Megan Unbounded

This week we went to Bocas del Toro/Comarca region for technical training and learn more about the specific sectors our jobs will be in. Though it was very muddy and rainy, it was a beautiful landscape and the people were very welcoming to their community. Again, these are the type of houses that the Ngabe community members mainly live in, stilted wooden houses and the village was about an hour hike in from the main road. These are the plaintain/banana trees and these vegetables are very common in all of the dishes that they eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One of the fincas, or farms, was about an hour hike through the hills and jungle where we did some of our training this week to learn about cultivating coffee. This is a Pifa , which is a spiky palm tree with fruits at the very top! Most times when they have to harvest the fruit from these trees, people get pricked by these needles. So I found out that I my main focus will b...

This week we went on volunteer visits to experience life as a volunteer and know what to expect once we leave to our communities! The communities did not have as many resources as the host communities that we are staying at the moment and are more rural, secluded, and could be located in indigenous areas. This particular area was the Ngobe-Bugle. For my volunteer visit, we went to BOCAS DEL TORO, which was about 8-10 hours from where we are located. Then, we had to wait for a taxi to drop us at the taxi stop for the community and then  about a 40 minute hike into the site. It was all very worth it as it was very beautifully scenery wherever we went! The indigenous community we were staying in gave me a Ngabere name that was Etty and I felt really welcomed to the community. They are very nice and even showed us how to make these purses (chakaras- not sure the exact spelling!) that their community is known for. They are all handmade from strong plant fibers. This...

This week we went to Panama City to become more familiar with the country. They had this cool spiral skyscraper in the city and a beautiful little part of the city called, Casco Viejo. The president was getting sworn into office this week so they were preparing for the concerts and fiestas as well. This part was Casco Viejo and is the older part of Panama City. They had vendors that sold a lot of purses, jewelry, and other things for souvenirs to send to family here at a good price. Later we learned about different ways to prevent erosion, like the use of a dead barrier using wood posts and logs to create the barriers to hold your huerto, or garden, in place while catching the nutrients that will wash down the hill from rain-showers. We also go to go to Chorrera this week and watch the World Cup together!