The One With Some Tipico

Regardless of the riots and serial killers, daily life has continued here in Buena Esperanza…. Let me catch you up on the past month:
Smithsonian Visit:

The province of Bocas Del Toro is fortunate to have a Smithsonian Research institute on the capital island of Colon. Because of Bocas’s diverse environment and the unique layout of the Archipelago, scientist and researchers come from all over the world to study. Like any good educational institution in a foreign land country, the Smithsonian has a community outreach department. Well, I wouldn’t really call it a department seeing as it consists of one part time employee. But none the less, it exists. Unfortunately, because my community is located a significant distance from the main island, we have not benefited from any such community outreach; I guess one could say we are “out of reach,” Understandably, the Smithsonian’s reason for not coming out was lack of travel funds. So, I applied for a grant through a volunteer run Peace Corps Panama organization called VAC (Volunteer advisory council), kind of like a student council in high school . So, VAC granted me transportation funds to get some outreach happening in Buena Esperanza! With money in hand, I was able to find two representatives with the Smithsonian to volunteer their time to visit my community. They spent two hours educating the students on some environmental conservation and identification of our natural surroundings. One of the guys was a Biologist studying the frog populations in Bocas. He brought along some frogs for the kids to look at and amused them by explaining frogs matting habits, diets , and their general importance in the ecosystem. It was so great for the kids to be exposed to a new and different type of learning . Learning does not always have to be in the classroom; copying from the chalkboard, memorizing and then forgetting the material the day after you’re tested on it. The kids were able to be outside, seeing, touching, and smelling the things they were learning about. Like I mentioned, this educational experience was only made possible through the VAC grant. And VAC’s funds come from the sales of Peace Corps Panama merchandise including our annual calendar, which is comprised of volunteer photographs from every corner of this beautiful country. Actually, I will have a few pictures published in the next calendar. So, when I start asking you to purchase a 2011 calendar, remember that 100% of the money is going o projects like this…. Making learning fun!!!Music

Introducing Buena Esperanza’s first band!!!! It is so wonderful to see how music can bring people together.

A five-ish person band! At first they all wanted to play the harmonica, until they realized that it was a lot harder than it looks. Plus we already had an “expert” who has been playing for 8 years, ever since he was a little boy and a random gringo gave it to him on the street, really sweet story actually. Anyways, the rest of the boys resorted to an eclectic mixture of homemade instruments. I attempted to join in with my guitar, which they quickly deemed to “American.” I blamed it on the enormous amounts of cockroach poop inside the base of the guitar. They told me that every guitar player in Panama has Cockroach poop inside their guitar, so that is no excuse. Plus, they had an even more important job in mind for me. A job that any novice band in a poor Indian village would have… I was to be their videographer. This was a very important role you see, I had the responsibility of taping their performance and then replaying it so the band could critique themselves. My biggest critique for them was that none of them were smiling, and they looked miserable playing (you will see in the video) that, and every song sounded exactly the same!

Here is one of the videos: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpiIO1CZeDw

The type of music they play is called “Tipico.” Now, I would say that in general I am a lover of music, and I feel I have an appreciation for world music, but this Panamanian Tipico really just doesn’t do it for me. The most popular songs last well over 10 min, and consists of random yelping alongside a screeching accordion No one in the community had and accordion , and we couldn’t make one out of random kitchen appliances like we had with the other instruments, but it was probably for the best. So my antipathy towards this “Tipico” is an example of a cultural disparity I have come to accept, because my Ngobes absolutely love it. So, they took the time to learn some of the most popular songs, and with extreme patience, I stand up and film them for ten plus minutes, kicking myself for not investing in the $5 tripod at Wal-mart. Just as my arm feels like it will forever be stuck in a right angle, they finish, and then stampede towards me, eager to watch themselves. The moment the video ends, they start playing again. Observant to the fact that I am clearly not doing my assigned role, they say “Meti, new song…” I swear to them, it was the song they had just played. They all laugh, but quickly return to their stern persona before the camera starts rolling.

If you are wondering what the name of this band is, don’t hold your breath. They told me I could choose a name… and if that goes the same way choosing a name for my cat went then they are out of luck. They will most likely end up with the name “the Band” just as mu cat is “Minchi”
Anyways, it is always refreshing to be reminded of the power of music!!! It makes me want to buy an instrument for every kid in the village… but I know I would quickly regret that. Maybe next year, right as I am leaving =)

Muchas Gringas!
A group of 20 girls recently ascended upon Buena Esperanza. They left all the teenage boys wishing they had completed my English course. These were Girl Scouts from all over the United States ranging in age from about 13 to 16. They were down here in Costa Rica and Panama on an “Outward Bound” trip. This trip included a day of service, which Is where we came in!


The day consisted of a lot of cultural exchange. It began with a question and answer session with me regarding Ngobe Culture, Peace Corps and some history of Buena Esperanza. This was followed by numerous hours of fun and games with the kids. The girl scouts brought with them sporting equipment, reading glasses, some basic first aid medication and a bag of uncooked rice and lentils for each household.

Soccer:
One of my favorite smells has always been that of a freshly cut lawn; more specifically a soccer field. It doesn’t matter whether the lawn is cut with a high performance lawn mower or the man power of 20 guys with Machetes, the smell brings back wonderful memories of my childhood.
Now, I get to look forward to that smell every Sunday! That, and of course hours of entertaining Ngobe style futbol.

It seems the world cup motivated my community to get out and play more soccer. Besides our newly formed Band, soccer is the only other thing I have seen bring my community together. And any activity that gets people from rivaling families together, working toward the same goal, I am a fan of.
So, I make it a point to be on the sidelines every Sunday, showing my support, cheering loudly and of course taking pictures.
Here is a video of one of the games: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRNW65URKKo

New Neighbors:

I have got two new gringo neighbors for awhile. Two guys from the states that are house sitting for a little over a month. Seeing as how my friends consist of either Indians under the age of 9 or expats over the age of 60, it has been really nice having these two around!

One of the guys has made a few videos of their adventures here so far that I think capture the area really well. If you have time I recommend checking them out…. They may make you want to come visit!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS7IbR-xcoo&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlzsYmPk5s4&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i18znT9IZNM&feature=channel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vipDn9t4vDw&feature=channel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ey9oQ3Ky4M&feature=channel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0YaNt-3Xx0

They also made this really funny spoof of off the Old Spice
commercials.... if you have not seen the commercial then watch this
video first

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-dbGkAanf8&feature=channel

and then watch theirs.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-dbGkAanf8&feature=channel

And more pictures to come...


Well, I think there is enough in this blog post to keep you busy for awhile.

Until Next time!
Meti

The one with Serial Killers and Riots

No, this title is not just a ploy to get more people to read my blog. It is a title that I never thought I would be writing for a blog, especially as a “Peace” Corps volunteer. Needless to point out, there is nothing peaceful about serial killers nor riots.

Fortunately, I was not directly affected by either. However, the occurrence of both has drastically intervened with my life as well as the lives of literally very single person around me.

Let’s begin with the riots:

Panamas new president, Martinelli, and the national government passed legislation that made public demonstrations and paying union dues illegal. basically prohibiting union operation.

So the unions took to the streets. The largest and most heated union being the Chiquita banana farm workers that are located in my province of Bocas del Toro. Sadly the workers didn’t opt for a peaceful picket line, instead they aggressively rioted for 8 days. This was happening the week that I was back home in Tahoe.

When I arrived back to Panama and started my travel back to site, the destruction and aftermath of the riots became more and more evident the closer my bus got to Bocas. Huge trees had been cut down blocking the only road, burnt busses and tires lined the streets and my fellow bus goers were all sharing stories regarding which family member had what happen to the during the riot.

And the stories have not stopped since. Every person in my community has at least one family member working for Chiquita banana, and they were all very excited to fill me in on what I had missed while I was gone!!!.

The news says that there were two fatalities. The Indians tell me it was more closer to 25 people. They say that hundreds of people lost their eyesight and use of extremities due to police repercussions.

After 8 days, the union workers decided to give the government 90 days to change the law, change it completely, not revise it. If this does not happen they will continue rioting until it does. They are totally fired up about this! It is great to see the indigenous people sticking up for themselves and their rights, because in my opinion this law is totally outlandish. It is just to bad that they have to go to such extreme and violent measures to get the point across.

So, just about when the riot stories started to become habitual, and mundane… Mr. Wild Bill came along and changed the conversation topic overnight.

Yep, “Wild Bill” is the name of our neighborhood serial killer. I am not sure exactly what defines a serial killer, but that is what everyone else is calling him… so that means I can too =)Americas most wanted in 2007, William Dathan Holbert and girlfriend Laura Michelle Reese have been hiding out down here in Bocas for the past 3 years. They did manage to go incognito for awhile, until people, specifically from the ex-pat/gringo community, started to go missing. The only thing these missing people had in common was that “Wild Bill” had recently purchased their property. The Panamanian police believed Bill when he told them that he had paid each of the property owners in cash and then they just left. Eventually, the families of these missing people started to put some real pressure on the police do actually do something. So, they searched Wild Bill´s property and ´whala´, they found two of the bodies. Wild Bill´s property is located about a 30 min walk over the hill from where I live… the kids have to walk further than that to go to school.

After a few days on the run. Wild Bill and his accomplice girlfriend were caught entering Nicaragua by boat.

This story is extremely complicated and developing daily. Last I heard, there is a total of 7 missing people, 2 of them are Ngobe workers. They are still trying to find the other 5 bodies. Wild Bill and his girlfriend will do at least a 30 year jail time down here in panama and then the US will most likely want them for all the things they had done to earn the America most wanted title. If you want to read hours upon hours of all the dirt you can follow this site http://www.panama-guide.com/ Or you can just wait for the non-fiction murder mystery book to come out that I am sure someone is working on right now. This tragic story really does have all the elements of a best seller, it is even set in a beautiful, exotic, and now mysterious Caribbean destination. A place where you truly don’t know who to trust, and have to have to question their reason for being here, and whether they may be running from something back in the states. So now, whether I am out in the farm harvesting with my women’s artisan group, or sipping a glass of wine with my ex-pat neighbors ¨Wild Bill¨ is sure to come up. This occurrence has got the indigenous community, the gringo community and everyone in between all stirred up.

My Ngobes tell me, ¨He is your people Meti! We never had anything like this happen before. This only happens with gringos¨

First of all I would not call Wild Bill ¨my people¨ but, in an attempt to defend the rest of Americans from getting a bad reputation I joke a little with my community. I remind them of the sheer size of the United states by having them picture more than 50 ´Panamas´ lied side by side. And then I tell them that with all those people we were likely to have one ¨Bad Apple.¨ And thank goodness Panama was here to catch him, and now we are all safe =) they laugh and give me their typical ¨ieeeee Meti¨ and then tell me that I am not allowed to walk around in the jungle alone anymore.

So, there you have it, riots and serial killers. I told you I wasn´t lying.

Of all the countries that Peace Corps could have sent me to Panama truly is among the safest. And in all seriousness, even with all this happening, I never once felt unsafe or threatened in anyway. If there are any Peace Corps volunteer prospects or future volunteers reading, please don’t let this blog give you a false impression of this country, and the safety of volunteering here. Just like I told my community, the one bad guy that was here is now behind bars… and at least the Panamanians have the courtesy to tell us when they plan on rioting again. I think that would be a good time for me to go on vacation.

Until next time! Stay safe!
Miche