Megan Unbounded

At the end of March, I partnered with a few volunteers in my group to give baking and business sessions in the Darien with the Embera indigenous group. They are very fun and friendly people! In this part of Panama bordering Colombia, they wear skirts of colorful designs and for some women, that is all they wear! They either are topless (which is their traditional dress), wear a bra like top, or just a shirt with the skirts. Also, it is their tradition to be painted with blue/black designs all over their body and face from a fruit called,  jagwa  ( pronounced hag-wah), which lasts for about a week. They create intricate designs and around the neck and chest is a painted necklace, which is beautiful artwork to see when you are not wearing a shirt. I got the traditional design of their community, which is of their river. Usually they would wear designs that symbolize their community but now, they just create nature or creative drawings for fun. Supposedly it helps to protect...

I had my community analysis meeting last week to decide which projects I will work on with them for the next year and a half. As a secondary project, they all are excited to work on starting home gardens so we began with clearing land and building a semillero  for one lady in the community. For my birthday I went on a hike with a group of volunteers to the Kuna Gala! It took us about two days and I cannot believe we hiked over this mountain! They are another indigenous tribe in Panama that have struggled to maintain autonomy from the Panamanian government. The women wear shirts of intricately designed patterns and the skirts are a piece of cloth with colorful prints wrapped tightly around their waist. Here is our guide! He brought his kids with so they could learn the trails as well because even though at times we could not see the path, the Panamanians that live in the rural areas know where they are going by heart! I guess this is how they learn their ...

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 comm...

During the week before I left to tech week, one of the families in the community and I made a papaya dessert. It was kind of like a mermalade with lots of sugar! It was really sweet but tasty.  And then coffee tech week in Santa Fe, Panama near the mountains. It was so beautiful and it was so chilly out it felt like autumn in the northern part of the United States. I forgot that I was in Panama because it is usually hot and humid! One of the farmers taught us how to start and care for a worm farm! Since he had so many, he gave us some worms to take home so that we can begin them in our sites and teach our community members too. This is one of best ways to give nutrients to coffee trees while using an organic fertilizer.  This is worm tea, which catches all the nutrients from the water that runs through the soil.  This week we learned the safest ways to prune coffee trees without harming them! We used a special saw that is curv...