More Pictures

Here are some more pics. There are still a bunch more to come. I apologize because I know its either feast or famine with these pictures (usually famine). But it takes just about forever to upload the damn things and I've been really busy otherwise. Give me a break, will ya? Jeez.

Terraced farming. It's hard to tell how steep it is from the photo but thats a Double-Diamond at least, I assure you.
You better cut out that cock-a-doodle-dooin' little fella, or I say- I say, I'll make some pollo McNuggets outta yous.

Coffee pods.

Coffee beans.
Juan Valdez.

Bird.
This was from a hike we did. That's the volcano.
Monkey.
Super Bowl Sunday. Pooch. Futbol Americano.
Some Indian kids staring at you with those eyes, peering deep,deep, all the way down into your soul. When they look at you they know your secrets.

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Carnivale Update: On Monday evening I went a-walkin' and came across a softball game being played by some locals (the teams were made up of males and females ranging in age from about 8 to about 50, it was amazing). Within literally five seconds of watching I was asked if I wanted to play. Of course. I hustled into left field. It turned out to be a good acquisition for my squad as I went 5-f0r-5 with 3 RBIs and two nice plays in the outfield. The game almost ended prematurely when our only ball went into the river, luckily our savvy outfielder headed it off downstream to pluck it from the water.

On Tuesday we went to Dolega to see what all the fuss was about. We found Dolega, normally an empty, dusty outpost on the way to David, swarming with human beings eager to get some sinning out of the way. The local music hall was throbbing with people and the aforementioned unfathomably loud salsa, merengue and Spanish rock music. Behind it there was a miniature stadium for cockfighting. This was like the Madison Square Garden of cockfighting; it was well-lit with terraced seating and had a sort of chicken lockerroom and weigh-in area. But, it probably had more spectators than a Knicks game (Daaaammnn - Zing). We watched for a minute or two then determined it wasn't a particularly interesting thing to watch.

While observing some of the dancing, two interesting gentlemen approached us and offered me a seat to dance with Nancy. They were pretty drunk and seemed unable to speak English or Spanish. They were nice fellas but defnitely odd. One of them even straight up asked me if they could have Nancy but the other told him that she was my girlfriend. We decided that was a lie we could live with so we ran with it. We also determined that they were authentic Latin American drug dealers albeit on a very miniscule level. After we'd had enough of them we slinked away and hopped on the bus back to Boquete and that was our Carnivale experience.

State of the Blog

In the coming days I will try to get some good posts and pics up. The last few days were a bit disorienting; I had to postpone a trip to Bocas Del Toro this weekend (because I had to do someone's job for them) and now we have a ton of new volunteers with us. So, we may be busy and it may be difficult to get access to the computer. The day finds me in a bit of a bad mood because we couldn't go to the orphanage today and there are no English classes today or tomorrow because of the holidays. I'm also dedicating some comp time to the ol' soul-crushing job search.

But, I promise I got some good material forthcoming, including "More Pictures", "David: City of Wonder/City of Blunder", "More Amazing Stuff About Panama" and "Mas Que Un Amigo (More Than A Friend): The Tale of a Schoolbus Named Andresito, Jr." I actually have a lot of photos but they are currently stuck on April's camera or they are in my email and I can't get them to load properly.

Also, Carnivale is here and is a monumental event in Panama every year so expect a blog on that. How monumental is it? Put it this way: One of my students explained that when he was younger his friends used to pawn cherished posessions and sell their own blood to get money so they could travel for their Mardis Gras celebrations. This is a culture that takes their partying seriously. Nearby Dolega is supposed to have a wild Carnivale party. I may have to check it out.

Meanwhile, here is a mini-post:

On Thursday before I went to David, I hiked way the hell up into the mountains. In addition to some awesome sweeping vistas, I saw some interesting wildlife up there. On the side of the road I saw a bit of roadkill. It was a toad the size of my foot (I wear a size 12 Nike), and its guts had been squished out of its mouth not unlike when you accidentally step on a packet of mustard or ketchup. Briefly afterwards, one of the badass hawks that patrol the area did a few loops no more than 15 over my head, which was pretty cool. By the time I headed back down I was feeling a bit skittish and thats when I encountered a 6 foot snake (black with dull yellow bands around it) crossing the road. It took its sweet time and I kept my distance. It finally slipped
into the grass and through a hole in a rock wall and I was on my way. Other reptile sighting: one day when getting dropped off at InglesTec, the taxi driver brought my attention to a being snooping about the office's backdoor. It was a big-ass, ugly-as-sin iguana the size of an overweight housecat. It's tail was at least as long as its body, if not more. I went in the front door and came out the back to show my colleague, Milsiades. The thing was hard to see on the gravely parking lot but when it saw us it ran away like former San Francisco 49er Ricky Watters (I know thats an obscure reference but that's what it reminded me of).

CCB Exhibits!

Hey, sorry to but in on brother Bucks Panamania, but I figured some good news couldn't hurt. So in case you haven't heard I am going to be pinning up an exhibit of an idea I had featuring my studies abroad!
I attached the PDF of my proposal, so you can figure out the idea. The plan is to have as little words as possible and get this... no photos! Sounds pretty ironic for me right? Well I am trying to portray what life/culture is like in the cities I lived in and visited, and instead of presenting my experience the way I saw these places (through the lens of my camera) I thought it would be great to see how the cities choose to present themselves.





I'm hoping the no photo's will make it more powerful. I am still working out some of the logistics. What do you guys think?

So if you are in Saint Louis around the 26th of February please come by Givens hall for the opening reception /happy hour. There will also be exhibits of student work from a couple of the abroad studios. My Parentalones are coming. Can't believe they are gonna make it to SLo MO!

...resume Panamania...

The Orphanage

Warning: This post will be more somber in tone. Also, no pictures with this one, sorry, we're not allowed.

On Mondays and Fridays I go to the Casa Hogar Trisker which is a state-run orphanage about 15-20 minutes outside of town. The kids range in age from 1 to 13. When you show up, many of the children approach you saying 'Tia' or 'Tio' (meaning 'aunt' or 'uncle') which is both hearrtbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Most of the kids were taken out of their homes by the government because of abuse or neglect. Also, abortion is illegal in Panama, so in many cases these are children whose parents simply could not afford to take care of them. Some of these kids have had it real tough, but they're pretty happy at the home for the most part. It's just unsettling to see various scars and burns on kids so young that were likely not acquired on the playground. I could get into it more but I won't.

While the government does a noble job of taking these children out of abusive or neglectful homes, they really don't do a great job of caring for them in the orphanage. Most of the employees are there to collect their check and at times are difficult to find. For example, I hit a kid in the face with a baseball the other day (you can imagine how great I felt after that) and I couldn't find anyone to help me help him. I picked him up took him inside then went to the kitchen to fetch the nino some ice for his bruised eye (I was thrilled the next time I came that he had no bruise and he grabbed a mit with the utmost alacrity and enthusiasm). The employees are basically government bureaucrats who care for the children with all the warmth and tenderness a DMV employee cares for your license plates. Much to my dismay I learned today that children have died in Trisker. The latest crisis there has been that the running water supply has been cut off/damaged and sometimes downright non-existent. This problem has persisted for ALMOST 3 WEEKS!!!

I could also go on and on about the bureacratic nonsense, but I won't.

OK, enough of the sad stuff. Most of the kids are tough as nails, but really good, cute, fun kids. I bought some baseball stuff down when I came and the older boys are usually psyched to throw the ball around. There aren't many grown, young men who come to the orphanage so when Oscar or I come they usually get pretty excited. I got a football today let's see how they like that.

Eventhough these kids don't have a thing in the whole damn world, it doesn't seem to bother some of them. I believe the happiest kid in the entire world lives in Trisker. Angel, who is probably 3 or 4 is one of the cutest kids I've ever met and I almost never see him without a smile. Him and his best pal Juan have more fun than anyone I've ever seen. He came up to me saying 'Aleseme' (I think, which I didn't know until later means, 'pick me up'). After I scooped him up once I had to do it for every kid in the orphanage. Now, I'm like a ride in the goddamned Magic Kingdom.

If I had the funds and was married, yadda yadda yadda, I would try to adopt little Angel and Juan. But, supposedly adoption is next to impossible for American parents in Panama. Sometimes I wonder if they would be happier at Trisker than in the States.

Anyway, I have to head out right now.

On a lighter note: Way to go Saints!

Abuelita Anita, My Panamanian Grandma

This is a little example of how charming and cool Panamanian people are...So, last Wednesday our group participated in this 'community cleanup' with a lot of the Americans and locals in the area (notice the trash bags in my left hip pocket). Boquete has a problem with people just throwing their trash in the street so this was a town-wide effort to get our collective shit in order. Plus, new president Ricardo Martinelli was supposed to come to the town square the next day and Chiriqui-native and current Philadelphia Phillie, Carlos Ruiz was supposed to come on Saturday (neither of whom showed), so we had to whip the place into shape.

So, anyway, as we're cleaning up one area this little old lady joins us with one of those nifty nails-on-a-stick that comes in handy for this type of task. After a few minutes she tells Angie of an area she knows that could really use some picking up. So, Angie sends Julie and me with her. We get in her car and head up to the hills while she tells us all about her family (she has three daughters living in the States) and the town of Boquete.

She takes us for an impromptu tour of Boquete's upper regions while she tells us more about everything, while Julie and I are wondering where the hell we are going and when we're supposed to get to work. Instead, little Abuelita Anita takes us to a nice little cafe/dessert place that makes great hamburgers and strawberry desserts/confections and the like. The lady comes out and greets Anita with a big hello. Anita tells her what we're doing and then buys us fresas duros, which are like popsicles made from the frozen juice of fresh strawberries. It was quite delicious and refreshing. The waitress gives us two free big bottles of water for cleaning up the town and we were on our way.

I finish my duro in the car and think, 'Surely, we must be going to do some work now'. Anita buys some eggs from a guy on the side of the road and then takes us to her house to drop them off (her house and property are gorgeous by the way). After a few minutes inside she comes out and says she'll give us a ride into town. In one area with litter strewn about she slows down and points out that this was what she was talking about earlier. But, she keeps right on going. Julie, comfused and clutching her rake asks "Should we get out and start cleaning?". To which Abuelita Anita responds "Oh no, I just wanted to show it to you. I have to go into town. Maybe you can come back another time. I will make you fresh lemonade from the trees in my yard."

Haha. Amazing.

So, by the time we get back into town everyone is finished. Anita heads into the supermarket and we go back to the apartment to get ready to go to David. Not only did she save us from a thrilling hour and a half of picking up garbage but she essentially bought us ice cream to boot! While everyone else was toiling away we were enjoying a pleasant duro-filled hour with our Panamanian grandma. Thanks Abuelita Anita!

(The promise of fresh lemonade may be too much to pass up so I may have to field an expedition to go back there.)

Notes: I finally got some pictures of the bus so I'll write one up about the bus soon. I also want to do one about the craptacular city of David. I'll need pictures though. I'd love to get pictures of the natives, especially the kids but I'm scared.

The English program is really great so far. So is working at the orphanage.

Super Bowl - I'm rooting for the Saints. I know this is old news but what the hell is wrong with Brett Favre? You know he did that so he can play another year.