New limerick!
I do hate those great times of need when
There is no latrine, so I think, then
This idea is nice:
Just eat ALL the rice!
And I’ll never have to poop again!
I do think that this actually worked – my latest case of
diarrhea resolved itself without antibiotics.
Must have been all the rice.
Part of this experience is learning things about
oneself. One of the things I have
learned so far is that apparently I am actually high-maintenance. I did not know this about myself. Perhaps some of these things will change, but
for the moment:
·
I like feeling clean. Not bathing-in-poopy-stream-water clean, but
water-from-a-tap (spring water) clean.
With my hair washed with shampoo.
And clean feet. I get to feel
this way an average of 15 minutes per week.
·
I prefer soccer fields free of cow pies. Yup, I would rather run around on poop-free
soccer fields. And also free of giant
muddy puddles right in front of the goal.
And free of mud-clay so slick you cannot hardly change direction on it
at walking speed. And also lacking
random holes and ditches and sidewalks going through the middle.
·
I like to sleep on a mattress. Actually, I suppose I have to sleep on a
mattress. I thought maybe I could make
it two years on my inflatable sleeping pad, or even start sleeping on the wood
floor like my entire host family, but my back refused to let me sleep.
·
I do not like cockroaches. I am not afraid of them; I would just prefer
that they are dead. I do not like them
on the walls of my room. I do not like
them hiding among the dishes in the kitchen area. And I do not like them on the wrong side of
the mosquito net flying around my head at night waking me up. This happens to result in a week’s worth of
bug-themed mini-nightmares.
·
I do not like canned sardines. I will eat them, but I do not like them. Especially not four meals in a row. That includes
rice-and-boiled-green-bananas-and-sardines for breakfast. I know I shouldn’t complain, because at least
my family is feeding me protein (which is more than a lot of volunteers can say). But I
do not like them. I’ve decided eating
like a poor person is a real bummer. I
guess that’s the point.
·
I do not like doing laundry. Especially in poopy stream water. Especially when it takes two hours to do
(even with my bucket-and-plunger-$3-washing-machine) and at least two days to
dry and then ends up smelling like trash-fire smoke.
·
I like a sink clear of dishes. While this is a common roommate complaint,
sometimes there’s not water in the tap to do the dishes. And after one meal, all the dishes in the house
find their way into the sink.
· I like to plan things and then follow through with a plan. And to know other people's plans in advance. This is apparently very challenging -- and my patience and flexibility are constantly being increasingly tested.
· I like it when people ask for things using the words "please" and "thank you." "Take my picture!" is not an appropriate way to ask me to take your picture. But these words are not really part of the culture (they don't even exist in the Ngobere language) -- it is just expected that everything is shared, and things can be demanded and accepted without appreciation. It just makes a big difference to me to have my generosity recognized.
·
Panamá makes a child: I get unreasonably excited
about popsicles and ice cream (and reward myself with them). And I am especially cranky when I am hot,
tired, bored, or hungry.
·
Harvesting lemons
·
Just another pretty day
·
Day one of working on the improved cookstove – a
gift from the government conservation agency – I did absolutely nothing to
deserve credit for this other than to show up, but it was cool to be a part of!
·
World Handwashing Day – I did 11 thirty-minute
charlas (interactive presentations / activities) in the school
(exhausting! Kids demand a lot of
energy). We transmitted glitter
“bacteria” through shaking hands, had a soap vs. no soap handwashing race, and
sang the song “Lavando” – an alternative chorus that I wrote to the hit
“Bailando” by Enrique Iglesias. I
believe I sang this song some 50 times that day. Without music. But the kids loved it anyway!
(Lavando, lavando, lavando, lavando)
Las manos después de usar el baño
Con jabón limpiando (con jabón limpiando)
(Lavando, lavando, lavando, lavando)
Antes de comer y cuando comida preparando
Enfermedad
evitando
Rough Translation:
(Washing, washing,
washing, washing)
Hands after using
the bathroom
Cleaning with soap
(cleaning with soap)
(Washing, washing,
washing, washing)
Before eating and
when preparing food
Evading disease
·
I got to play in TWO tournaments with the
Quebrada Pastor soccer team – we even had jerseys! The other team was pretty stunned watching me
walk onto the field, and even more so the first time I juked them. I played the whole game, at forward, in the
first tournament, and had the assist for our only goal – quite an
accomplishment, though we lost 5-1. In
the second tournament – on our home turf (miraculously free of cow pies for the
occasion) – I only played the second half.
The most ridiculous thing happened – I was pulled off the field with
only a few minutes left, and the entire place applauded me. I had no idea what this meant (“Are they
being sarcastic?”) until my Regional Leader came to visit the next day and
explained that this is what they do on TV for all the star players – pull them
off with a couple minutes left so they get their own personal standing
ovation. Well, I rather like that
interpretation!
·
The perfect image of Ngobe children – in a
fellow Volunteer’s community
·
Wildlife!
·
Carrying my bag full of lemons, Ngobe-style –
while hugging a tree, of course
·
My first night walk coming down the mountain, in
the rain, too – and I encountered my first armadillo, and my first Equis – one
of the most venomous snakes in the area!
Good thing Ángel was walking in front of me to spot it and kill it.
·
Churches always have great views
·
Second phase of making the stove – after
completing the construction for the day, Ángel suggested to me that we paint
the Panamanian flag side-by-side with the US flag on the stove (in honor of the
role Peace Corps placed receiving the stove).
I replied that, historically, things didn’t work out so well when the
Panamanian flag and the US flag were next to each other (referencing the
Panamanian flag riots). Ángel quipped
right back that that was why we would be painting them so close to the fire –
it is a stove, after all. Took me a
minute to get the joke (being in Spanish), and was so surprised as the
candidness of it, I could not help but laugh hysterically.
·
Praying mantis – here, they just call the insect
“Jesús”
·
Pretty flowers!
Can’t help but continue to notice them
·
Bambi!
I’m always delighted to randomly find reminders of my former life –
after all, Bambi was my favorite movie as a little girl.
·
Doing WASH surveys (Water, Sanitation, and
Handwashing – basically health surveys) in the community – got really excited
about the prospect of quantifying the Environmental Health status of the
community (I get to enter numbers in Excel, oh boy!) – must be the engineer in
me.
·
Another view of the school
And one last random thought (should have taken a
picture):
Some kids happily showed me their school projects – I
suppose they were assigned to draw Christmas things. I asked them to explain what they had drawn:
·
Drawing of the classic American Santa Claus:
“Santa Claus!”
·
Drawing of a snowman: “Muñeca de nieve” = snow
doll?
·
Drawing of some fancy bells: “Santa Claus!”
·
Drawing of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer:
“Sheep wearing a Santa Claus hat!”
Oh, Panamá. Close
enough.
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