Some house udpates!

We are officially in our house now, with a week under our belts of fighting back the termites, scorpions, and water leaks, and defining for folks that it is now our house, not the neighborhood public porch for everyone to wander in and sit down (or inspect all of our stuff!). As April said, we have two rooms and a large porch. Here is what it looks like from the field (since the last pictures were taken, there was a junta, or communal work effort, and the grass was cut by a bunch of guys with machetes):

Here is all of our stuff, out in the porch, while we were cleaning and spraying the rooms.

Compare this huge pile of how much we have now with the picture from when we came down here (http://ak-panama.blogspot.com/2007/05/training-week-one.html) with just the blue suitcase, blue backpack, grey suitcase, red backpack, and yellow backpack, most of which are actually visible in this image.

We have two neighbors within shouting distance. This is taken from where April was standing in the first picture and you can just barely see part of the closest house in the trees straight back.

We have a path to the water, but not quite a waterfront view. It is down this path that the neighbors (and various other folks) walk to their boats, in a cove about 100 meters away. Again, the picture was taken from where April stood in the first photo, so folks do pass rather close to our house, and since this front room is our bedroom, quite close to our windows and bedroom door. It is a bit different dynamic in Panamá than in the states, as we've taken many other paths as close to houses. We hope to build a wall of bamboo or something between the door and the first column, to define our space and give some privacy to our door.

But for now, we are hoping that the termites don´t return (we knocked down those nests, swept a lot, and sprayed), while we are gone for training and Thanksgiving (most of the volunteers here in Panamá gather in a mountain resort for a taste of chill air - they say we need a sweatshirt - and cook a huge Thanksgiving meal together) over the next two weeks. We'll post more about the house and construction projects in the future.

The Work of Pilaring

After the rice is harvested, typically around August, it must dry. Once it is dried, it is shaken or beaten free from the stalk and dried some more. Then it is husked, for lack of a better work in English. In Spanish, they have a word: pilar. There are plants or factories, almost like a gristmill, for pilar-ing, but many folks do it on their own, in their yard, in small amounts. Here are our first and third host moms, neighbors, pilaring together.

The pilar (the wooden stand in which they are beating the rice) is made from a single tree trunk, carved out inside to hold rice. (The bottom half is the mirror image of the top.) The massive wooden Qtip like instruments they are using to beat the rice weigh probably 5 to 10 pounds each, and they strike in a rhythm, breaking the husks off the rice. It doesn't take too long to get the hang of it and not strike off-center, which sends rice flying out of the pilar to the happy chickens. But April and I certainly tired quicker than they did. After five minutes or so of pounding the rice, you filter it, blowing away the husks and leaving the rice.

This is repeated three or four times until all the rice has been de-husked and all the husks blown away. In this spot, there is a nice breeze coming off the water (out past April in the first picture). If there is no breeze, they put the rice in a large carved board and toss it in the air, catching the rice while the husks fall away, since they are lighter. Not a trick April or I would attempt with the evening's meal in the balance.

So what were the men doing while the women were pilaring (at least on this particular night)?

In the orange is our first host dad, and in the yellow is our third host dad, watching the women pilar.

Grandpa Dierks update...

Thank you to the many people who took some time from thier wonderful lives to send my grandpa a card as he fights lung cancer agian. He was wonderfully touched by all the cards and attention.

Grandpa Dierks is now 1/2 way through his chemo treatments and the cancer is responding to some extent. He sometimes feels worse for the wear as can be expected with any chemo patient, especially when in thier 80s. News is that he is doing ok, but there is still a long road to travel.

Dad recently sent me a photo just to prove that the sparkling personallity that I love in him is not hindered much by this experience....I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

At least now you know that I get my unique personality from my family...it is not just me personally. Mom bought Grandpa some goofy glasses that have flashing lights in the rim...he is planning to wear them to his next chemo session...that should be fun for the hospital staff.

If you haven´t sent a card and would like to, I know he would love hearing from you. If you are interested, his address is:

Paul “Grandpa” Dierks

12140 Rhonda Terrace

Seminole, FL 33772

In your card please explain who you are, and how you know us (April and Kevin that is).

Again, thanks to everyone who touched Grandpa and Grandma´s hearts with your cards and notes. It really made thier day...and thus mine too.

Molas - a Panamanian art form

Panama is a country vibrant with music, many colors, and energy. This is reflected in one of the country´s best known fabric arts - the mola.

A mola is a multilayered fabric art that is used by local indiginous Kuna Yala women as the main portion of the front and back of thier blouses. The two molas making up the blouse are usually two variations on a theme, very simular in appearance but not identical.

The traditional costume of a Kuna woman also consists of a patterned cotton wrapped skirt, headscarf, arm and leg beads that cover the majority of the lower arm and leg, gold nose rings and earrings. This tradional costume can still be seen on the streets of Panama and in the Kuna Yala Comarcas -territories where the Kuna Yala live.

Molas are made with aplique and reverse aplique techniqes... all by hand. Patterns can be geometric or figural. Maroon, orange, red, and black figure promently in many molas.

Many hours go into each mola, and the ability to make a fine mola gives status to the maker. The quality of a mola is determined by such factors as
number of layers
fineness of stitching
evenness and width of cutouts
addition of details such as zigzag borders, lattice-work or embroidery
general artistic merit of the design and color combination.

When Kuna women tire of a particular blouse, they disassemble it and sell the molas to collectors. Since mola panels have been worn as part of the traditional dress of a Kuna woman they often show signs of wear such as fading and stitch marks along the edges of the panels. These"imperfections" indicate that the mola is authentic and not made solely to be sold to tourists. The mola pictured with the ¨dragon head" and fish motif (shown above) shows all the signs of being originally used for a blouse.

Comercial molas are now also being made specifically for tourists. These are notably different in thier style and technique...but can also be beautiful and time consuming to make.

Mola prices range from $10-100 dollars depending on quality of work, design, age, and other factors (including where you shop). Barganing is normal, and prices can sometimes drop dramatically fast...but I try to always keep in mind that this is the live work of the woman selling. While we don´t whan prices to go up just because a tourist will pay more...I try not to haggle so hard that she doesn´t get recognition for her art. If she can´t feed her family with the price that you and I will pay sooner or later her family will provide for themselves in other ways....this would be a loss to the arts here and probably a loss to the local enviroment because most of the other ways to provide food or income are impactful on the local enviroment.

I would like to acknoledge that the above photo of a Kuna woman was stolen from the following webpage: www.wherescherie.com/newsread.php?newsid=199