Whatever, Y.O.L.O., Crocs

Typically you travel to a place, observe the clothing, think "cool" or "weird" or whatever you think, and then you get on a plane and go home. Besides the fact that I still haven't gotten on a plane and gone home, I've also thought "hmm, that makes a lot more sense than what I'm wearing right now." And so I started wearing... (In order of my decision to start wearing them)

Sombrero and Man Purse

Sombrero - Month 3

This was an awesome unexpected gift from my host dad. I'd say in a store, it would have cost about $70 which is a pretty legit sombrero. Sombreros are pretty popular in many formal events such as dances, work meetings, etc. and I've used it on many occasions. Also important is the fact that I have a huge head and I've avoided hats in the states almost completely. However, this sombrero was custom made, as are all sombreros, and fit me perfectly.

Man Purse - Month 3.5

My neighboring volunteer during training lived just behind my host family's house. We'd typically have over the fence conversations, similar to Home Improvement, after classes ended. One day he arrived home with a man purse. I'd never imagined wearing one even though many Panamanian youth about my age wore one. I was jealous of his bag so shortly thereafter I purchased my own. It was amazing. Women, I need not explain to you, but men, oh my. Imagine all the things you need, in a bag!? For those times you don't have enough crap to fit in a back pack but don't want to fill all of your pockets with clutter, there's the man purse. The photo above has my first man purse.

Cutaras - Month 5

These are basically fancy sandals made of leather that are used in formal settings for Panamanians. For a while they were my default shoe. I went to shower, hiked, visited the Peace Corps office (Which is crazy strict about dress attire but these were cool, as well as most sandals), and walked around town with them. Socks suck. Also closed shoes suck. You have to wash the socks, by hand, and critters like to hide in closed shoes.

Man Purse Version 2- Month 12

I got myself a much cooler man purse while working in a friend's community. They are known as chacaras and typically they're woven together from a cloth-like material or old plastic sacks are torn apart and woven together. They're great since they never mold and if they get wet, no worries. They've served quite well for my work days on the water system where I'm typically getting pretty dirty.

Knockoff Crocs - Month 15

I swore I'd never wear Crocs. Until my flip-flops broke one day while I was away from home. I went to the store and I could get another pair of flip-flops, which were bound to wreak havoc on my feet, or buy a pair of crocs. Of course the only pair that fit me was pink. Whatever, Y.O.L.O. (you only live once), crocs. I instantly fell in love with them. They had cushion, didn't easily allow rocks to get trapped between the shoe and my foot (like cutaras did), offered more traction than flip-flops when walking back to my house after a shower, were great to hike in, etc. Besides the fact that they're not acceptable in the Peace Corps office, I wear them all the time.

Thinking to the future now, I’ll probably never wear this stuff after Peace Corps, but you never know, Crocs are just so damn comfortable.

September Photos: Water Seminar, Rainwater Catchment, and More

Preparing materials for the water seminar...

...and food...

...and 140 eggs...

Breakfast!

Breakfast!

Presentations given in the church about various topics related to water.

Hanging out around a plate of brownies after the first day of the water seminar.

Day 2 of the water seminar was a bit more hands on.

Presenting my water committee president with a certificate. 

Caught this little guy in my house. Took a quick rushed picture into the container before setting him free.

While working on the rainwater catchment system this cow came over to say hello.

Finished ferrocement tank for rain water. Currently testing it with some grey water from the washing machine.

Completed system. Holds about 60 gallons of water, or enough to water plants for an entire week. Cost about $60.

Friend got a kitten!

These flowers are everywhere in Panama in many different colors, absolutely beautiful.

[Insert Job Description Here]

During training, we are told, “your service is what you make of it.” If you want to be out of site all the time, hanging out at the bar, sure, you can do that. Or you can make something amazing of it. To remove any doubts that last sentence might have created; almost all volunteers opt for the latter.

I opted for the latter as well and there are days where I'm out and about in Panama, living another day of my Peace Corps service, and it will dawn on me that, I get paid (as little as I do get paid haha) to be doing what I'm doing. I had one of those moments today when I was in the middle of the jungle hiking up to a water source. A fellow volunteer, in a different sector than water systems asked if I could come and take a look at his system. After that simple interaction, I was now out hiking with him in his community, which is about twenty times larger than mine, to offer what experience and knowledge I have to help assess the water issues being faced by the community. I'm going on a tangent too far, let's steer this back in with some pictures of where I was working today:

Crossing a stream on the way to the water system.

Finally arriving to the water source.

I've also had other amazing work experiences such as when I helped my regional leader deliver some documents to a future volunteer's community. Besides the fact that the area was absolutely beautiful, we got to eat lunch and hang out with the future host family for a bit. The father of the household told us a very interesting story about the roof tiles which his grandfather had constructed over 100 years ago and still survived to this day.

Passing a large orange farm on the way to the community.

The rainy season is in full swing and mud is everywhere.

After taking public transportation to the end of the road, hiking an hour into the community,
we  now have a guide to take us the rest of the way to the host family's house.

Look at that beautiful roofing.

Then there was the time that Engineers Without Borders (EWB) visited a fellow volunteer's site and cultural/language facilitators were needed. I got to spent a few days hiking about my friend's community assisting EWB in their trip.

Community guide leading the way to the next house.

Back when I was a member of EWB at Rutgers University, I had seen a GPS map that was constructed by a group member and I was interested in making my own. As part of my first three months in site, I was required to make a map, so I ended up making a GPS map.

...and then writing a guide for other volunteers to do the same.

I also had interest in solar panels and the neighboring community's health post had some problems with theirs...

These are just a few examples of the many cool work opportunities that Peace Corps offers. Of course not all of my cool opportunities revolve around work. I also give myself some breaks to...

Attend the Black Christ festival.

Party at carnival.

Spend Christmas in Santa Fe with other volunteers.

Travel to Peru.

Watch the US-Panama soccer game.

Attend the Sombrero Festival.

At times it’s hard to justify my time here, typically when I'm sitting at the lowest of lows of a slump in my service. But when I'm not sitting there, life is pretty awesome. Of course you cannot have the bad without the good and the same carries over to life in the States. However, Peace Corps has some pretty awesome good times to offer and I think it has been well worth it. (And for you too if you're considering joining!)

Cards and Quotes

I like to spend a bit of my free time in site writing cards to family and fiends back in the States. I like to paint one side of the card and put a quote that has inspired me during my Peace Corps service, something funny, or something I came across while reading. Here is a selection of those cards.

Upcoming Posts

• Tuesday 11/18: [Insert Job Description Here]
• Friday 11/21: September Photos
• Tuesday 11/25: Whatever, Y.O.L.O., Crocs
• Tuesday 12/2: Technology
• Friday 12/5: October Photos
• Tuesday 12/9: Peace Corps is a Roller Coaster
• Tuesday 12/16: How-To Peace Corps
• Tuesday 12/23: Campesinos who Move and Shake

Make sure to check out daily pictures at my photo blog.

What month is it?

I was sitting on a bus the other day when my friend asked me what the date was. I realized I didn't even know what month it was and that got me to thinking why that was. There are several factors that lead to a near complete disconnect from the calendar. I'll start with taking the day to day and then expand from there.

Probably the most disconnecting thing is that the nine to five doesn't exist in the countryside. My neighbors spend their days working on the farm or making sombreros. They start early, end late, and the work is broken up by chores around the house. The work carries over to their weekends as well. This leads to a general disconnect from the weekly routine that exists in the States.

Since the 9 to 5 doesn't exist, it also doesn't exist for my work. My water committee meetings are Sunday mornings and workdays are dispersed randomly throughout the month. So, when you ask me what I'm doing on a Saturday night it's probably getting to sleep early, however, I might find myself in a bar with friends on a Monday.

There is a means of tracking the week with the routine of school kids. However this too has its issues. It seems that the kids all too often get random days or a full week off at a time. This confusion of the school year generally adds to the separation between myself and the calendar.

Attempting to track the year is also a bit difficult.  Sadly seasons that bring snow, flowers, and beautiful warm colored trees, aren't so pronounced here. The only thing that divides the seasons is rain or no rain, and sometimes it rains when it shouldn't or doesn't when it should.

Add in all the other differences like no mirrors in my house to watch me change, the general insignificance of the calendar and hour of the day in the countryside, lack of change in the length of the day throughout the year, plants always looking about the same, etc. And you get a very good answer to the situation that occurred on the bus. I can't say I much enjoy the disconnect and look forward to structured days again.

August Photos: Embera Community, Rainwater Catchment System, and a Kitten

Watching a soccer match.

In the field over from the grown ups, the kids were playing too.

Here ia woman with a traditional Embera paruma during a meeting about fish and rice tanks that my friend put on.

First round of workdays to build a rainwater catchment system for a friend whose city's aqueduct's water is contaminated.

  

Preparing the mold for the foundation of the tank.

Preparing the mold for the water tank. Check September pictures for follow-up to this project.

Friend got a kitten.

The people we meet and the things they teach us.

"Wishing I could pass on some elderly advice... actually I'm not wishing I am passing it on. When you get older, you realize how VERY valuable the challenging times in your life are. It's not the easy successes that build character. ALL of your experiences are part of YOUR journey - embrace them all and don't expect them to all make sense while you're in the middle of it." - My Mother

Every negative encounter is an opportunity to learn something new, develop a new perspective, and be more open to the negativity that confronts us throughout life.

Over the past 15 months, I've been challenged by various people that I interact with. Somewhere along this journey, the quote by my mother clicked and I've managed to view negativity as a challenge instead of something to endlessly frustrate and rant about. Of course I still do a bit of that, it's a slow process, but slow progress in the right direction is really what matters.

I've always been quick to judge people, deciding rather quickly, probably way too quickly, about if I'd consider them a friend or a frustration. I met an individual, Juan Smith well call that person, Immediately, I put Juan into the frustration category. I felt bothered every time I was around him and eager to separate myself from any interaction.

Around this point I started reading The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler. I began to observe my interactions with the new found perspective I'd drawn from the book. One of the first chapters discusses trying to find connections with others and seeing them as more than what is so bothering about them. Since my interactions with Juan caused so much unnecessary frustration, I figured that he would be a good first attempt at this. Through much effort, I realized that there was much more that Juan had to offer than being a bother throughout my day. I've since carried this view over to other individuals and have realized that "We often add to our pain and suffering by being overly sensitive to minor things, and sometimes taking things too personally. We tend to take small things too seriously and blow them up out of proportion, while at the same time we often remain indifferent to the really important things, those things which have profound effects in our lives and long-term consequences and implications."

I was planning to look for more examples but I think focusing on such negativity is excessive and having one example is enough to prove my point. Accept the challenging times, find them as an opportunity for growth and don't get stuck in a rut, over analyzing or focusing too much attention on them. It's wasted effort and only serves to lower ourselves, nothing more