Part of the Community and November 3

            My first three months are called Proyecto Amistad (Project Friendship), and during this time, I am not expected to do much Environmental Health work. Instead, I am supposed to complete a Community Analysis, which will legitimize my service and any projects by providing a basis, or an expressed community need and desire, for future work. Using “Participatory Analysis for Community Action” (PACA) tools, I will begin my analysis after Thanksgiving, when I hope to get a variety of supplies as our group is meeting up in David. I will hold several meetings to create community maps, daily activities schedules, a seasonal calendar, and a priority ranking (or needs assessment). The Community Analysis also involves a questionnaire given to PCVs by Peace Corps-Panama. The questionnaire includes questions about community organization, water, sanitation, and health, and all of these questions require community input. In between various meetings I will be visiting houses to discuss Family, Religion, Education, Economics, Health, Organization, Politics, and Preparedness (FREEHOPP). After the Community Diagnosis/Analysis, I will continue with participatory meetings, and during these meetings, the community will identify strengths and weaknesses within the community and analyze weaknesses by looking at the cause and effect. These steps after the community diagnosis can help develop a plan for the rest of my service. I would hopefully complete these steps during the time that we are working on the latrine project to assess whether we should continue with more latrines, aqueduct, or whatever.

In the meantime, I’m simply working on cultural integration. As required by Peace Corps-Panama, I am staying with a host family for my first three months in site. In the first few weeks my tactic for cultural integration has been to do whatever work my host mom or the community is doing. For instance, I have gone to the stream to wash my clothes twice, and I have attended the Methodist Church services on Sundays even though they last for three hours. I have also gone to the finca, or the plot of farmland, with host family to collect vegetables for them to sell in Bocas, and I have worked my way up to carrying four pumpkin-like vegetables in a woven purse with the strap across my head. With the community, I carried slats of wood for the house for a preacher whenever he comes, and I helped to clean up and decorate the community in preparation for the November 3 celebrations. Otherwise, a lot of people like to visit my host family and occasionally, I visit other houses to talk with the families. Probably one of the biggest ways to meet people was taking pictures on November 3. EVERYONE wanted their photo taken, so I took over 350 photos in one day. If they want the photo printed, they must pay a quarter (I am following protocol from previous volunteers), so I have quite a job ahead of me. I realize I still have quite a ways to go, but so far the community and I are happy to take our time with everything.

November 3 all of Panama celebrates their Separation from Colombia and my community is no exception. At 4:45 am I was woken up by the drumline that traveled around the community and played beneath my room because we’re in a house with high enough stilts. All in good fun! Then, the children had a parade from the dock up to the school. For several months a group of 14 kids from the primary school have been practicing choreographed traditional Panamanian dances, or baile tipico. The girls wore polleras, which consist of very full, brightly colored skirts and a matching top. To accompany the polleras, they each wore gold jewelry (fake in this case) and tembleques, which are beautiful hair pieces (typically pearly white) in the shapes of flowers or butterflies (as far as I noticed). The boys wore black pants with a white guayavera, which is a traditional button-down shirt with stripes made of doubled over fabric (I am a big fan of this shirt!). The boys also wore the traditional Panamanian sombrero pintado (painted hat) that flips up in the front along with a small woven purse, the chacra. Beautifully dressed, the dancers performed several very impressive traditional dances.

The day continued with recitations of poetry, competitions, and dancing. The poetry recited expressed their patriotism, love, and appreciation for the flag. Competitions included school children and events that you would find at a Field Day in the US. Also, they had their equivalent of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey,” but it was “Touch the Chicken that is Tied to a Pole in the Middle of the Field.” Then, the dancing competitions began. I was paired with Gregorio, the President of Padres de Familia and organizer of the November 3 events. To paint a better picture of the hilarity of the scene, Gregorio is in his mid-30s with at least 5 children and is about as tall as my shoulder, or maybe even my chin. This was an elimination dance competition, so after four salsa, bachata, and merengue dances, during which the community thoroughly enjoyed watching the Gringa dance, Gregorio and I won. I got a perfume and sore legs as my prize.

Well, I think this entry is long enough… Oops! But, I had to make up for the month delay!

Difficulties, But Reasons to Laugh

October 20 I officially became a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Panama. The ceremony was in the Ambassador’s Residence in Panama City, and we had a lot of Peace Corps Staff and the Volunteers who helped with training come to the ceremony and then dinner afterwards. Dressed nicely and eating good food, the night was a great way to celebrate the completion of two months of Peace Corps training.

After a few days of relaxation, I arrived in my site, Valle Escondido, on October 23. First, I was happy to get the chance to use the internet in the tourist city, Bocas, to wish Graeme a happy 2^nd birthday! Now, I would say that the first week in site is the most difficult week I have experienced here. Unlike the other weeks during training when we were staying with host families, I was there to stay without the ability to fall back on a conversation in English with other trainees or a guaranteed good meal. Instead, homesickness hit hard and hunger hit equally hard when my jar of peanut butter ran out. With time and new jars of peanut butter, the homesickness and hunger have mostly subsided. At the same time, cultural integration is a continuous process as I am trying to balance my need for personal space and their cultural interpretation of someone alone in their room as being sad. I simply also have to make a more concerted effort to visit many houses instead of only conversing with the families with whom I feel comfortable.

Peace Corps technically allows us two personal mental health days per month to leave our site. I took advantage of this after two weeks in site and I went to Bocas for night. I simply talked with friends and family. It was refreshing to have electricity, internet, and something to eat other than rice. But, I have to admit the importance of being able to share similar experiences from halfway around the world with Brad in Madagascar on a daily basis. This communication and shared understanding has been immensely helpful. For instance, one night I woke up at 2 am because I felt something on my hair and then on my shoulder. I brushed it away and switched it on my flashlight to find a cockroach INSIDE my mosquito net. I then spent the next half hour trying to kill it before I finally succeeded. Halfway around the world, Brad has woken up to a rat scurrying around his house and also to a broken roof that leaked heavy rains onto his bed. Basically, we just have to laugh at some of our ridiculous experiences.

Another experience to laugh at was my last trip to Bocas. When I was trying to get to Bocas on the 7^th I was told that the boat was going to leave at 7 am. Now, in what developing world setting does a boat that says it’s leaving at 7 am leave at 6 am??? Only in Valle Escondido! But, that’s fine because another boat happened to be leaving at 9 am…after slaughtering a cow. So, my boat companion was a dead, skinned cow on top of some banana leaves, and the best part was when the boat slowed down in the middle of the bay so the man in front could chuck the cowhide overboard. I guess it’s biodegradable?!?

Going to break up today's entry, because it is suuuper long!

Bienvenidos a Valle Escondido!

While I have a lot to describe about the past few weeks, I am going to have to keep this entry short. I hope that photos on Facebook can do a significant amount to explain and describe my community.

I will start with my Site Visit, which was over a week ago. When asked for a word to describe the week, I came up with a noun that characterized each person that I met there: jokesters. I laughed the entire week that I was there. Granted, often I was a little late on the uptake as I translated the Spanish and then laughed... Oh well, I think they appreciated the times when I was able to shoot a joke right back at them. I stayed with the host family that will host me for at least my first month in Valle Escondido. The family has four children, ranging in age from 16 to 7, and the family is very talkative and outgoing, which is a trait different from Ngabe families in the southern parts of the Comarca Ngabe-Bugle. My host father built the aqueduct system for the community, and listening to him talk about his motivations, perseverance, and success despite a lack of formal education is extremely inspirational. Unfortunately, the water source is not the most protected source, and it is not treated at all. So...let's just say that I had some stomach issues after the visit.

During the week, I visited with various committees, including the Artisans Committee (the women's group), Potable Water Committee, Latrine Committee, and Junta Local (the group in charge of general maintenance and infrastructure projects, such as the school). The president of the Latrine Committee is my counterpart, Hipolito, and he is the king bromista (joker). I will be working closely with him as we work to finish the composting latrine project that is half finished. I am unsure what I will be able to do with the Potable Water Committee, because the president is my host father, and he is very proud of the system... But, I am very excited to see if the Artisans Committee is interested in being a secondary project of mine. I would love to work with them to find more training in their traditional arts that have been lost in the community. Finally, I will also be teaching English classes.

I should also mention how lucky I am with regards to the food I was served during the week! Besides a consistent bowl of rice, I had many forms of bananas, plantains, yuca, and eggs. But, because I am so close to the ocean, I was also served fish and even lobster! Imagine me sitting down to a meal of lobster, which the community members say costs $20-$30 on Isla Colon, the tourist island. I can't believe it! I also discovered that an effective way to avoid consuming copious amounts of rice is to bring a small child around with you. Because I ate each meal at a different house, I often brought my little host sister to the meals, and she was extremely happy to finish the excessive amounts of rice.

The only down moment that I experienced was the nickname selection. Everyone has nicknames in the community, from Cielo (Heaven) to Hurucan (Hurricane) to Machete! And, it is tradition to hold a meeting to give the new volunteer a nickname. At my meeting, I introduced myself for a bit, and Hipolito explained the work of Peace Corps. Then, the meeting divided into two groups, men and women. Each group chose a nickname for me, and finally there was a vote (which really was just a count of men versus women at the meeting). The women chose "Insom," a nickname given to women with large, long noses. The men chose a lovely name, "Nuarechi," which is a term of endearment for daughters because it comes from "bonuare" (beautiful) and "chi" (little/child). Unfortunately, there were more women than men at the meeting, so I was given the big nose name. :( I was not happy. But, on the upside, I have at least one man who going to stand up against the elected nickname. He is one of the community leaders in the Methodist church, and he has promised to call me Nuarechi forever. In the end, I head back tomorrow, and I am hoping that I can change this nickname before it really sticks.

Finally, this past Thursday was Swear-In. We were lucky enough to have the ceremony at the Ambassador's Residence in Panama City. An extravagant house, the setting was wonderful, and we were able to share it with the majority of the Peace Corps staff, including Language and Cultural Facilitators and Training Staff. Furthermore, we had many volunteers, who helped with training, at the ceremony. After the ceremony, we celebrated at a Peruvian restaurant, and from there, we spent the night out on the town!

I guess this wasn't a very short entry after all, but I hope you enjoyed a little peek into my community!

Site Announcement!!!

Drum roll please…. I’m going to Bocas del Toro for the next two years!!! I couldn’t be happier. My group of EH volunteers found out our site placements this past Wednesday. We have 9 out of 17 volunteers going to the Bocas del Toro and NoKribo (formerly part of Bocas, but has since been incorporated into the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle despite cultural similarities to the Bocas) regions of Panama. Four volunteers are going to the mountains of the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle, which border Chiriqui. Another three are going to Latino sites in Cocle, and finally one person is going to Panama Este to live in another indigenous community of Embera.

My community is called Valle Escondido on Isla San Cristobal in the province of Bocas del Toro. Very, very, very far from Panama City, Valle Escondido is very close to the town of Bocas del Toro on Isla Colon, a major tourist destination for scuba divers, surfers, backpackers, and, in general, beach seekers. I consider myself very lucky, and in all actuality, a bit spoiled because I will have the benefit of living in an indigenous community and having access to the amenities that so many PCVs crave, like internet, electricity, flush toilets, and anything gringo. In other words, Bocas del Toro is only a 30-minute boat ride away from my community and I can make it a day trip instead of having to pay for a hostel each time I want to use the internet. To top everything off, a composting latrine project is already underway because the previous two volunteers in my site had been working on it. This existing project and similar projects in nearby communities will greatly facilitate my thesis research. From what I’ve heard, you pass through a mangrove to get to my community’s dock and I am a 30-minute hike from the other volunteer on the island in the community called San Cristobal. Furthermore, a house, or what some might call a hut, is already built and I even have the keys! I look forward to visiting my community in one week, and I will be sure to let you know how it goes.

As a side note, if you are considering visiting me, look into flights to San Jose, Costa Rica, because they are cheaper and closer than Panama City. Additionally, there is an airport in Bocas del Toro if you so choose to avoid a 15-hour-ish bus ride from Panama City or a 8-hour-ish bus ride from San Jose. Finally, while I have not received any mail since getting to Panama because of customs or just really slow mail, I am including my new mailing address here:

Patricia Wilbur

Cuerpo de Paz – Panama

Entrega General

Bocas del Toro, Bocas del Toro

Republica de Panama

P.S. My door will always be open to visitors! One of my first purchases will be an air mattress, and if two hammocks can fit on my patio, there will be two hammocks as well.

Tech Week in Hato Pilon

It’s been a little while, so I have a lot to talk about. For this first entry, I’d like to talk about our Environmental Health (EH) Tech Week in Hato Pilon, a Ngobe community in the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle. Last week, all the trainees and I arrived during a massive rainstorm, but I had the luck of staying with the family that lived at the meeting point, the tienda at the top of the hill. Granted, later that week the “hill” seemed like a mountain to climb each day. I stayed with a single mother, Yessi (pronounced like Jessi), and her 12-year-old daughter, Marianely.

Typically, Ngobe children are more reserved than Latino children in Panama, but with time and some silly humor, the smiles are just as big. I took far too many pictures to record this week, but the kids loved it. Not the typical Ngobe family, Yessi and Marianely were very outgoing, spoke more Spanish than Ngobe, and make beaded jewelry each night by candlelight. Yessi is studying to be a grade school teacher and is working with the Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in the community to help develop a women’s group to sell their wares.

Besides the cultural experience, the purpose of the week was to get a better introduction to the possible work and construction techniques for an EH volunteer. Our work started with mapping the water system, both in a plan and profile view, so we had the chance to work with a water level to map the difference in elevation. We quickly moved to interviewing the community regarding water use and sanitation habits. I would say it was a bit too quick, considering most of the community was confused as to why we were there, but that is the nature of Tech Week as it is a condensed period of time. Physical construction projects included building an aqueduct bridge for the tube crossing a stream in the community and three tap stands in the community. We faced many hiccups in the plan, so much to the group’s dismay we left the tap stands incomplete for a nearby EH volunteer to finish. If nothing else, we have learned about the difficulty of getting materials and, more specifically, the correct materials to a very rural community set amongst the mountains of the Comarca. Near the end of the week, we hosted a presentation for the community regarding out analysis of their water system. As the meeting progressed, people joined the crowd, but I think the numbers really only increased because the “cultural hour” was afterwards.

Led by my host mom in Hato Pilon, the cultural hour included an introduction to Ngobe handicrafts and dances. The typical dance is called the hege, but there are many variations and often involves a congo line-type formation. After the presentation, women of the community sold chacras, naguas, and beaded jewelry. Typical in the Comarca, chacras are handmade bags woven with various designs, from straight lines to detailed geometric shapes. The women normally put the strap across the top of their head and are able to carry heavy loads this way. Let me just say, that I attempted this going down the aforementioned “hill” with about 30 pounds of gravel. I thought my neck was about to snap. But, you can’t say I didn’t try! Naguas are the clothing of choice, not just the traditional dress. Women wear their naguas on a regular basis. They are long, brightly colored dresses with geometric designs on the sleeves, along the neckline, around the waist, and at the hemline. Finally, the beaded jewelry included earrings, necklaces, and bracelets with similar geometric designs as those found on the nagua.

Overall, I was very lucky to be staying with my host family. I had the opportunity to practice Spanish a lot, because they were very interested in everything about my home, family, and friends. I am happy to have experienced a bit of life in the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle. After Tech Week, 14 of us went to Las Lajas, the beach closest to Hato Pilon, for our one free night during training. For $10 we got simple cabanas on the beach with a double bed. Let’s just say that waking up to the sound of the ocean is priceless. Finally, the day after we returned to Los Mortales, the Spanish teachers organized a cultural day. I would recommend checking out my photos on Facebook to see the different traditional dresses from the various provinces of Panama. It’s beautiful! Again, hope you enjoyed this little insight into the work of an EH volunteer in Panama. I’m loving every minute here!

Comarca Emberá Wounaan

Everything is going well in Panamá! Last weekend I visited a current Environmental Health Volunteer in the Comarca Emberá Wounaan in the Darién. The Darién is the region that borders Colombia, so the police presence is felt along the Pan-American Highway, which actually stops in the middle of the Darién. The Darién gap composes the only break in the highway that runs from North America to Central America to South America. It is an incredible area, and I had an excellent visit experiencing the Embera culture.

Monique lives in the capital of the northern Comarca Cembu (there are two in the Darién), called Lajas Blancas. The community is located on the Río Chucunaque, and they have electricity, but no water. The basketball court is located in the center of the community. Pit latrines are the norm, but a lot of community lives in a flood plain. While many communities live upstream and discharge waste to this river, the community continues to the river as their water source. Monique has her work cut out for her, as a good water source for an aqueduct is located very far way. In the meantime, she organized a great event that incorporated a basketball tournament to draw people during the day and health ¨charlas,¨or presentations and discussions, in the evening. Brilliant idea!

I had an amazing time learning about the Emberá culture, as well. The top highlight was getting painted!!! Using the juice of a fruit, a woman in the community painted me with jagua. They created a beautiful leaf design on my back, covered my legs, and a geometric design on my arms and around my neck. Throughout the painting and even after as the juice became darker, I was repeatedly called ¨Blanquita¨ (not sure if that is the exact spelling). So, you can get the idea that they were not accustomed to seeing the jagua on such a fair person. In reality, the jagua usually looks black on a normal person, but on me...it appeared a blue. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get painted while the women spoke a mix of Embera and Spanish, and as of right now, you can still see the remenants.

In addition to donning jagua, I also donned a paruma. The paruma is the typical dress for Embera women, as every single woman in the community wears one. Simple and beautiful, the paruma is a brightly colored piece of fabric that is doubled and then securely wrapped and tucked around the waist. By securely, I mean that I tucked it into my shorts while the Emberá women are able to play basketball in parumas without any worries.

I also had the opportunity to watch the women working on the traditional baskets. Made of strips of palm leaves that have been dyed, the baskets take over a month to make. Right now, the women are working on two different designs, one with birds and one ¨de cultura¨ (a geometric design). These baskets are incredibly intricate and can cost anywhere from $30 to thousands of dollars. I feel like this blog post just barely skims the surface of that weekend, but it can give you a taste of what I may experience in my community with respect to environmental health issues and culture. Hope you enjoyed! Hasta luego!

Amazing Host Family!

So, I´ve been in Los Mortales, Panama for almost a week, and I have been loving every minute of it. First off, the other 16 Environmental Health volunteers keep me laughing all day and my host family is absolutely fantastic. The typical day consists of waking up before my alarm at 6:30 am for a quick, cold shower. Depending on the time of day, the shower is from running water, but the community only gets water two times a day at approximately 7 am and 1 pm. After the shower, breakfast can consist of many things, such as corn flakes (which I am lucky to have, because most food is fried), fried bananas called patacones (soooo good), fried salchicas (which are really fried hot dogs), toast, or fried dough that looks like a funnel cake without the powdered sugar. My host father and 16 year old sister are usually already gone because they work and go to school, respectively, in La Chorrera, the bigger city about a half hour away.

So, from 8 to 9 am, I am supposed to work on self-directed language study. Besides doing activities in a text book, I think that watching Discovery Kids with my 11 year old host brother is a good way to learn Spanish as well. From 9 am to noon, I have structured language classes with two other volunteers. I then return to my host family´s house, which is beautifully decorated with rose bushes, brilliant colors, and hammocks on the patio. Lunch and dinners usually consist of a meat, typically chicken and occasionally red meat, with rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes. I´ve also had a delicious soup that incorporated beef, bananas, rice, and yuca. Sounds strange, but it was delicious. After lunch, we attend technical classes designed specifically for the Environmental Health Sector. This past week, we have focused on the filling various roles of a volunteer, working as a facilitator, and performing a community analysis. Peace Corps Training Staff has done an excellent job of giving us specific tools to use while introducing and integrating ourselves into the community in order to uncover the communities needs.

After four hours of technical training, I like to visit the tienda, the little store with snacks and sodas in the community. And, dinner is usually on the table between 5:30 and 6 pm. I have yet to find a food that I do not like here. I mean, I hope that I don´t get too much fried food, but I am enjoying trying the new foods with a variety of sauces here. My host mom thinks it´s funny to ask me if I like it because I always respond with an emphatic ¨Yes!¨ During dinner, I often have very interesting conversation with my host mom and other parts of the family. My host mom speaks incredibly clearly, and she is exceedingly patient with explaining words to me. Often the evenings are very relaxed. My sister is doing homework and my brother is playing soccer with a mini goal on the patio. When the sunsets, we tend to move inside and watch some TV. While some volunteers have enjoyed watching the soap operas, or telenovelas, my family often has an American movie, the Discovery Channel, or the Disney Channel on in Spanish. After some Spanish TV and a bit of Spanish homework, I am in bed by 10 pm. I am loving this schedule! Bed by 10 pm is wonderful! In summary, life is good, and I am really enjoying getting to know my host family and fellow volunteers.
P.S. Please pardon the spelling mistakes and weird punctuation, because I am on a Spanish language keyboard.

Arrival in Panama!

I don't have too much to post, but Peace Corps Panama Group #69 has arrived in Panama! It's been a great time meeting the other 16 Environmental Health volunteers. These volunteers come from all over the US from Washington to Florida to New York. I'm constantly laughing.

As of right now, Peace Corps is easing us into the Peace Corps life. While I have internet, A/C, and electricity, my shared "villa" has roaches in the kitchen. Regardless, the first day has been fantastic! As of right now, I'm thoroughly enjoying Spanish class. I'll let you know how it goes when language training turns into 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I've been asking so many questions to the current volunteers, and it's great to finally be getting some answers. Today involved a lot of very general presentations, which amazingly are interesting because of the novelty of the Peace Corps. Tomorrow we head to the mall, so I hope to have a SIM card by tomorrow. All I have to say is that I'm living the life. :)

Just wanted to keep everyone posted, and let you know that I made it to Panama.

Staging and Departure

To introduce my blog, I want to start with a brief explanation of my title. I can thank my sister for the following wonderful explanation of the benefits of the naming and branding, "Potties in Panama":

1) This title bring my personality to life -- and sets an expectation for the tone of voice and the familiarity with which you will be reading about my work and your personal experiences.

2) It's catchy and easy to remember -- making it easier for people to return to the website because it remains top of mind.

3) Makes what could be seen as a mundane or even off-putting topic (composting latrines), more approachable to readers -- increasing people's likelihood to take that first read.

4) The title is well suited to my target market (family and friends) -- we all have a bit of silly in us (and love a good potty joke :) ). 

On family vacation this past week, her argument won me over. In the end, I have a market-approved title, and if the title doesn't bring you back to the blog, I hope some of my stories will.  

That being said, I leave tomorrow for Panama to begin training as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Environmental Health sector. My volunteer position is as an Environmental Health Extensionist. In other words, I will most likely be building latrines, constructing water systems, promoting hygiene, and doing whatever project my host community wants me to do. As you can see, the questions about my next two years abound, but I'm excited to find out the answers in time. I'll keep you posted. :) As of right now, I really only know that snail mail can be sent to:

Cuerpo de Paz

Tricia Wilbur

Edificio 240, 3er Piso

Calle Victor Iglesias

Ciudad del Saber, Clayton

Corregimiento de Ancón

Panamá, Rep. de Panamá

Over the next two years, I will also be working on my Master's thesis as part of the Master's International Peace Corps Program in Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida. I'll be conducting interviews and observing multiple communities in order to gain a better understanding of the perceptions and user knowledge of composting latrines. While these latrines can produce a nutrient-rich fertilizer, composting latrines often go unused because of the higher maintenance required for the latrine. Hopefully, this thesis can lead to a more appropriate solution that meets the social, environmental, and economic needs of the rural Panamanians. Sounds a bit idealistic, but what new Peace Corps Volunteer isn't a bit idealistic as a "save the world" type, even if their dealing with poop?

Anyway, I'm very excited to get down there, and if anyone is interested in living in a hut for a few days, I'd love to have visitors. Well, thanks for reading and I hope to entertain you with stories and maybe some potty humor in the future. :)