January 7, 2015
Do I have the best parents in the world, or what? Let me
elaborate on just one of the resent events that enforces the conclusion
that I have the best parents in the world. On the day that marked six months in
country (six months people! Can you believe it? Six months away from family and
friends, away from basic amenities I took for granted, away from American food,
oh how I miss American food!, six months since I had hugged my mom) I had the
pleasure of picking my little sister up at the airport in Panama City. My
parents flew her down to see me with a smorgasbord of goodies and to stay with
me through Christmas and New Year’s Eve. And what a two weeks it was! I believe
my sister received the full Panamanian experience jam-packed into the short
time she was here. And of course we took tons of pictures!
The first night we stayed in Panama City because her flight
got in pretty late. The next morning we had to repack the two checked bags and
two carry-ons she brought into a manageable amount of luggage to be hauled into
my site.
Last minute mending (in true Walker fashion)
And as it ended up, after waiting for hours at my chiva
stop, no chiva presented itself and we had to stay the night in La Chorrera.
(Panamanian Experience #1: Transportation is unreliable. You will spend a lot
of time sitting and waiting for transportation to show up, sitting and waiting
for said transportation to leave, and finally sitting and waiting on said
transportation to get to where you need to go.)
This delay however ended up allowing us to enjoy a
Panamanian dinner.
And an American dessert. My amazing mother baked one of my
favorite things: Cinnamon Swirl Oat Bread. And she sent three loaves of it with
my sister. It was DELICIOUS! And it was gone in two days.
The next day we successfully attained a chiva and were off
to my site! Panamanian Experience #2: Riding Chivas. I really cannot explain
it. Come to Panama and ride one yourself.
And the hike into my site commenced.
Sister Quote: “Well I can tell you one thing, I’m never
going to complain about having to park far away from my house again!”
Panamanian Experience #3: Having to hike 40+ minutes through
the jungle to get to your house/community.
My house! I have officially moved in and am living in my own
house! It is a tiny little thing with a great porch, great view, and great
location.
My surprise for my sister. Meeting my puppy! I didn’t tell
her that I had gotten one yet.
Panamanian Experience #4: All “pets” are severely
underweight. (Don’t worry, my puppy will be feed and catch up to a healthy
weight.)
Everything we hiked in!
Opening the Christmas presents my parents sent (see? Best in the world). Opening the suitcases packed with everything I had asked them to send with my sister was like Christmas morning. On top of that and having my sister visit me they sent wrapped Christmas presents too!
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| A gift within a gift. Silica packets. |
Blowing up my air mattress with a hand pump. (Panamanian Experience #5: No electricity.)
My shower. Not a bad view either if I do say so myself.
(Panamanian Experience #6: No hot water.)
Sister Quote: “Water pressure is better than at my house.”
Starting to train Corteza.
My sister helped me around the house quite a bit, we
installed more locks, hung up hammocks, made my “closet”, made a drainage ditch
for my shower, and she cut up a bunch of branches with my machete to construct
my compost area.
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| So many books to read! |
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| My kitchen |
Washing dishes
One of the days in my site we hiked up to “the hill with
signal.” I always put this in quotes because first, it is not a hill, it is a
mountain. And second it has not had cell phone signal when I’ve tried to attain
it. But that is how everyone in my community refers to this “hill.” (Panamanian
Experience #7: Panamanians can be very vague.) It does have a spectacular view
of the Panamanian countryside and a great view of part of my community.
We then traveled to my original training to community to
spend Christmas with my host family. I am so glad I decided to go back and
spend Christmas with them. I love this family. My host mom is amazing. I
definitely feel like she has taken me in and treats me as if I was one of her
own daughters (she has three). And she gives amazing hugs!
Christmas Eve I am helping my host mom make ensalada con
papas (potato and beet salad), a typical Panamanian dish that is quite good.
We got to experience a Panamanian Christmas (Panamanian
Experience #8: Cultural differences), which I thought was pretty cool. In
Panama everyone stays up until midnight on Christmas Eve and welcomes Christmas
kind of like how we bring in the New Year. At midnight everyone goes around
saying “Feliz Navidad!” and that’s when the children open their presents. There
is also a ton of food to be feast upon.
My host mom said a Christmas table is not complete without
tamales.
We went to Church with my host mom Christmas Eve and they
had a live nativity seen.
On Christmas morning we had a traditional Christmas
breakfast of hot chocolate and a sandwich with this special bread and leftover
ham, turkey, and cheese. Delicious. I know I’ve probably said it before, but my
host mom can cook! That ham was the best ham I think I’ve ever eaten. And to
make it even better, my host mom said that it was a gift to my host dad from
the President. Yes. The President of Panama went to my host dad’s work and gave
everyone a ham for Christmas.
Shortly after we arrived at my host family’s house, the
water went out. Now this is no uncommon thing in Panama, during training the
water went out multiple times. However usually these are planned outages by
Panama to help save water and electricity (think hydroelectric). Also, this was
Christmas Eve. It turns out a pipe broke somewhere and even all of La Chorrera
was out of water (La Chorrera is the fifth biggest city in Panama). The water
did not return while we were there. So, what do you do on Christmas in Panama
when the water is still out? Go down to the river to bathe/spend four hours
cooling off in the water. (Panamanian Experience #9: Bucket showers and or bathing in
the local river.)
Swimming in the local river on Christmas day. That’s a new
one.
A couple other volunteers from my group came back to their
host families for Christmas as well.
Pretty sure this is the point I got water up my nose.
Beautiful girl wasn’t feeling to good. She has gotten so
much bigger than when I left in August!
Host mom and sister (I told her she was going to tower over
people here...)
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After Christmas we traveled to the beach to spend a few days
soaking up the sun. The first day however was spent lying in our hostel beds
instead of on the beach because we both woke up puking. (Panamanian Experience
#10: Getting sick. Throwing up. Peeing out your butt. Generally feeling like
poo. Could be from drinking bad water, eating bad food, or a standard bug you
picked up in the not so hygienic Panama.) It sucked. But it only lasted one
day. Thank God it was only a 24 hour bug. The following day the beach lying was
in full swing.
We also treated ourselves at the spa down the road. Nothing
like a milk and honey jet tub bath with lavender mint exfoliate followed by a
steam bath and a massage to make you feel better. This was the first bathtub I
had seen in six months. It was amazing. And worth every penny.
One morning the hostel was visited by a man with a baby
monkey. Surely taken away from its mother (at far too young an age) in a
different part of panama. (Panamanian Experience #11: Mistreatment of wild
animals.) My sister was pretty excited though to be able to say she held a baby
monkey.
After that we returned to Panama City to spend New Year’s
Eve with some of my fellow volunteers. After two hours of sleep we were up and
headed to the airport. I was sad to see her go but so glad she came to visit!
And here is the long awaited for “Ready to Serve” rap
created by three very talented volunteers in my group. All rights reserved.
Enjoy!
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