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!