As promised, here are a bunch of photos of my community. A couple notes on them.
1. The pigs head was dinner one night. Dalys is my home stay sister and the one modeling the head.
2. Last week was a holiday week celebrating Panama's independence from Columbia (in 1906, if you're interested). That's what all the schoolchildren marching in red, white and blue is about.
3. The pictures of the women cooking are also from the Independence Day festivities. The skirts that they're wearing are called parumas, and they're the traditional clothing of the Wounaan and the Embera tribes. The women are cooking arroz con pollo. Yum.
I think that's it. If you have any questions, post them! I'll answer, if I can!
Much love!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
At long last...I'm in the Peace Corps
Okay, the long awaited post about my first couple weeks in my site. I know you've all been on pins and needles, so I won't delay any longer.
I got into town almost 2 weeks ago, and I'm staying with my first homestay family. I'm living in a little thatched roof hut with six other people (yes, six). It's cozy, actually, and I mean that in the best possible way. The family is very sweet. Emel and Jenny are the parents. Dalys (who's actually sitting next to me right now reading over my shoulder) is their 15 year old daughter, Yaneth is the 19 year old girlfriend of Claver, Jenny and Emel's 17 year old son. Then there's Miladys, their 3 year old. I actually really like all of them, and they've been very generous and helpful. They're teaching me how to make shakira (beaded necklaces and bracelets), and another woman in the town is teaching me how to weave canasta (baskets). The canastas are the main type of artisan work in the Wounaan communities, and they're beautiful. I don't have any pictures of them right now, actually, because as soon as they finish one they sell it. It's pretty quick turnaround, and they need the money so they set up buyers ahead of time. When a professional one gets finished, I'll take a photo of it and post it.
The town has about 120 people living in it (that's a really rough estimate from a super quick census that I did--don't trust it). They're mainly agriculturalists. I've been out and harvested rice with them a couple times. I have yet to harvest yuca, mostly because I hear that it's really hard work and I'm just not that ambitious right now. But, I'm here for two years so I'm sure I won't be able to avoid it. I have started working on my own garden with a couple women in the town. I'm converting an old chicken coop into a garden. It was an abandoned project of someone in the community, and it already has a chicken wire fence and posts, so that's a nice deal. I'm just really looking forward to eating food that has color and nutritional value. I sustained some pretty intense blisters from cleaning out the garden yesterday (of which I posted some photos...of the garden, not the blisters).
Other than that, I've been trying to make the rounds through all the houses in the community, which wouldn't be hard, except that whenever I stop by people want me to stay and talk for hours. So I can only hit a couple a day. I have noticed some interesting dynamics though. There are two big families living here--the Gonzales' and the Carpios. The Gonzales family is Catholic, and lives on one side of the street. The Carpios are Evangelical and live on the other side. There is some definite animosity between the families, which I find crazy! It's a town of 120 people-how can you afford to have a gripe with someone, let alone half the town?! I haven't yet figured out what the disagreement arises from, but I'll probably figure it out in two years. Vamos a ver.
Other than that, I've just been settling in mentally and emotionally. As you can imagine, some days are good, lots of good conversations and interactions. Other days are not so good. But I think that'll all even out after a while. I'm just getting into the swing of things, and I know that it takes some time.
I'm going to post pictures next time I have the opportunity! I spoke prematurely. The internet access is REALLY slow. I'm working on it, but this country is always finding new ways to make it impossible for me. Sorry! I'll get on it next time!
I got into town almost 2 weeks ago, and I'm staying with my first homestay family. I'm living in a little thatched roof hut with six other people (yes, six). It's cozy, actually, and I mean that in the best possible way. The family is very sweet. Emel and Jenny are the parents. Dalys (who's actually sitting next to me right now reading over my shoulder) is their 15 year old daughter, Yaneth is the 19 year old girlfriend of Claver, Jenny and Emel's 17 year old son. Then there's Miladys, their 3 year old. I actually really like all of them, and they've been very generous and helpful. They're teaching me how to make shakira (beaded necklaces and bracelets), and another woman in the town is teaching me how to weave canasta (baskets). The canastas are the main type of artisan work in the Wounaan communities, and they're beautiful. I don't have any pictures of them right now, actually, because as soon as they finish one they sell it. It's pretty quick turnaround, and they need the money so they set up buyers ahead of time. When a professional one gets finished, I'll take a photo of it and post it.
The town has about 120 people living in it (that's a really rough estimate from a super quick census that I did--don't trust it). They're mainly agriculturalists. I've been out and harvested rice with them a couple times. I have yet to harvest yuca, mostly because I hear that it's really hard work and I'm just not that ambitious right now. But, I'm here for two years so I'm sure I won't be able to avoid it. I have started working on my own garden with a couple women in the town. I'm converting an old chicken coop into a garden. It was an abandoned project of someone in the community, and it already has a chicken wire fence and posts, so that's a nice deal. I'm just really looking forward to eating food that has color and nutritional value. I sustained some pretty intense blisters from cleaning out the garden yesterday (of which I posted some photos...of the garden, not the blisters).
Other than that, I've been trying to make the rounds through all the houses in the community, which wouldn't be hard, except that whenever I stop by people want me to stay and talk for hours. So I can only hit a couple a day. I have noticed some interesting dynamics though. There are two big families living here--the Gonzales' and the Carpios. The Gonzales family is Catholic, and lives on one side of the street. The Carpios are Evangelical and live on the other side. There is some definite animosity between the families, which I find crazy! It's a town of 120 people-how can you afford to have a gripe with someone, let alone half the town?! I haven't yet figured out what the disagreement arises from, but I'll probably figure it out in two years. Vamos a ver.
Other than that, I've just been settling in mentally and emotionally. As you can imagine, some days are good, lots of good conversations and interactions. Other days are not so good. But I think that'll all even out after a while. I'm just getting into the swing of things, and I know that it takes some time.
I'm going to post pictures next time I have the opportunity! I spoke prematurely. The internet access is REALLY slow. I'm working on it, but this country is always finding new ways to make it impossible for me. Sorry! I'll get on it next time!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Address/Sending Packages
Hello All!
My mom sent me a package almost 2 months ago, and I've yet to see heads or tails of it, so I'm writing a post in response to that.
If you want to send me a letter, you can send it to the address that's listed there, no problem. If you want to send something that's more package-like, follow these steps.
1. Address it to "Hermana Maureen Petersen" (It'll get here a lot faster if it's coming to "Sister Maureen Petersen". Maureen alone doesn't carry much weight. Sad, I know.)
2. Throw some crosses and "Bendiga Dios" on the front of the package to help it through.
3. Be sure to list, along with what is in the package, that "religious materials" are included. I don't know why, but it works better.
Cuerpo de Paz means Peace Corps, but it also sounds like a religious organization ("cuerpo" also means physical body, and "paz" means peace, so it's not without reason.) It helps to play that up a lot where mail is concerned. My mom did not know to do that, so that package may be a lost cause.
Okay, that's all I've got right now. I'm in Ciudad del Saber finishing up with some office stuff before swearing in TOMORROW. Crazy.
Miss you all! Hope you're all well!
My mom sent me a package almost 2 months ago, and I've yet to see heads or tails of it, so I'm writing a post in response to that.
If you want to send me a letter, you can send it to the address that's listed there, no problem. If you want to send something that's more package-like, follow these steps.
1. Address it to "Hermana Maureen Petersen" (It'll get here a lot faster if it's coming to "Sister Maureen Petersen". Maureen alone doesn't carry much weight. Sad, I know.)
2. Throw some crosses and "Bendiga Dios" on the front of the package to help it through.
3. Be sure to list, along with what is in the package, that "religious materials" are included. I don't know why, but it works better.
Cuerpo de Paz means Peace Corps, but it also sounds like a religious organization ("cuerpo" also means physical body, and "paz" means peace, so it's not without reason.) It helps to play that up a lot where mail is concerned. My mom did not know to do that, so that package may be a lost cause.
Okay, that's all I've got right now. I'm in Ciudad del Saber finishing up with some office stuff before swearing in TOMORROW. Crazy.
Miss you all! Hope you're all well!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Commenting!
Hey Guys!
I hope everyone is doing well. I've just been in the Peace Corps office the last week taking care of office matters. Not very exciting to write about. I just wanted to tell everyone that, if you feel so inclined, please comment on what I'm writing! Either I'll know that no one is reading my blog (except for my Mom...hi Mom!), or that you're reading it and hate it, or that you're reading it and it's interesting. Let me know!
Later!
I hope everyone is doing well. I've just been in the Peace Corps office the last week taking care of office matters. Not very exciting to write about. I just wanted to tell everyone that, if you feel so inclined, please comment on what I'm writing! Either I'll know that no one is reading my blog (except for my Mom...hi Mom!), or that you're reading it and hate it, or that you're reading it and it's interesting. Let me know!
Later!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Lost Photos!
Here are some new photos for everyone to enjoy! They´re actually kind of old, but it´s pretty hard to keep up with the photos that I take, so this will have to suffice. Some are from my Cultural week in Colón and some are from my Technical week in Soloy (or the Ngäbe Buble Comarca). Some are from the beach that I went to after Culture and Tech week. That was a highlight.
I just got back from seeing my site for the first time. It was intense. I´ll have to debrief on it and get back to you though because I´m sort of over-interneted right now. It was pretty interesting, though. I suppose I also have the next two years to get back to you on it!
Missing you all and sending love!
I just got back from seeing my site for the first time. It was intense. I´ll have to debrief on it and get back to you though because I´m sort of over-interneted right now. It was pretty interesting, though. I suppose I also have the next two years to get back to you on it!
Missing you all and sending love!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Buenas! I hope everyone at home is happy and well!
I arrived in David, in the western part of the country, a couple of hours ago after spending a week in the province of Colon for culture week. I was in Colon at an Embera site with 4 other aspirantes and 2 volunteers. Before I left, my APCD told me, half-kidding (or so I thought) "enjoy your week vacation!" Well, he wasn´t kidding. I bathed in a waterfall everyday, I ate patacones and fried fish, I had my body painted in the traditional style (pictures soon to come, I promise!), I sat around and talked to my home stay family and then community members as well as the other volunteers--it was pretty wonderful. We had a pretty wonderful time.
The body painting is called jagua, and the next time I get a chance, I will absolutely post pictures of it. It´s beautiful, and they paint it in patterns all over their bodies for ceremonies and celebrations. And for tourists. A lot of what this particular community does now is for their ecotourism. But, they did jagua this week because they were having a big presentation on Friday and they were all dressing in the traditional dress. So I got painted all over my upper body! The jagua comes out dark blue on my skin, black on theirs. It lasts 8 days, or so. It´s beautiful, and I promise anyone that comes down a little paint action at my site!
This week I´ll be in the Ngabe-Buble Comarca (reservation) for tech week. Tech week will not be relaxing, but it will be informative. It´ll be the first time that I´ll actually get to do hands on stuff, which is what I´m really looking forward to. We get to build latrines and look at how to fix aquaducts. It`ll be great for me, because I don`t have any idea what that requires! I`ll report back afterwards.
Things are good otherwise. Training is flying by! I`ll be sworn in as a volunteer in just under 5 weeks, which is nuts! I feel like I just got here! Soon enough I`ll be reporting from my site in the Darien. Wish me luck!
I arrived in David, in the western part of the country, a couple of hours ago after spending a week in the province of Colon for culture week. I was in Colon at an Embera site with 4 other aspirantes and 2 volunteers. Before I left, my APCD told me, half-kidding (or so I thought) "enjoy your week vacation!" Well, he wasn´t kidding. I bathed in a waterfall everyday, I ate patacones and fried fish, I had my body painted in the traditional style (pictures soon to come, I promise!), I sat around and talked to my home stay family and then community members as well as the other volunteers--it was pretty wonderful. We had a pretty wonderful time.
The body painting is called jagua, and the next time I get a chance, I will absolutely post pictures of it. It´s beautiful, and they paint it in patterns all over their bodies for ceremonies and celebrations. And for tourists. A lot of what this particular community does now is for their ecotourism. But, they did jagua this week because they were having a big presentation on Friday and they were all dressing in the traditional dress. So I got painted all over my upper body! The jagua comes out dark blue on my skin, black on theirs. It lasts 8 days, or so. It´s beautiful, and I promise anyone that comes down a little paint action at my site!
This week I´ll be in the Ngabe-Buble Comarca (reservation) for tech week. Tech week will not be relaxing, but it will be informative. It´ll be the first time that I´ll actually get to do hands on stuff, which is what I´m really looking forward to. We get to build latrines and look at how to fix aquaducts. It`ll be great for me, because I don`t have any idea what that requires! I`ll report back afterwards.
Things are good otherwise. Training is flying by! I`ll be sworn in as a volunteer in just under 5 weeks, which is nuts! I feel like I just got here! Soon enough I`ll be reporting from my site in the Darien. Wish me luck!
Friday, September 4, 2009
New Pictures!
I've added some photos from my trip up to the Comarca to visit another volunteer, Danny M. There are some of the general vistas (which were gorgeous!), some off Danny's house in the Comarca, and a couple of his community members. As well as one of a scorpion that I found in Danny's house. I couldn't kill it. I was afraid that it would fall of the wall and sting me. I waited for Danny to come home to do the honors.
Since you guys probably don't know, the Comarca is like a reservation in the U.S. It's where many people of the indigeneous Ngabe tribe live, and it's a semi-autonomous state. The Ngabe kids love having their photos taken, but the Ngabe smile is pretty much just a straight face, so if you see a lot of photos in the future of people that seem really unhappy, they're smiling inside. I will find out on Wednesday what my site assignment will be (or where I'll be spending the next 2 years), so I will try and update again next week. Chances are pretty good that I'll be at a Ngabe site, but you never know!
I've added my address down here during training to the column on the side. If you feel so inclined, send me a letter! There's also a photo of me smiling at all you folks back home that are reading this. I miss you all, but I'm having a blast!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)