Amy's Panamanian Adventure: BECOMING A JANE OF THE JUNGLE…

I’ve been working on this blog entry for months now, but each time I touch upon it, it just doesn’t come out right.

I use this blog to sum up life in PC, and my work, but how can I really explain the day-to-day of living in this little village in the jungle? They say to paint a picture is worth a thousand words. If only these stories can begin to do so….

-Not too long ago, I was pasear-ing (visiting) at my friend Andrea’s house. Suddenly, a big, black blob hit my head, fell into my lap, and then to the floor, and scurrying away. As it scurried away, I notice it’s a big, NASTY fat rat that fell from the rafters right on top of me. On putting it all together, I screamed absolute bloody murder, waking up Andrea’s 5 year-old son. Andrea’s husband, 3 grown brothers, mother and little 5 year-old just busted a gut laughing at me, spazzing and swatting helplessly into the air after the fact. Months later, its still one of their favorite stories to tell.

-The community phone is right next to my hut, and also right by my old host family’s house. Everybody makes the mad dash to answer it when it rings (how exciting!). One day, while in my host family’s house, I decided to make that dash. As I sprinted across the little wood house, with a big “CRACK,” my left leg shot right through the floorboards below me. I was completely stuck, one leg under the house, one leg inside the house, crunched between the remaining floorboards. My host mother and host sisters rushed to me and helped me out of the floor, very worried. But as soon as they patched up my leg (which later turned all shades of purple) and assured that I was ok, they died laughing. My poor host father had to cut wood to patch up the floor the next day, and he wouldn’t stand to let me help him, even with a very guilty conscience.

Where else…

-does the village pet, a giant, 20 pound iguana, eat your personal garden? I had been slaving over my little babies, tomato, pepper and cucumber sprouts, like crazy for a month. I came back from being outside the village and found big iguana-mouth sized bites out of them.

-can you have a heart-to-heart with a botanical doctor on a beach in the rainforest? I remember a day when I was feeling low (I think the village families were fighting and I was frustrated with my students). I went to the river for a time out, right around dusk. Suddenly from behind me appeared one of the village elders, our botanical doctor. Quietly, he sat beside me. After a few moments, he points up at the moon, and asks me “Alla en tu pueblo, se ve este tambien (la luna)?” (Translation: There, in your village, can you see this moon too?”) It was such a simple, honest question, and it immediately brought me back to the simplicity and serenity of this little village and its people. I quickly got over my problems, and fell back in love with Embera Drua.

Some happenings around around Embera Drua...

Septic Tank Project (fancy new bathrooms to advertise to tourists!)