Oeste Arriba in Bocas Del Toro. So I would be heading to Bocas del Toro with 6 other volunteers from my group, 4 CED and 2 EH. The following two weeks after site announcement, I went to Valled Del Risco in Bocas Del Toro for a week of studying the culture of Bocas with my fellow volunteers. The week following culture week was technical week. My technical week was in Santa Clara de Rio Serrano, practically in Costa Rica. This Santa Clara was located in the mountains and had an awesome climate. It was the first time I didn’t sweat while sitting in one place and eating my meals. <br /> So following weeks 5 and 6, I had another week in Santa Clara de Arraijan full of training. During week 8, I was finally able to visit my community of Rio Oeste Arriba. After site visit, we had two more weeks of training. I recently swore in as a Peace Corp Volunteer at the American Ambassador’s house on Oct 22nd. Following swear-in, my group hung out at the beach for a few days to celebrate. Now we are all in our sites where we will remain to integrate for the first 3 months. <br />Well I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes; I’m trying to write as much as I can while I’m sweating my face off in this Internet café. Anyways, my host dad is waiting so I have to go. I’ll try and update this blog roughly every week or 2 from now on, now that I can have my own schedule. <br /><br />Check out my pictures at<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com<br /><br />search for briancrum@ymail.com<br /><br />En la lucha,<br /><br />BrianBrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5196216118658140240.post-15035830079588649342008-07-21T07:04:00.000-07:002008-12-10T03:27:27.768-08:00Welcome!<span style="font-weight: bold;">Welcome to my Peace Corps Panama Blog!</span> <br /><br />I'll be updating this blog over the next few weeks as I prepare to leave for Panama. Once I am in Panama, I will try to share my experiences and photos as often as I can. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh076fF4Eh8dYaR81DKJ8Jn6l9tD6UTuJvFgisTStVB5hXNjhPLkA4XPgHqLEnMQHfVPKkDWDTcRycN218nEK6Acg4SndF_zajQOX0En_bQGbQcSHQdMEYzHzS8x4DAP587OMXpbkdhyphenhyphen90/s1600-h/panama-d.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh076fF4Eh8dYaR81DKJ8Jn6l9tD6UTuJvFgisTStVB5hXNjhPLkA4XPgHqLEnMQHfVPKkDWDTcRycN218nEK6Acg4SndF_zajQOX0En_bQGbQcSHQdMEYzHzS8x4DAP587OMXpbkdhyphenhyphen90/s320/panama-d.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225468245210634802" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Orientation</span><br />Departure Date: August 11, 2008<br />Destination: Miami, Florida<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Training</span><br />August 13th-October 23rd<br />Destination: Panama<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Assignment</span><br />Community Economic Development Consultant<br />Start Date: October 23rd 2008<br />End Date: October 30, 2010Brianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297198184115320796noreply@blogger.com1