The Glory of Acting My Age, and other stories (aka, Lump post!)

Pictures added!

A while ago, I promised the Story of the Puppy, so here it goes.

One rainy day in November, which was pretty much all of them actually, I was taking some scraps to my compost pile in my backyard, when I see a little black lump by my wall.

Spot the puppybutt!

It’s about the size of my 2 fists together, and fuzzy, but with some matted/wet spots- but definitely looks too young to be by itself.  Some weeks previously, the neighbors had warned me that Mamadog was pregnant and had taken up residence in my backyard, and that she tended to be particularly temperamental, but this was the first clue that I’d had that she’d had a pup.  I figured that perhaps her backyard den, under a cement block thing, had been flooded, hence the appearance by my wall, but Mamadog was nowhere to be seen.  After a bit, Mamadog came back, and sniffed around at the Fuzzball, and soon laid down by it, and it got to eat- a relief that she wasn’t abandoning it to my care, adorable as it is!  Because everything was sodden, and because projects are fun, I cut up a couple boxes from care packages- you see, they are appreciated ;-)!, and cut up some grocery bags to waterproof the boxes, and made a bedbox for them.


And it was very cute.

I'm finally adding these pictures after visiting facebook and being slammed with news and opinions of the shooter in Connecticut, and in light of this, I hope you take a minute to collect some warm fuzzies in the cute purity of a well-loved puppy, and then distribute them to whomever you encounter for the rest of the day.  It's amazing what even a few minutes of compassionate attention can do for someone, particularly when it's unexpected and unsought. (12/16)

     Ooh, and reviewing the last post, I owe you all Thanksgiving- in the confusion of packing and getting ready to travel across the country, I neglected to get a charged battery in my camera, which is unfortunate for you, but I rather enjoyed, since I could just enjoy and experience, instead of trying to record it.  The traditional Peace Corps Panama Thanksgiving is a fundraiser by VAC, which is something like Volunteer Advisory Council.  Or something.  It’s held out in a town called Cerro Punta, near Vulcan Baru, Panama’s active volcano, and has frigid temperatures reaching down into the 50s. (yes, fahrenheit.)  It drizzled the entire time we were there, and I wore my fleece nearly constantly; loved it!  I left my house at about 4:30 in the morning on Wednesday, and after a neither rushed nor particularly slow 12 hours of traveling, arrived at the resort.  I heard that there were over 100 volunteers in attendance, which means that probably more than half of PCPanama was there.  Wednesday was hanging out, catching up, and meeting some other people from different projects and provinces.  On Thursday, more hanging around, and I went on a hike in Vulcan Baru National Park (I think that’s the name), which involved a 15 minute ride in a trailer behind a tractor into the park on a dirt road that was mostly there to a cabin where we all changed into rubber boots, and then a hike out to see a gorgeous waterfall.  Despite the boots, my pants still got muddy, but I was grateful for the boots, since quite a bit of the “path” was creekbed and/or flooded, and more than once the mud was at least ankle-deep.  Other than hikes, there were decent spa services, massages, etc, which some volunteers took advantage of, and a nice gathering area with fireplaces- again, freezing 60 deg. temperatures made the fires so delightful.  Thursday morning were also meetings by VAC and another volunteer committee that non-officers were allowed to view/attend, which was interesting to see.  Possibilities for the future...
And Thanksgiving Dinner.  There were teams of volunteers working through Wednesday and Thursday morning to cook a giant traditional Thanksgiving meal, with turkey, ham, stuffing, biscuits, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and more.  And it was delicious (and I got to take a pack of leftovers with me for lunch on the return trip, and Thanksgiving leftovers are delicious!).  We had dance parties and there were foosball tables, and pingpong tables, and good times were had by all.  And I got to have a brief ballroom dance sampler with the brother of one of the other volunteers, who happened to be visiting her over Thanksgiving, which was positively delightful!
If you’re thinking of coming to visit me, it’s far away, but northern Chiriqui (Cerro Punta, Boquete, Vulcan) are by hearsay and this experience, well worth consideration.

While I’m catching up, I’ll mention the Special Olympics.  Peace Corps works with the Special Olympics people here in Panama, and provides volunteers to help facilitate the Events as necessary.  There were big ones in Panama City with lots of different events and stuff months ago, but I worked at the Cocle and Veraguas games, and had a lot of fun.  Most of our participation was escorting the competitors to and from their events, making sure that they never wandered off by themselves.  Most of the competitors were middle school age, with outliers on either side.  (In case you aren’t familiar, Special Olympics are for those individuals who are diagnosed with mental challenges, while Paralympics are for those with physical impediments.) We also set up chairs and tents, assisted in giving prizes, and generally did whatever the people in charge asked of us.  Because I worked at the Cocle Games on the previous weekend, when I went to the Veraguas games on the way home from Thanksgiving, the Volunteer Coordinator asked me to explain to the PCVs who hadn’t volunteered before, what exactly we were supposed to be doing.  At both sets of Games the working volunteers were a combination of PCVs and Panamanians, with a few other foreigners who were in Panama on different programs, namely Fulbright people and a group of Germans who live and work in the same community as one of my groupmates.  Both games had wonderful atmospheres of love and support from all sides!

Athletes in grey shirts and volunteers in yellow bringing the Torch around the track in the Opening Ceremony.

And to wrap up, Acting My Age.
Since coming to Panama, my role as been Peace Corps Volunteer with other Volunteers, Peace Corps Volunteer in my community, Teacher in the classrooms...and what non-PCV social experiences I’ve had have been with people, well, not twice my age anymore, but significantly older.  Actually, a lot of them probably are more than twice my age...anyway.  Most people between 17 and 40 or so seem spend at least half of their lives working in the City, or in the case of the 17-24ish’s, in school, since we don’t have a high school, let alone a university, in my town.  Not that I’m complaining about my company, mind you- a good proportion of my social acquaintance throughout my life has been significantly older than I am.  But sometimes it is nice to get let go of the responsible, Representative of the United States thing, the Peace Corps Volunteer thing, the University Graduate thing, and just be a person.  And frankly, most Peace Corps social events aren’t my cup of tea either, for a few reasons.  HOWEVER, this past weekend was the 6th Agricultural Fair in my town, with dances on the 3 weekend nights- discoteca style on Friday and Sunday, tipica on Saturday.  I didn’t attend on Friday night, not having quite the nerve to go unaccompanied to the drunkfest that I thought it was likely to be, but I could hear the music until past midnight; according to my host family, it went on til 6 AM.  I went to the Fair itself on Saturday, bought a pair of cute sandals that I hope last, and watched the Great Mother’s Day Giveaway.  December 8th is Mother’s Day here, by the way, and was celebrated in both of my schools, as well as at this Feria, mostly by every mother in attendance getting a number, and then getting the present associated with that number.  (Side note, I happened upon the Mother’s Day celebration at my main Primary School, and got roped into singing for the 50-odd mothers- I did Amazing Grace, since it was the only vaguely appropriate song I could think of at the spur of the moment, and that I could remember most of the lyrics to...not my best performance, but it was kinda fun).  Julie, my PCV friend who lives relatively close to me, came by to the Feria also, and we went to the Baile (dance) that night.  The featured performer was an accordionist, and I was enjoying the music, but there were unsurprisingly, a lot of drunks thinking that they could dance.  I did dance one number with Some Random Guy, who actually did stay on rhythm, and danced well, considering that tipica dancing is basically a two-step, and they don’t do turns or anything to break the monotony...well and good if you’re drunk and/or really into your partner, but as a social dancer, it isn’t my favorite style.  I’m getting to the point, I promise!
Sunday, Julie and I had scrambled eggs with salsa, homemade rosemary bread with cream cheese and jelly and banana-orange-pineapple fruit salad, because Peace Corps life is rough, for breakfast.
      Later that afternoon, after Julie’d gone back to her town, I went back to see how the Feria was winding up, and got there just in time to see the end of the Electric Slide, with a good number of people actually doing the dance!!!  That pretty much made my day, but when watching the forthcoming dances, the girl sitting next to me and I started exchanging random comments (breezy, mosquitoes, music, etc), which turned into something of a conversation- and she’s a 24 year old who works in tourism in the City 3 or 4 days/week, but spends time in town too, and has a fair number of friends who were also at the ‘discoteca’ dance on this Sunday night.  She arranged for me to dance with a friend of hers while she danced with her brother, and introduced me to others of her friends (none of whose names I remember, and barely the faces, but I blame loud music and scarcely existent lighting), and so I got a couple dances in with their group, including a bachata, in which I kept messing up the timing on the turns, but was dancing with a guy who could actually lead!!, both in changing the frame shape, and moving around the floor.  Al final, I walked back to my house with this group, and my new friend said she’d take me around the city some free weekend.  So, I got to hang out with people who were roughly my age, not drunk, friendly, and who could dance.  What more can a girl ask for?

Patronales- Independence Day(s)

Ok, so it was a bit more than a couple days to get this next post up- I was too busy collecting material for new blog posts to write old news.  But, you'll have to wait for that :-P.
Coming soon: Furball! (no, I'm not keeping it), and Thanksgiving in Cerro Punta

In the meantime, Los Patronales and the Anniversary of the Separation of Santa Rita from Cabuya.

For a few weeks, I'd been hearing about the coming 23rd of October.  They were selecting the Reina, and as the time grew nearer, getting decorations up and even put a grandstand by the Casa de la Cultura (community center/space).  All of my schools' bands were practicing daily, and it seemed something was up, although it wasn't clear what for, or why the 23rd of October was particularly important.  I've found it rather difficult to get answers to cultural things, perhaps because they forget that I'm not local, and haven't been observing their holidays for my entire life.  So many things we as people take understanding for granted, which is far from intuitive or clear to an outsider.
At any rate, eventually the Expected Date rolls around, and what do you know, but all of the significant mucky-mucks of Santa Rita are there, and my schools' bands, as well as a couple other groups!  And they are celebrating, as mentioned above, the separation of my town from the next town up the road.  Because they do like their independence days, as you will soon read!
It was pretty exciting to see the hard work of the marching bands, and the practicing at all hours of my school-age neighbors, pay off in the form of a parade around la vuelta (the loop).  The bands were impressive, considering I believe only my secondary school had more than “lyra” (some vaguely lyre-shaped xylophone cousin) and drums; they have a brass section as well!  The parade was ended by the Reina in Carnaval-esque costume (think sort of heavily sequined mermaid with a matching headdress) and one of her Damas, in a traditional pollera.
And then there were brindis, and socializing, and soon I ran away to do some grocery shopping in Anton.  Woohoo!
 (Side note on this, at the post-parade segment, a woman who lives in a little town up the road invited me to a mass/celebration in a town called Loma Larga, which means Long Hill.  It was noisy, and hearing English is hard enough in a crowd, let alone interpreting Spanish, so there certainly was some room for misunderstanding...at any rate, as far as I got it, we arranged that on the 28th, I would meet her at a certain bus stop, and we would go to this celebration together, because it the town is a bit of a hike off of the road.  So, I get to the appointed stop, and wait.  And wait...for about an hour...yeah, I know, hardly any time in Panama-time, but that's an aspect of the culture that I'm reluctant to embrace.  Eventually, I start to wander, end up talking to a lady who owns a store, who hooks me up with another lady who was about to head to what I believe was the event I was invited to, so she showed me the way.  I never did find the lady who invited me, but 2 other ladies ended up sort of taking charge of showing me around, and I ended up with their contact information, an invitation to another event in December, and vague plans of taking them on the walk to El Valle!  The event on Loma Larga was their Patron Saint Day, Saint Judas.  There was a mass, a procession (walked perhaps a quarter-mile and turned around to return), and the brindis, because there are always brindis.  Yay free food!)

And now we come to the Patronales, which I eventually figured out weren't about Patron Saints, but rather the weekend of Independence Day- related things.  National Anthem Day, Flag Day, and The Anniversary of Separation from Colombia are all together, but I don't recall the exact dates of each.  Whatever the dates, my schools participated in parades for the entire long weekend!  On Saturday the 3rd, we had the parade in Santa Rita, which was very similar to the 23rd, but with more bands, and -amazingly- uniforms!  Everyone was suddenly decked out in snazzy uniforms, with funny hats and matching boots and everything!  In all of the other performances I'd seen, other than folclorica stuff, all of the kids just wore their school uniforms, but now suddenly they seemed bands worth considering!

(Another side note: I'd promised Julie, my friend and one of my closest PCVs that I'd go to her town that night to go with her to a baile that her town was having, for the Patronales, so after watching the parade, I skipped town to head over to hers.  There, we hung a shelf in her house, chatted, wandered over to their Casa de la Cultura a couple times, returning to Julie's house because the baile still hadn't started, but eventually went back, and ended up watching a cock-fight before the dance actually started.  Have I mentioned that a “baile” is a dance?  Well, if not, “baile” = dance.  It was...interesting.  More interesting watching the audience than the birds, but not sufficiently so to make me need to see another.  My hitherto undefined inclination to see a cock-fight was satisfied, and even now it makes my stomach turn a little to think about how one of the rooster's spur would occasionally get stuck in the flesh of the opponent.  However, certainly another cultural experience to check off of the list!)

On Sunday, my schools went to the town of Rio Hato for another Patronales parade, but I hopped back into Santa Rita to see a bike race at the invitation of a lady in the community, actually, the woman who teaches the folclorica dances at the schools- and it was the real deal!  It was one of the most official looking things I'd seen, for all that it still did start in hora panameña (ie, late).  There were 4 or 5 teams of bikers from around Panama, mostly in real bicyclist-looking apparel, and it was another pleasant surprise (after the uniforms in the parade).  Perhaps it's unfortunate that my expectations of what to expect have rather been lowered in my months here, but it is delightful to be thusly surprised!  There were, of course, brindis, after the race, and there was a group selling soda and grilled chorizo to raise money for a Christmas party for the community kids.

Monday brought a big parade, again with my main Primaria and Secondaria, in Antón, a name which should be at least slightly familiar by now.  Due to a connection that my neighbor PCV Richard had made with the Mayor of Antón, we were Invitado to watch the parade from the grandstand- a big honor!  As invitados (~invited ones), we got to sit in on the opening meeting.  Also, a portion of the brass section of my Secondary's band was chosen to play the national anthem!  I walked through the parade route with my Primaria, because there wasn't a specific place in the line-up for Peace Corps Volunteers, until we got to the grandstand where I broke off to go up and watch the rest of the parade.  It was really cool to see band after band from all over the country come through, ranging from elementary to colegio, which is 10-12th grades, but are divided into areas of study.  I watched 10s of bands and performance groups go by, when what do I see but another friend-PCV marching with her school!  The parade started a mere half-hour late, practically on time around 8:30.  By about 3, I was ready to go, particularly upon finding out that it would probably last until 6 or 7 PM.  Apparently there are 80-some school bands that come...and then there are the “private bands.”  It was all very impressive, but I was done parade watching by that point... and I had to get to Penonomé for a very important “V for Vendetta” watching party with some other PCVs, because it was Nov 5th :-)  Heading eastward on the Interamericana (the Pan-American Highway) was the most traffic I'd ever seen on it, but fortunately I was heading west, which was clear as usual.  I got to Penonomé without issue, though thoroughly exhausted, and we chilled in the hotel, interneted, and went to see “Skyfall” in our months-old movie theatre-  yep, “Skyfall” opened in Panama before it did in the US :-D.  We picked up a couple pizzas from a gas station that serves surprisingly good pizza, and eventually watched the main feature.
The following day, Tuesday Nov 6, did feature a huge parade there in Penonomé, for which I didn't stay, though I did get to see the beginnings of the Election Day coverage before I left to come back home.  And thus went the Patronales.

I'm writing this on Monday, November 26th, which I had off of school due to Wednesday, the 28th, being the Anniversary of Independence from Spain.  I'll let you know if I get to see something interesting related to that ;-).

Next time (barring further distractions, which will almost definitely come as the school year comes to a close), PUPPY and THANKSGIVING!

(Note, due to my week-charge of internet running out, I'm actually posting this on Saturday Dec 1- IT'S DECEMBER!!  I was going to add pictures, and even had them selected, but apparently the fates don't want you to see them.  They're not even pretending to upload.  However, when I go Home for the Holidays, I should be able to orchestrate a massive photodump onto the interwebs- woohoo!)