Breakfast: Cup of coffee, bowl of rice and a piece of bread.
Lunch: Cup of coffee, bowl of rice and a piece of fried fish
Dinner: Cup of coffee, bowl of rice with boiled bananas.
Seeing a trend? Every. Single. Day. Sometimes Lydia will throw in a curve ball, mix things up. Things get rowdy, exciting, insanity. If I am really lucky I get a single chicken wing with my rice for dinner. This is only ever happens on Mondays or Tuesdays after I pay my rent (my rent, by the way, consists of $15.00 a week for food). Every once in a while, and this I haven’t been able to find a correlation to pay or days, I get a fried egg with my rice. It must have to do with the chickens, lunar cycles or something. Other little surprises include chicken necks/feet. Still haven’t been able to stomach these. I dig around them, getting all the good stuff and then I wait till I get a chance to launch them out the window when no one is looking. Needless to say, I have gotten pretty sneaky. Drinks are fun too. Some days ill get a strong draught of nice warm cream? Of wheat? Sour/with hints of citrus nodes? Thick consistency with a pile of something at the bottom. This goes out the window after I can get as much down as politely possible. I have tried to say that I am perfectly content with coffee but they like to add some variety. Every now and then they come back from town with something exotic, like ketchup or mayonnaise. Someone in town must have told them that white people love these things. They offer the mayo with fried eggs and rice. I politely decline.
Double order of pancakes with a side of bacon. Snickers bars, chips, soda – very exciting stuff. This being said, I am extremely grateful that I have food on the table. The land here provides with enough that people where I am do not go hungry. While they may not have a perfectly balanced diet, the local tubers, rice, and fish provide for enough calories and protein and the fruit trees give some vitamins.
In other news…
The government agency MINSA (Ministerio De Salud) is helping construct a huge ($100,000) aqueduct project. While the community has one tank now (15,000 gallons) the source is a stream running in the middle of two cow pastures. The new tanks (Two 5,000 tanks and a 20,000 tank) have tapped springs coming out of the rock. This, pure mineral water is then filtered for sand and other sediment, chlorinated, then sent to the storage tanks. Every house (76) in the village will have a faucet from these three sources. Very exciting. But the initial stages have been rough. First, cleaning paths for the new pipes and tanks in the jungle with machetes. Then, hauling 50 pound sacks of sand, concrete mixtures, cinderblocks, wood, pipes and other materials up the hill to their sites. After that, digging the foundation and mixing the concrete up and carrying/pouring it with buckets. As anyone who has ever worked with construction workers (anywhere) knows, they are difficult to understand. It’s the same here in Panama, except they are speaking some adulterated dialect of Spanish. So we rely on frantic body language. This is how things get done.
I have a meeting next week with the village leaders to explain a little of the Community Action Cycle and where I am as well as about some of the activities I have created for a Community Analysis presentation. I will explain more about this after the activities. Until then, I will be spending Christmas at the beach of Las Lajas. So, If anyone sees Santa, tell him not to forget about me. I'll be on a secluded beach on the pacific coast of Panama. This year I want... electricity, potable water and a new hut. Oh, and cell phone service.
As much as I love it down here I really miss family, friends and home. Christmas is a time for all of these things (And presents and food – but don’t worry, I haven’t opened the ones you sent down and am saving them for Christmas morning). The pictures that you sent of the house and the two feet of snow were great – thanks Mom. Dad and Elise in their hats outside shoveling is my new wallpaper. So, everyone have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
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