August 16, 2019 - August 19, 2019
1:00 am
I felt my leg itch so I scratched it. Then my arm, scratched that too. Then I felt a crunch. Then I felt things moving on my arm, and my leg. Then I got up and brushed all these insects off of me.
I grabbed my flashlight and shined it on the bed, as my eyes adjusted I had trouble determining what it was I was seeing. Were they bed bugs? Were the bed bugs here huge? No, they look like ants, but what's up with their heads? Are they carrying bed bugs and farming them like they do aphids? Oh wait, that is their head? What the fuck are those things? I shined my light towards the wall to see swarms of them moving, very ant-like to some undetermined location.
Not wanting to disturb my host family, I walked out my room and onto a hammock for the night. My host mom woke me up an hour layer asking me why I was sleeping where I was. When I informed her about the things, she had Cutilio investigate. By this time, the swarm had mostly disappeared with a few stragglers still exploring the bed. "Komehein", he said, "comen madera". In other words, they were termites. Nasutitermes corniger to be precise. He went out to find their source and advised me to just brush off the remainder and move the bed away from the wall. I was off to a great start.
That Damn Dam
Early the next morning we got up to make the journey to Curva del Río. There they hired a private taxi to bring us to a dam from which we could get on a boat to head to [fake name] Río Alto. Peace Corps regulations stipulate that volunteers must always (as in always), as in always, wear life jackets when on a boat. Always. Doing without could result in a reprimand or even separations from service. Fortunately, being well aware of this regulation they had ensured one was available for me. They took a picture which they claimed they were going to send to the Peace Corps office.
The dam itself was controversial for the area residents. Roughly 1,000 people were displaced by the dam. Initially, they were given small payouts for compensation (if they agreed to move ahead of time), but after a series of protests they were awarded higher sums of money and new communities were built by the dam's lake at the company's expense. Nevertheless there is still conflict regarding land rights near the dam and about the legal situation that allowed the initial displacement to happen in the first place.
As we rode over the lake, one of the boatmen pointed down to identify where a community had been. Some successor communities adopted the same name as their predecessors, but either formally or informally add "Arriba" to their names.
When we began our ascent to Río Alto I spotted a pile of cacao pods, but otherwise I saw nothing unusual. The lake behind was partially obscured by trees.
Río Alto
The community itself was relatively developed for being so physically isolated. With concrete walkways and buildings as well as flush toilets.
We stayed in the house of their eldest son, Magdiel. I later learned that they had two other sons, one of whom lived in Changuinola and the other who lived in Panama City. After their sons had grown up and moved away, my host mom told me that she and her husband had felt lonely so they decided to have another child. They prayed for a girl since traditionally, they stay put in the community. Sure enough, they got Mei.
Magdiel had asked me about the kind of work I would be doing. While explaining the health promotion side of my assignment, I took the opportunity to show him and his son, Carlos "Nicho", a video we had received prior to our departure. While Panama has not experienced a cholera outbreak since the 1990's, the video generally summarizes many important actions that can be taken to prevent disease.
After watching the video, Magdiel turned to his son and said "Necesitas lavarte las manos." Of course, I had to explain that he too would have to wash his hands.
Cutilio, using a local kid as a guide, walked with me to the home of Gene's (the volunteer assigned to this community) host family. I approached with an hola, but probably should have used a kuin dekä instead. A man appeared overhead and straight up asked "qué?"
"Estoy aquí para visitar la voluntaria."
"Qué voluntaria?" he asked.
I wondered if I was at the wrong house. "Genevieve?"
He stared at me.
"Genoveva?"
With that he nodded and walked off.
Gene appeared with a "who dafuq is this?" look, but lightened up with surprise when she saw it was me. Having prepared not to see another volunteer for weeks at least, seeing another volunteer so soon was certainly unexpected. We chatted for a bit before my host dad took me away so that we could eat lunch.
Later in the day I came to learn the reason we were here. Apparently there was a wedding of which my host family was distantly related. This was a bit unfortunate for me as I had not brought any sort of formal clothing. Fortunately, a kindly neighbor allowed me to borrow a formal shirt of his for the night's church session as well as the ceremony the day after.
The church, also built by the dam company was a large concrete structure the size of a typical church. Large enough to accommodate the population of visitors from various communities. The church event was administered by the same evangelical sect that my host family belonged to and the session went along the formula I described in a previous posting. Given the amount of communities present, the session was a 3+ hour onslaught. I wish I could I say I was tuned in for the whole thing, believe me, I tried. But instead I would look at the kids sleeping on the ground and wish I could do the same.
The next morning I offered to help my host mom with breakfast. She was hesitant to do so, but did agree to let me help make patacones. This was a victory for me as my previous host mom refused.
Before the ceremony Gene stopped by with her guide, an assistant English teacher. As the crowd proceeded down to a river somewhere for a baptism of sorts, Gene gave me a tour of the community. We came across a game of Volleyball where Magdiel was taking part. Unlike football (I'm referring to the one you actually play with your feet), which is male dominated in much of Latin America, volleyball was co-ed. Still, volleyball is not all too common.
During one particular volley the ball had gotten pumped high into the air. I managed to squat down and return it high and across, but the force of contact had knocked me to the ground. The opposition, wisely chose to lose the point and step out of harm's way.
Unfortunately, I was still wearing my loaned shirt at this point and my loaner angrily confronted me about dirtying his shirt. I told him It'd be clean by the time I returned it to him, and he walked off. Magdiel came up and told me "no te preocupes, ese hombre tiene una rabia". To me, it seemed he was more upset that I was playing a game of volleyball rather than attending the baptism, to which Magdiel agreed that I was probably right.
For the wedding night, I decided to stay outside the church this time. Conversing with Gene, her guide, and other individuals. Of course, I would listen in and observe the wedding through the crowd from time to time but sitting for hours stuck inside the church was not ideal.
Among the individuals outside the church was a kid who had come from a more isolated, non-Spanish speaking community in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé. As a result he was still learning Spanish, but his Ngäbere skills were comparable and in some ways more advanced than his adult peers due to the lack of Spanish substitutions. His teacher, Gene's guide, was complimentary of his student's rapid progress in learning Spanish. Despite the greater language barrier, he was less shy to speak to Gene and me than were the adults. As a result, the kid was the first person who I practiced my Ngäbere with. Primarily we went over vocabulary words, such as the parts of the body.
When the ceremony came to an end, Gene and I were invited to a nearby make-shift dining area for cake. Of course, no cake is properly served unless it's served on top of rice with chicken!
Seriously though, arroz con pollo (known in Ngäbere as aro kwiben), is so simple yet so tasty. Whenever there is an occasion, such as a wedding or a birthday, this is the food of choice. Not only because it can easily be made in large quantities, but also because it is utterly delicious.
With the wedding complete, and our stomachs full, there was nothing left to do but retire for the night and, in the case of my host family and me, depart early the following morning.
Photo Credit: Yorleni Morales
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