mAdventures

Hola!

I know that it has been a long time since I updated but I don’t get to a computer much and mine is starting to crap out on me… Very sad but he is about to reach his sixth birthday. 

SPEAKING OF BIRTHDAYS!! So my baby dog, Dony or Megalodon, turned a year old May 2^nd! I didn’t do anything for my birthday when I was here and I think the people were a little offended so I bought a cake for Dony’s birthday and told everyone that because I didn’t do anything for my birthday I was going to celebrate my doggie’s birthday. It was a hit! This kids loved it and thought it was hilarious that we were singing to a dog (especially since Dony tried to leave half way through). Also I let the kids cut and serve the cake and it ended up that Dony got to eat A LOT of cake. My advice, never let children near cake. WOWZA!! I also got the doofus a stuffed, squeaky toy that just happened to be in the shape of chicken. HE LOVED IT! Well the squeaky part. It actually isn’t too hard to please the dog. Easily amused (like his momma). 

Rando thought- so I was looking at old photos from home and I came across this great photo of a Fourth of July celebration with my family and my first thought was ‘wow that is a lot of white people.’ YEAHHH you know you are in Panama when…

Also traveling Hannah also got some new clothes. So for those of you who don’t know I have (or had) this doll my dad gave to me a few years back and she is awesome. She is a parkranger doll and has traveled with me here. I take many photos with her and well, lets just say the first week I got to Panama I lost her and my dad scoured the Internet to find me a new Hannah. Yes. I do have the best dad ever. Anyway one of my latinos made Hannah a Pollera. A Pollera is a traditional Panamanian dress. Well now Hannah has another outfit, a Nolgwa. There are a great many number of indigenous groups in Panama and the one that I live with are called Ngabes. Well now Hannah has a traditional dress of theirs. It is pretty awesome. 

From here on in I am going to copy a letter I sent to a friend of mine and it will be a hella long update.

My time in Panama has been extraordinary and life altering. I still have a year left of service but I can confidently say that it is not a decision I regret and if I had the choice to do it over again, I would in a heartbeat. 

People often ask me how I am. I find it to be one of the hardest and most confusing questions I get. For example, emotionally, I feel like I am riding an emotional rollercoaster. I know it sounds cliché but there is no other way to describe it. My mood changes hourly. And not from sad to happy. This morning I woke up cranky (what a surprise) then went running with some of the boys here and I felt great. At 8 am I taught my science class and I was really excited and energized for it. But the kids put me in a nasty mood. They were just so rambunctious and I couldn’t get a hold of them. There are two classrooms in my school: 1, 2, and 3 grades in one class and 4, 5, 6 grades in the other. I taught the older kids and one of the older kids in the classroom, 14 years old, told me that- well lets just say that class was inappropriate and ended up being a sexual education class.  And it’s not that the class went poorly, it’s just teaching without making a lesson plan first is so hard, especially sex ed. for kids between the ages of 9 and 15. The kids are just so different on their educational level, emotional, maturity… It was hard and the kids are CRAZY!!! They have no boundaries in the home so obviously they have none in the classroom. BUT it ended up turning out great because some of the adults asked me to give a sex ed talk and although it was hilarious and not well attended, it was still good to see people interested in such a touchy subject.

So I arrived at school excited and eager but left overwhelmed and a little bit traumatized. 

Then I made lunch and visited some friends. One of them gave me a fresh pineapple and it made me feel soooo good. It’s amazing what makes you happy. But about 45 minutes later I was visiting one of the women in my site who I have an incredible amount of respect for and usually thinks quite modernly, told me that a husband has the right to treat and beat his wife and children how he wants. And I continue to question her on the subject and I leave completely confused and sooo upset and shocked. I have lived here for over a year and I have heard things like that regularly but I didn’t expect this woman to feel that way.

I go home just soo overwhelmed with people and having to deal with so many people today but I am lonely. But not alone. It is difficult explain, I am ridiculously grateful for my dog though. I would have lost my sanity long ago without my Megalodon. He is so loyal and never ever ever leaves my side. When I need to go into town to buy groceries or use the internet he chases after the bus crying. I have to tie him up so he doesn’t get run over. My baby!

ANYWAY! That is how I feel. That is how I feel on all levels. AND that’s about enough when it comes to emotions.

My life consists of waking up at around 6 with the stupid chickens, running or exercising in some way, then either going to school or hanging out around my town. I usually eat lunch at my house but sometimes other people feed me. Then I clean my house and hang out with my community some more until dinner around 6 or 7 and then I go home, cook and hang out with my doggy. Sometimes the kids come by at night to hang out but they are usually kicked out around 9 so I can get some sleep. ALSO I use a machete! I KNOW you are all jealous and fearing for my life and the lives around me. A lot of the time too I go fishing with the men or occasionally out to the farms.

I don’t really leave my community that often. Sometimes I help another volunteer every 2 weeks but its not usually for more than 2 or 3 night and I bring Megalodon with me. I don’t see a lot of other people. I don’t really like leaving Spanish world because then it is hard to readjust to Spanish. I am also trying to learn Ngäbere (the indigenous language spoken where I live). 

ANNNNNYYYYWWAAYYYYY!!! SO most of my days here don’t consist of “work” but it is definitely work. A lot of what I do is socializing, trust building, and research. It really is the best job ever. I get to hang out with people, experience new cultures first handed, be part of a new and different type of family, learn life lessons and new languages, and do it all at my own pace. Peace Corps doesn’t tell you what to do and I don’t have a schedule. Peace Corps is what you make of it. If you want eco-stoves in your village, then you have to do it. You have to find the funding, research which type would be best for your community, gain community interest… If you want to sit in your hammock all-day and read then you can.

The projects I am currently working on are eco-stoves, latrines in my community, 2 aqueduct projects, a bridge project, teaching in my school, an after school club, recycling program, and the beginnings of a landfill project.

The eco-stoves are pretty cool. People in my community use three rocks as their stoves, which uses a LOT of wood. It also creates an absurd amount smoke. I am proposing a new kind of stove for people to use. It is called a Bliss Burner. What is great about it is that it will use 70% less wood (less deforestation) and produce 60% less smoke (less pollution). It is also great because the only that needs to be purchased is the mold`. You don’t need cement or bricks so they are really cheap. 

I am working on an aqueduct project on one of the surrounding islands. It is building an entire aqueduct. I don’t have a lot of knowledge on this but it would be really helpful to get the people running water, even if it is from a river. It is going to take a long time and there is no way I am going to be able to finish the project. Actually it was started by a government agency and they found out that there was a Peace Corps volunteer around and they are trying to pass the project off on me. It requires a lot of research because I just don’t have the skills to fully support and execute the project.

 I also recently helped out another volunteer on a bridge project. She has the monster river in her town and you have to wade through it. Actually you have to hike into her site and cross a total of five rivers. Well this one is dangerous and on a calm day the water reaches my waist. ANYWHOO She is having Engineers without Borders come to her site and build a bridge. It is really important in her town because there are almost 2,000 people who need to cross the river regularly and many people have died doing it. I 

I also teach in my school a few times a week. I teach English, science, physical education, EVERYTHING! A lot of the times the teachers (all two of them) just don’t show up and that’s normal. There are no substitutes. But a lot of the kids have to take a boat over and hike and then they come here and there is no school so a lot of the times. I am teaching for the teachers. It is soo frustrating because the teachers are starting to rely on me being there and I don’t know if I should stop teaching so the teachers will actually come in but then the kids don’t get an education. Catch 22.

I also teach an environmental club afterschool. The kids love it but a lot of the time I end up teaching things that are no where near related to environmental education, like general health, like brushing your teeth, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, washing your hands… But I love the group. It is so much fun because it is only the kids who want to be there and they have so much energy and excitement. 

The recycling program is self-explanatory but I put a twist on it. It is right now only in the school so I have the kids bringing in all different types of recyclables and it’s a contest. Each object has a different point value and my kids love counting. Also some of my sixth graders know multiplication so they like to try to do the math.

The landfill project is just in its beginning stages. I am working with a community leader to gather basic information about trash management here and garbage information (like types, amounts, changes over the last 50 years). We are also working on an application for funding for the landfill.

As you may be able to tell, I am hella busy but its so nice. Nighttime is really my time. Sometimes the kids come by and we hang out and play “Scrabble.” I taught my kids how to play scrabble and bananagrams in Spanish. And even though their Spanish is way better than mine, I still win.

This week was particularly trying. On one of the surrounding islands a three-year-old boy died. He had hive and his body was inflamed for three days and the parents didn’t take him to the doctor. Now let me say, the PolyClinic is crappy care but they are better than nothing. OH right, I need to explain myself. A PolyClinic is a government run clinic and it provides free care to all Panamanians. Now, this doesn’t include breast enhancement or cataract surgery but it will give you some epinephrine to stop a life threatening, allergic reaction. 

Also it is mango and avocado season. DELICIOUS!!!

Well this should hold you all for a couple months, or at least until my visit in July!! Now some of you may ask, ‘Madye, why July?’ and I will respond with one word: CAMP. And no Paul, not Buckley.

Hugs and love,
Madye and the Megalodon