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).

Happy New Years Everyone!

Año Nuevo has come and gone. It was a fun time overall. We set off some fireworks and burned a life sized stuffed doll that resembled Isaac quite well. Enough so that people shouted out to the doll where it stood on the fence corner. They thought that Isaac was biding time. Two of the kids that spend a lot of time at our house (Lorena and Oriel) helped me stuff it full of dry leaves fire crackers and then light it up at midnight. Apparently this is the tradition of burning off past negative energy to make room for the good to come in the new year (None of the negative energy directly related to Isaac-just so happened that we had some of his torn up work clothes laying around to use).

By 6:30pm on the first, most of the men hanging out in town were still very intoxicated from the night before and still putting 'em down (rum and Seco-a clear grain alcohol that could burn a hole in your stomach). The holiday seemed to be mostly a mens' day. The men partied, the women hid out in thier houses from drunkerds and the Evangelicals went to church all night.

We spent New Years eve at our first host famlilies house helping to make tamales (that were ready at about 6 in the morning-we went to bed at 1:30) or avoiding too much alcohol and dodging the dance floor where I could have had severe damage done to my feet from my dance partners.

This past Sunday, just about half of the town left to plant onions at a farm down near the Interamericana. They pack up with all there family, young children included, to work the fields for 2 months, until school starts in March. Everyone works.

We did a pre-Christmas excursion to the Mountains, where another Peace Corps couple works Brooks and Jenny, and a lot of people in our community have unmaintained coffee fincas. We did the 6 hour hike with our community guide to visit his farm and harvest coffee. The hike is very amazing as you do the transition from the almost completely deforested desert like climate on our side of the cordillera to the rainforest on the other side. What we have been able to figure out is that our side of the mountains use to be forested but was a drier forest. Perhaps through logging or maybe just slash and burn agriculture the hills have been striped commpletely of all their topsoil and the ability to rejuvinate forest. What is left is grass and an extremely dry hot climate for the tropics. A huge contrast to the lush forest on the other side

We were able to bring back about 8 lbs or so of fresh beans to do some experimenting on toasting coffee. During this trip to the mtns. our community guide decided that he really loves the mtns (or thinks he can make a lot of money with his finca) and we are not sure if he will return to La Chumicosa. The funny thing is that he was about to sell his land, before we convinced him to go up and do a harvest (he hadn't been up there in a few years). It will be interesting to see what happens.

As for our work, I feel like things are a little slow right now. We are building a clay bread oven, which a lot of people are excited about. So far it is beautiful with a stone base (Sorry no pictures). We have been working on getting a good irrigation system set up at the community farm (La Granja) and have been selling green peppers at the local store. It is a start to some agribusiness.

Isaac's parents arrive tonight. We are going to spend some time in the city, go to the mtns and then to our site.

I should have a functioning camara soon to actually show you what is going on.

We are quickly approaching 5 months in site, so hard to believe.

November started the big rice harvest. The steep montes (traditional fields) that had been slashed and then burned last March and April are now covered in yellowing rice stalks 4 feet tall with drooping seed heads waiting to be clipped. Standing above the rice plants on the steep slopes, your right hand holds the cutter , which is fashioned out of a piece of wood for a handle, a small triangle of a sharpened machete blade and a piece of rubber to keep the cutter fastened to your hand (sorry I don´t have any pictures-camera´s not working). Each stalk is clipped and then transfered to your other hand. Two big handfuls makes a Manota (bundle), three bundles makes a Puña, 12 Puña makes an Ermu. About 3 Puña makes a five gallon bucket. The average Panamañan (Americans are a lot slower) seems to cut 9ish Puña a day the fastest I have heard is 14. An average Family seems to eat about 5 pounds of rice a day-30 pounds fills a 5 gallon bucket (including some leftovers for the plethera of skinny dogs). Our first host family cut enough rice last year to feed them all year and sell a little surplus in the end (they might be the only family who has that much). This year they have more. That is a word problem for you. How many Puña do you need to cut to feed your family all year? That has all taken a very long time to figure out!

Lately our work has had us moving around to different communities. We have been doing a lot less labor in the fields and more mini projects. We recently installed a Bomba Ariete (hydraulic water pump) for a school in another town. The teacher (there is only one) works a lot with his kids and gardening, growing Papaya, winter squash,corn, beans, passion fruit, and veggies. But has problems with water. Well now he has water. The pump uses the fall of water (in this case we defaced a beautiful waterfall with white tubes and some concrete) to force the water up. For every meter of drop you get 10 meters of lift. It was really amazing that it actually worked. Isaac would have preferred to leave me at home because I was so worried that it wouldn´t and it was a lot of work. Rock was chiseled and a lot of sand bags were moved around. Sorry still no pictures- I will get to that soon.

We have also been doing some work with goats. Which is a lot of fun. I know what my new pet will be when I get home. The viability of these goat projects are somewhat questionable. The idea is to provide a milk source for kids and protein with the meat, plus the poop is great to use straight as a fertilier in growing rice in rice tanks. However, no one likes the taste of the milk, or won´t try it, they don´t want to slaughter their goats for meat and I am not so sure anyone is convinced that organic fertiliers do anything. But, we are working on all of this. We have been doing some training stuff with the ag agency and are plannng a cheese making/cooking class, butchering lessons, and we had a seminar on making composts from the poop the other day. If any thing I am gong to learn how to make goat cheese!

I has been exciting to finally be able to eat salads out of the garden (mostly just Spinach-a vine variety)and cucumber. We have lots of Okra for cooking(that I have never been able to grow in Vermont). It is taking some time sticking to our organic principles and starting with some really ugly soil, especially watching neighbors with their huge green, chemically fertilied cucumber plants. but, The people who don´t have the chemicals don´t think they can grow anything. Hopefully our garden will prove that wrong.

I hope to get some pictures up soon! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Our days often end when the hot sun has drained most of the energy out of us and the pressing need to pasear (visit community memebers homes to chat)is over taken by the more pressing need to recover for heavy sweating and lack of stick with you calories. The rains have been on and off giving us a glimpse of what summer here (winter there) will be like with not a cloud in the sky and the intensity of the sun close to the equator. It feels as though we should have a constant flow of water to our system in order to maintain an immune system that can word off a cold.

I have been excited about the interest that people seem to be taking in our work but a bit nervous about how our tropical agriculture skills will pan out in the near future. There is a keen interest in planting tomatoes to diversify diets, yet with the rains and humidity fungus rules and the tomatoes seem to be the first victims. We spent a bunch of time trellising and pruning plants at our community farm only to return a week later to rotting green tomatoes. However, our first compost pile is ready to add some life back into the red chemical laden soils and we have people asking for more.

As you can see from the photo (Isaac) we have been picking up the manditory machete skills, learning a lot from the groups of 5-10 year olds mowing lawns in large groups with machetes longer than their legs. This photo at the house where we will be living when we are out on our own.


We will be moving into a house at Nutre Hogar. It is an NGO working to improve the nutrition of children and mothers in the poorest areas of Panama. They provide food to the community and facilities in order for the community to organize and cook for the kids. Ideally there would be demonstration gardens and agriculture systems to encourage food diversity in the community. Our town has little interest in the extra work and it just works out for us that they have all the need resources to build ggardens and have chickens and so we can provide the demonstration and any extra food will go to the kids. This is the front porch. It just so happens that the house in also in a beautiful spot.

We planted our first rice tank this week actually sharing a lot of the technical stuff we have learned during our time here.

It makes a month in site yesterday. We continue to meet challenges and experience exciment as we meet more people and learn about the different oppurtunities. It is hard not to jump right into every project that seems could be improved or implimented and take things slowly to really find some sure footing. Our community seems to know every techincal practice listed in the books of tropical agriculture, but lack the small tricks or often the motivation to do things differently.

There may not be an abundance of trees to keep you shaded while weeding the fields and building gardens, but the swimming holes abound and in our short week and a half veranito and break from the rains of rainy season, we tried to explore as may of the local cool off spots as we could.

Below are a few photos of our daily lives. pounding rice to remove the hulls, resting at the top of a mountian that we just finished weeding, and hanging out with the kids.






a few photos

La Chumicosa gets its name from the shrub like trees that are growing sparsely on the grassy hills around the town. The leaves are course furry and used to be used for washing dishes. It is still unclear the process of this area becoming deforested. Nobody remembers when there were trees in the area and this shrub like species along with the pervasive grasses seem to be right at home in this grass land. Although the annual burning of mostly everything keeps those weeds and trees at a minimum. We still have some research to do on some natural history.

It has been two and a half weeks that we have been the new residents in this small mountain town. We have done a lot of weeding (or limpiar-ing arroz siginifca cleaning rice) of parcels of rice and corn. These pardels tend to be on steep hillsides, incredibly weedy and blazing hot. The chiggers have taken up residence along my pant and bra lines making sleeping only successful for half the night. I can´t help but leave the beautiful blooming flowers (that are few and far between) unweeded, in order to finish their cycle. Knowing that next year this spot will be left fallow and these flowers left to reproduce. We have planted tomatoes and peppers and started a bunch of seeds for our garden. My Okra seedlings came up in 1.5 days! Mostly each day has been working with a different family in what ever agriculture that they may be doing this time of year.

The flash flooding gave us a bit on a run our first week in town. Isaac and I were separated by a 3 foot wave that washed down the river just upstream from us as we were attempting to cross. I ran one direction and he ran the other us logs and rocks and brown turbulent water made their way down the river channel. I waited on the other side at a families house while Isaac walked home. It was 1.5 hours before the water was waist deep and crossable.