Enjoying "normal"

Iguanas, reported to be quite tasty (haven't tried yet)

It hit me when I walked into the supermarket. I breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, I was still in Panama, but things were familiar here, even American.  There was the cereal aisle, over there the vegetable section and the baked goods. This made me very happy, in a way that walking into a Safeway never does in the States.  On other days, I'd been navigating the Panamanian world. When it came to shopping, I wasn't sure what kind of store sold what kind of thing, nor, when I got there, how goods were organized. I realized that I like being in an environment where I know the social and cultural norms.  So, as an estadounidense (United-States-ian) I really like being American.

Some of my many American traits:

Craving and eating vegetables.
Requiring "alone time" to think and process (a foreign idea to the family-oriented Panamanians).
Reading for fun.
Traveling far away from my loved ones and connections to have an adventure of service and self-discovery in another country.

I feel a new respect for immigrants to the US, as well, who may be coming from a very different context, to a new world with a vast array of options to choose from, of decisions to be made on a daily basis.  I and a Volunteer friend were imagining what it would be like for a Ngabe to move to the US. What would they think of us, and how would they manage so far from their family? I think I can never really communicate my US world to them; it's a real privilege to be acquainted with more than one way of life and to share in theirs. Most aspects of Ngabe life are really different from mine in the US: traditional, even ancient in some cases. Other aspects are just the same- many Panamanians have cell phones too, for example. To me, the cell phone feels like an interloper from my other life, something that doesn't belong here with the palm thatch huts and the chickens. But I'm glad that we both have phone access.

I've received some questions about my diet, so I'd like to share a bit of that so-important part of my day. I eat with my host family.   We eat rice, fried or boiled bananas, white yams, and yucca. These starches are topped with chicken, egg, greens, instant soup, squash, or beans. I bring dried beans, spices, and vegetables from town every 10-14 days to supplement what the family grows.  The family also grows coffee and chocolate, which they prepare and drink themselves or sell informally to neighbors. I'm actually eating a better variety of foods than I did in my training period (a typical meal was rice or spaghetti with chicken in a ketchup sauce).  Food for the most part is plentiful but if a meal falls between the cracks I eat from a secret stash of peanut butter and crackers.

Bush Meats I've tried (generous, hunter neighbors)

Don't worry, this conejo pintado is a pet... I ate a different one.

Conejo Pintado, or Paca
Wild Boar
Deer

New Fruits & Vegetables in Panama

Nance- small, cherry like fruits with a tart flavor, reminds me of rhubarb
Pifa- palm nuts, dry with a tasty, meaty flavor
Custard Apple- a fruit with oddly gooey, white flesh
Bananas- Some really tasty banana varieties which we don't see in the States.
Chayote-  summer squash; you can eat the leaves too.
Zapayo- pumpkin-like squash
Boda- a wild flower, harvested in the woods when it's still in the bud.
Cacao-  cacao + water is the traditional, and ritual drink, though coffee is more common everyday now.

I'll close with a few photos:

The family cow gave birth on Sunday Nov 13.

Baby calf, several hours old

Making an "organic pesticide" with local teacher & environmentalist Regina and agriculture volunteer Winston

Creating a map  of the community with a group of men and a group of women, a step in my community analysis

Drawing a map with a different section of my community

Harvesting coffee with my host family

Harvesting my host family's coffee. These are "coffee cherries"- the bean is inside a fleshy fruit