As part of Culture Week, a group of eleven volunteers went to visit another PCV in a Ngabe community in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama. I stayed with a host family for the week. During the week we discussed different aspects of the local culture, what to expect at our site, etc.
I realized that every site is different and that I cannot prepare myself mentally or otherwise for what awaits me in my site. This realization came from my week with the host family. The community sits on the water among mangroves. While there is higher ground in the community, my host family´s home was always above water. The community has running water (that you need to treat). Latrines are built on stilts above the water. You can do the math on that one and the implications it has on the health of the community and on the community's efforts to bring in tourism. I was not prepared for the level of intensity of poverty, health concerns, and the warmth with which the community embraced me.
The host family had four beautiful girls who followed me around the community whenever possible. There was one touching moment early in the week when "Tyta" gave me a bracelet to wear. We talked in Spanish about whether or not she was sure she wanted to give it to me as a gift. I think it was a pretty big deal. She made sure to point it out to her friends as well.
Over the course of the week, the children became more and more a part of our lives, almost to a fault. We would go swimming (away from shore/servicios) in dug out canoes with the children of the community. The kids loved that I was a good tiburon (shark) and would chase after them. They loved me even more when we had an impromptu baile (dance) in my host family's house and they all got to dance with the gringo. By the end of the week, a third of the community´s children were shouting, "Hola Chigon". "Chigon" was the Ngabe nickname my host parents gave me upon arrival. Traditionally, Ngabes cast aside their actual names and take on Ngabere nicknames instead.
The main staple in the community is boiled green bananas. It's not a mash like you may be thinking. It's like a starchy potato disguised like a banana. Variations included fried slices and fried whole bananas. Not to say I didn´t eat well. Since the community is on the water, I enjoyed fresh fish and fried lobster for breakfast. I also enjoyed lemongrass teas and hot chocolate made from cacao harvested an hour away.
Other items to note include a great hike through the jungle to another PCV´s site, seeing a captured sea turtle in someone´s backyard, and having a discussion with the kids about why it is illegal to hunt sea turtles in Panama, learning more Ngabere, seeing 50 kids dog pile for candy after a piñata broke (with flour inside).
