Figuring out My Community Project!
Whoa! I cannot believe it is February. Already 6 months in my site and about 9 months total in Panama. Almost a year is approaching and I am finally speaking like a Panamanian (according to my community! They tell me everyday what great progress I have made and am learning quickly). My neighbors invited me to their softball game and play every Sunday. They started this league all on their own and the team (which are towns close to my community) will earn cash prizes! Though my community did not win this time, it was fun to watch them play and the community taxi driver test out his coaching skills!
It is coffee harvesting season! One of my host families has converted their front patio in to a solar drying system. And I am excited that they have asked me to help them get piladors which will help increase the value of their coffee when they sell them to buyers! Hopefully during an anaylsis of community issues next week, this will be my main project I will be working on with my community, value-adding techniques.
And my garden is growing wonderfully! The carnavalia vines are growing upward and like a shaded canopy over my garden for plants that need some protection from the sun. I have already many tomato plants growing, peppers, and cucumber. A story about my plants is that after I returned from tech week, I noticed that a tomato plant and my six pepper plants were missing in the front of my house because they were growing in incubator semillero cups. I talked to one of my neighbors and said that someone had probably stolen it! So I began speaking with others and found out that one of my other neighbors had taken my plants to be transplanted and put it in his farm to help me out since I was gone! I thought it was very nice so I gave him a few seeds to let him know thank you.
I went hiking last week through the hillsides of Colon to a farmers finca to measure an area of land that he wants to use for a rice tank! While it was far, I got to explore a new part of my community and it was very beautiful and serene. I did see like one or two houses alone on the hillsides and the farmer told me that when he was a boy, he used to live here until they built the school and road. Also, he told me there used to be tigers that lived here! (Though my community members have told there are tigers here, they most likely mean a puma or a different type of jungle cat of Panama).
And when we went through the jungle, we say this little guy just hanging out. He is so cute with his big eyes!
It is coffee harvesting season! One of my host families has converted their front patio in to a solar drying system. And I am excited that they have asked me to help them get piladors which will help increase the value of their coffee when they sell them to buyers! Hopefully during an anaylsis of community issues next week, this will be my main project I will be working on with my community, value-adding techniques.
And my garden is growing wonderfully! The carnavalia vines are growing upward and like a shaded canopy over my garden for plants that need some protection from the sun. I have already many tomato plants growing, peppers, and cucumber. A story about my plants is that after I returned from tech week, I noticed that a tomato plant and my six pepper plants were missing in the front of my house because they were growing in incubator semillero cups. I talked to one of my neighbors and said that someone had probably stolen it! So I began speaking with others and found out that one of my other neighbors had taken my plants to be transplanted and put it in his farm to help me out since I was gone! I thought it was very nice so I gave him a few seeds to let him know thank you.
I went hiking last week through the hillsides of Colon to a farmers finca to measure an area of land that he wants to use for a rice tank! While it was far, I got to explore a new part of my community and it was very beautiful and serene. I did see like one or two houses alone on the hillsides and the farmer told me that when he was a boy, he used to live here until they built the school and road. Also, he told me there used to be tigers that lived here! (Though my community members have told there are tigers here, they most likely mean a puma or a different type of jungle cat of Panama).
And when we went through the jungle, we say this little guy just hanging out. He is so cute with his big eyes!
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