It rained….hard, really hard. The sound is so loud that all conversation ceases and waits for just a pitter patter. The lightning and thunder introduce themselves forcefully at the beginning of the season. The water runs of the roads a cream chocolate color (oh how I crave chocolate sometimes) straight for the river. It grows fast and changes color at the same time. The sticks and debris become larger and more often. Most importantly everyone can plant…..Hoping that the rains keep coming now and again. The corn is already up on a lot of the burned hill sides. If the rice seed that was planted wasn’t eaten by mourning doves (palomas) then it should be spouting in a couple days. If the palomas did eat the rice, I feel bad for them. The chances are that they will end their lives there on that hill side with a dose of poison, and who ever shows to benefit from the carnage likely ends up the same. There will be harvest. An old man told me back in April and then I heard it again from someone of that generation that the 24th of May is the Cambia de la luna and that on that full moon it always rained. Sure enough it seems as though rainy season started that day.


Megan's flat Stanley cooking with Joel

I have been at “Technical Week” this last week of May, helping with the new group of agriculture volunteers that arrived mid April. It is quite a reminder of the changes that I have gone through. First of all language, everyone asks if I am fluent yet….well I think I might achieve that my next Peace Corps service (some days I think I could do this all over again) but I understand. I think I have been able to take advantage of this tech week a hell of a lot more than my first time around, only because I understand the Spanish (it isn’t campo Spanish that makes it easier). The other change I get emotional taking about the difficulties related to development work here in Panama. When I hear from the director of the Ag. School that during the 40 years that he has been working as an ag. Extensionist not really anything has changed and he says the country is in Agricultural crisis. What the hell can I do??? I am not really sure but maybe I can learn to play some good music. Oh yeah the changes….the food here at the ag school, I remember being pretty bad and these new volunteers say just the same. I am thinking damn this is good , one than two things on my plate and at least one of them has flavor (that doesn’t count what we cook for ourselves – although that can get boring sometimes too).



Tech week female and male fish parts


Malaysian shrimp with eggs






We harvested this little guy from a fish tank. Only bites a little.

Isaac and I are taking up our own rice planting. We have borrowed a rice tank from a friend who doesn’t really grow food any more (he runs the best managed store – of the 5 in the town of 200). He makes enough food so that he doesn’t need to grow food. We have divided into three small easily managed parts and are going to practice what we preach. So far we have made new enemies with the leaf cutter ants. We learned our lesson about this so called arriera (leaf cutter ant) killer canavalia. It is best that this nitrogen fixing plant sticks to nitrogen fixing and we take other measures to save the beans for the umpthtilionth time from this voracious eater. Our compost pile is sinking and we have just a few more weeks to wait to us it. There is a delicious mango tree nearby, mango guayaba, it tastes something like a sour apple jolly rancher. And the other tree has some loud baring branches with, mama llena mangos (full mother mango), a fruit that is larger than a soft ball.



Roasting cashews with Jhony



The boat ride on the canal with my folks



mom and dad's ride up to La Chumicosa

The season started with the marañon (cashew) that we roasted when my parents were here. My mom’s doctor in the states identified her strange stomach rash as a virus that she picked up in Panama. I am pretty sure that was the smoke from roasting the nuts. They are in the same family as Poison Ivy and leach a super flammable oil that ignites to finish charring the shell of the nut so that you can get to the nut. Right now we have mangos and next to grace our chicha glasses is Nance, a tiny yellow fruit the size of a pencil eraser with the initial flavor of something a bit rotten yet sweet and greasy. You have to learn to like that one (Isaac still doesn’t like it), I can’t wait! Anything not not drink double sugared koolaid.

It’s May….rainy season thought about feeding the cracking soils and subduing the moondust that covers the roads. But it may have been some sort of trick. May 3 was election day and the Panamanians voted for change. I think that they actually do that every time they vote (every 5 years). The parties switch back and forth every voting cycle. The people have a somewhat pessimistic undertone in their voices when they say they are really happy about the change in the political party. From the stories we hear and the poverty we see, really change is a fantasy. However, it doesn’t jade their hope and our communities showed up in numbers that make the Americans look disinterested. Along the lines of obsessively buying lottery tickets the people keep at the political system in hopes of something new. Oh yeah…rainy season….we had our first rain on election day, after 5 months, 2 days of that and we are back to dry. The line of oral history says that we are guaranteed rain with the change of the moon. I think that is the 24th.



If I had written this blog two weeks ago I would have had contrary news to report, but this week things are going great. I started teaching in the elementary school 2 weeks ago. They are called “English classes” but really this can mean anything. So, I am going to take advantage of that slot and do some self esteem building, conservation stuff and maybe some ag. Really the kids are what really make the difference, not only in the selfish part by rewarded my work, but they have started thinking a little different from all their time with us and maybe that is really the only way to make a difference. We were pretty excited a girl that we took to a youth conference, a boy that spends some afternoons reading at our house and our community guide’s son all decided to go back to school after dropping out over a year ago (after 6th grade). Really, that is still a struggle and two of them are already lagging on attendance. We might be called pest as Isaac and I attempt to encourage the kids and more so their parents to push the kids. We will see.



Tamborito is a form of Panamanian music with 3 drums, singers that call and respond, and a small dance troupe. I did some drum revival with deer skin and a friend and I am learning the drum beats. I love it. I hope that our Wednesday night dance parties continue and the plan is to teach some kids from the primary school. Either way we are having a good time. Yo sembre la hierbabuena donde la agua no corria.

We had a mama dog try to have her babies under our bed in the house the other week. See snicked her way into the house when I wasn't looking and scared my to death when I heard something thumping around under the bed. I was sure that it was the witch everyone is so worried about all the time. MY discovered cookie (we did not name her) and relocated her to the empty side of our worm bin where she had her two puppies, Bamboo and Teka (we did name them).