Some Food Photo Updates

Back at Easter, several folks brought us traditional foods. These included: a cocado, which is a mix of shaved coconut and raspadura, a cake of raw sugar cane sugar; a sweetened yuca mash (yuca is a very starchy root crop); and balos, which are corn flour mash, slightly sweetened, wrapped in a corn leave or husk.

(cocado, yuca, and balo)

Last week, April returned from Isla Coiba (it went well, look for a summary and photos -snorkeling, crocodiles, the penal colony- in about a week, when we get out again and she has computer time) with a sport fisherman, who offered her a ride back to our island (he was going past on the way to port) as long as she was willing to go fishing for an hour or two first. They caught a 50-lb fish they said was wahoo(sp?), but I'm not sure if that is the same as wahoo in English.

(April's nice doctor from Panama City who offered a ride back from Isla Coiba; he goes sport fishing about once a month for a couple of days to fill his freezer)

They immediately fileted it and stuck the ziplocs in a cooler, and when she got out, they gave her a bag with probably 8-lbs of two-inch thick slabs of fish. We shared some with our neighbors (the first time we've ever been able to give them fish) and cooked the rest with garlic and olive oil as massive steaks (except one we blackened with Phillips Blackening Seasoning; thanks Kristin).

(Cooking three of our massive fish steaks)

Our new Solar Oven

Friends are a wonderful thing...even when they plot behind your back. Little did I know before Tabassum and Linda arrived for a Christmas time visit that they were plotting with our mutual friend Bill to haul a heavy gift to us.

Bill, who owns a business installing irrigation systems, did some work for one of the guys (I hope I got this story right) who works at Solar Household Energy (SHE), a 501(c)(3) not-for profit that makes solar ovens. Well, Bill was hooked with the idea of a solar oven that cooks using only the energy of the sun. He bought one and enjoyed using it.

Bill soon decided that we needed one and so sent us one via two petite couriers. (Linda and Tabassum were really looking forward to leaving that heavy stove at our house...little did they know that they would leave here with bags a little heavier than when they arrived. Thanks for hauling our beach glass collection home!) Due to good protective packaging and careful hauling, the stove arrived in excellent condition. We opened it Christmas day.

Well, I understand why Bill was hooked. It is a pretty cool stove, and works well with full sun. It is incredibly simple and easy to clean. I was also thrilled that I can use the pots as mixing bowls...something that I was lacking. They also serve well for overnight storage of food.



Why cook solar? The Solar Household Energy (SHE) webpage says:

Currently, more than half of the world’s population relies on biomass (wood, animal dung and crop residue) for cooking, according to the U.N.’s World Health Organization (WHO). This practice causes disease, economic hardship, and environmental degradation. Modern solar cooking ovens like SHE’s “HotPot” offer practical, affordable, long-term relief.



In our community here in Panamá there is evidence of families that suffer from smoke related illnesses. There is a high incidence of respritory illnesses and colds. A couple of the ladies that we work with have even been advised by their doctors that they should avoid cooking with leña (wood) because of the negative impacts of the smoke on their health.



Of course, we were excited to receive it...and so made bread with it the same day. The first 4 photos below are from our first attempt at bread. I made the dough for a white herbed onion and garlic bread. I covered the dough with oil and put it in the pot...

This is what the whole stove looks like, the mirrored surface makes understanding it's shape a bit more difficult.


Within half an hour of putting it in the sun the glass was steamed up and the pot was really warm to the touch.

The bread turned out really well. It had good flavor and a rich dense even texture. I think that it will work better to let the bread rise more by not pointing it directly into the sun at first. The only problem that I had is that the stove lid catches the evaporation and sends it back into the pot...which is a good thing if cooking soup, a stew, or roasting something, but when cooking bread resulted in a soggy bottom crust.

I also tried rolls...and put them in a bowl inside the pot as a measure of protection from the moisture. They were ok, I think that they overcooked as they were dry and heavy. I will have to try that again. But, they did raise well.

I also cooked a casserole (rice, mushroom soup, veggies, tuna, and a bit of leftover cheese on top) and that cooked wonderfully in about 3 hours. It was enough food for 2.5 meals for the two of us. Below are before and after cooking photos.

Baco's also gave this casserole a good flavor boost.

Other things that I have cooked?

• rice (too sticky from long slow cooking),


• eggs (hardboiled well without water),


• brownies (my first failure as the sun clouded over about 45 min after putting out the stove...but I cooked them on the stove top as normal and did not mind the excuse to eat a little brownie batter)


• Zucinni / pumpkin bread (done 3 times now and a big hit with everyone who trys it)


• Water (heated to do laundry with hot water...best for the dirtiest clothing)

With direct hot sunlight things cook well, taking about 2 or 3 times as long as normal. This can be an issue if you need to go somewhere or the weather changes. Reheating foods is also possible and doesn't take terribly long. Wind, clouds and curious kids standing between it and the sun can all increase cooking time.

This stove offers a good alternative to fuel based cooking for some types of cooking. It is not a perfect alternative. Solar cooking is more suited to slow cooking foods and can not make fast cooking foods (can't fry with it for example). In our community here in Panama, this might mean that it would receive limited use...maybe for beans and soups and roasts, but it is too cool for frying and cooks rice so slowly that it is more sticky than most would like. It is not reasonable to think that people will change their traditional diet to use a new type of stove, when they still have access to the means to cook traditionally. In areas where the situation is more dire this stove would be more fully utilized out of necessity. Please do not interpret this to mean that my neighbors would not use it, rather it would be one of many cooking methods.

All in all, I am a fan of the solar stove and plan on continuing to try new foods. I particularly want to try to roast a whole chicken without oil or water like the directions book says you can...I think that that might just confirm my "wizard cooking abilities" in the minds of my nieghbors if it goes well. We like it so well that we plan on hauling it (even though it is HEAVY) to the next volunteer conference here in Panamá so other volunteers can see it too.



A big THANKS to Bill and his helpful couriers Linda and Tabassum for this wonderful and very appropriate gift. Our plan is to pass it along to another PVC when we finish here in Panamá so another volunteer (and their curious community) can enjoy it too.

Year end school party

At the end of the school year, which occurs down here in mid-December, just before the summer break, there is a party.

But it is more than just a party for the students. It is a party for the students, the teacher, and the madres and padres de familia (in essence, the PTA). This year, the students actually did some fund raising to help pay for the event, in the form of tumbulas, or raffel drawings. (Admittedly, similarly to in the states, most of the chances were purchased by the family, not by selling to neighbors and such, so the fund-raising burden was on the same audience.) The Padres de Familia (PdF) also had raised funds over the course of the year, including a chicken project (buy chicks, raise them, and sell them as 4-pound hens for about $1 to $1.50 a pound), and selling some teak wood planted on school property.

So what does all that fund-raising get you in a year end party?

Well there is the food: arroz con pollo (shredded chicken in flavored rice with olives, raisins, carrots, and other additions), ensalada papa (potato salad, with a pink or reddish color when made Panamanian style due to the beets they use), some bread (a rarity in our community), and the traditional Christmas foods of an apple and some grapes. They love apples but do not eat the pple skin...they bite off a chunk, chew until there is only skin and then spit out the skin.

Then there is a gift bag for all 21 students, with a toy and a Tshirt. And a gift for each parent, generally a nice shirt for the dads, and a fancy shirt, nightshirt or a cosmetic product for the moms.

And the piñata, full of confite (candies) and confetti.

(Swinging the bat at the snowman piñata; see the line of boys behind, ready to go)

(Sometimes a hit doesn't break the piñata but results in a few pieces flying out; despite the possibility of another swing with a metal bat just over their heads, the kids go diving to recover the candy; I'm not sure if the woman in yellow is a mom trying to protect them from getting hit, or trying to grab a piece too. April's comment- She is diving for candy...pretty sure.)

This year's piñata was a good one, that took a while to break. April took a video of them swinging, the handler pulling it out of reach, and then it finally breaking and the mad dash to grab as much candy as you can, children and adults alike. (But video is too big to upload, so we have no pictures of the final mad dash.) Everyone brings a plastic bag to carry it all home.

(The piñata handler in the back of the room, watching the swingers and pulling the rope to make them miss; when the piñata started leaking, he also decided to pull it up of reach or shake it to break it and get everything out)

(Afterward, the confetti is fun to play with; Roxana and Soray swept the floor not to clean up, but to toss it back on each other)

They also bring plastic bags to carry home the distribution of left over school food. The education ministry supplies the school with rice and beans and lentils for the school lunches that the moms cook. But the distribution sometimes lags, with the first batch of food not arriving until school has been in session for a few weeks, and the last with no time left for the kids to eat it all. So the parents divide it up amongst themselves, since it won't keep over the summer until school starts again in March.

The maestra (teacher) and Cecilia (one of our host family moms and the president of the PdF) and some of the other moms pulled out the 50-lb. bags of rice and set about evenly distributing them into the bags the parents had. It was a bit of a mob scene at times, despite knowing they would all get some, in part because they could leave once they got it. At one point, Cecilia winked at April and said, "Parace como Somalia, no?" ("Looks like Somalia, doesn't it?"). For a woman without a TV, who just gets the news from the radio, it was an interesting observation.

(Cecilia distributing beans; the source bag, on the ground, is marked with the Panama flag and the government name)

(Distributing beans, with everyone waiting in line)

Oh, and while we were waiting for whatever was the next step of the party, Kevin became the entertainment for some of the smaller kids with the You-Jump-I-Lift game. Considering how much taller he is than most Panamanians, it was a bit like flying and rather exciting for them. Luckily, one of the moms finally came over and told the kids in line (they cycled back into line numerous times, organizing themselves and encouraging in the more timid littler ones) that Kevin needed a break and this was the last time. :)

(The You-Jump-I-Lift game; some got the concept and timing better than others)

(Kevin lifting Bebo (José), but note the look of excitement on Carlito's face)

It a fun time for all, and a pleasant way to end the school year and calendar year.

Embassy Host Family Christmas fun

The Embassy Host Family Program is a program between Peace Corps and the US Embassy here in Panama that matches up folks from the two organizations. It promotes understanding of Panamas culture and the US presence in Panama through sharing our unique perspectives through visits.

From the PCV point of view having a host family has made trips to the city much much easier as our host family knows all about shopping and local organizations. They also have generously invited us to stay overnight with them when we are in town...eliminating the horrible ordeal of trying to find a safe hotel at PCV friendly prices, a task that gets more difficult every week.

From the host family point of view (as best as I can guess based on our interactions) it is continuously amusing to see the things that make us poor PVCs happy...a little internet, a bed and warm shower, access to an oven, and of course the most important: National Public Radio downloads. Brian regularly chuckles about the simple things that we enjoy. He has said that when he drops us off at the PC office in the morning he wants to ask "Do you have your lunch money?" It also seems to be interesting to them to hear about the realities that we face daily while living in a Panamanian community and working alongside host country nationals. While we are not of dramatically different ages, we each have a dramatically different perspective of Panama to share with each other.

Our embassy host family invited us to help put up their Christmas tree with them this year. We put a pot of orange peal and spices on the stove to get the Christmas smell. The artificial tree (real ones dry out FAST in this heat...I mean dead and crispy brown) came complete with a generous supply of lights. Devon has an amazing collection of glass ornaments bows and glittery snowflakes. The gorgeous glass eggs in her collection made us a bit nervous to handle them at all...especially since Brian says he is not allowed to touch the tree at all. The end result was stunning. But our camera just couldn't capture it quite clearly.




We also worked all together to make a spiral cut ham, green bean casserole (poor Devon graciously put up with our dated desire for green bean casserole) and wild rice with foie gras. It was a true holiday meal that left us with that unfortunate "Wow, I ate too much again even though I tried not to" feeling that seems to mark a good holiday meal.

While the tree didn't have that wonderful pine smell (we came real close with a spray tree smell), listening to carols and seeing the lights at night certainly gave us a feeling of the season. Thanks once again to Brian and Devon!

McDonalds Boat Ride

We needed to be out on the Monday before Christmas to pick up Linda and Tabassum. The only ride for sure was Friday. It was paid for by a political person to take kids (and their moms) to McDonalds. We figured it wasn't really supporting a political figure, since the coordinator had never mentioned which politician it was, so we took it.

First, we were on a big boat. There were about 40 people, counting moms and kids. We were going against the current and the wind, and figured it would take four hours to get to port, since it was only a 40-hp motor. But about 45 minutes from the island, the motor totally died. They tossed the anchor so we wouldn't drift back to our island. Luckily April had brought an UNO deck, and so she taught a bunch of the mom's how to play.

(April teaching UNO to moms - and some kids, some of whom had already learned from us - as we wait for another boat or motor help)

After about an hour or so, a police boat returned and took some of the folks to port, including the coordinator of the trip. Then about half an hour later, a couple of fishermen from an island further south stopped by. They were headed to port and after chatting for a bit, agreed to take some of us, including April and I and our bags. They had the same size motor we'd started with, but a smaller, fiberglass, boat, so it was faster.

(Watching our first boat recede behind our new fast ride. One tip of our island is visible behind the boat.)

We moved along rapidly in boat number two. Then we saw the coordinator heading back south in an even faster boat, with a shade roof.

(Sisters Dianeth and Leidys on boat number two, the fast one)

Then boat number two ran out of gas. We drifted to the shore and waited. April asked if they ran out of gas because they had the added weight of six extra people. They said no, they wouldn't have made it to port anyway.

Ironically, the "taxi" boat guy we use sometimes happened by and sold a bit of fuel to the fishermen. So we started off again after only a twenty minute delay.

But we were within site of port when we spotted the faster boat gaining on us from behind.

(Our kind fishermen - you can tell we are close to port, they have their PFDs on - watching the rest of the kids and moms race up towards us)

Sure enough, just as we pulled into port proper, to the delight of all the kids who'd been left behind twice, the faster boat passed us. There was lots of laughing and pointing. But we'd all made it, and sure enough, it took four hours. Just not how we'd expected. And we still haven't figured out what happened to the first boat.

More Jack'o'lantern pictures

As you'll see, once April returned the day after we carved the zapallo jack-o'-lantern, it was no longer the scariest looking thing on the porch.

(Here is the jack-o'-lantern by itself.)

(Then April asked the kids to make faces.)

(They really understood making faces once they saw the picture of my face.)

(Then April made faces with the kids, but the parents started to join in too.)

(So April got a couple of the moms to make bruja (witch) faces, and they quite literaly let their hair down....)

It definately seems we started something they'll continue after we leave. And they probably won't grow zapallo just to carve faces either; Maria made zapallo bread with the jack-o'-lantern the next day, and it was quite yummy.

Carving the first Jack-o'-Lantern

Yes, Halloween was well past, and Thanksgiving had come and gone. Christmas might have been fast approaching even. But that did not dampen the enthusiasm of our neighbors for carving their first ever jack-o'-lantern, perhaps because the idea is very similar to their burning of a New Year's muñeca (life-sized doll). (We'll post more about that when we come back out of site after New Year's, or you can check out our post from last year's holidays at http://ak-panama.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-we-celebrated-holidays-2007.html.)

It was while April was off-island, and I was solito y llorando (alone and crying), as our neighbors love to joke, so when I stopped by to chat and asked if they were interested in carving a jack-o'-lantern, faces lit up like there was a candle inside. They were familiar with the look from watching the movie Halloween over the years (I can't imagine being 10 or 12 and watching Halloween on a 13" black&white TV without lights and then going to bed in the pitch black) but had never seen a carving done.

The first step was to draw "scary faces". I brought up paper and markers, with a little encouragement to change the white page to something scary, they started trying out designs, and pretty soon we had several good sets of flaming eyes and gnashing teeth.

(Milagros, Leidys, and Eneida - Milagros' mom -, drawing "scary faces" for consideration for carving)

Since we didn't have a pumpkin, we used a zapallo, which is a pumpkin-like squash with slightly tougher meat and a more ridged skin, but very similar - and roastable - seeds. Once the kids (and adults) had finished drawing, the top was cut off the zapallo, and volunteers were recruited to clear out the guts (which come out much easier than a pumpkin, it seems).

(Leidys, Noritza, and Dianeth cleaning out the inside of the zapallo. The first reaction: "wow that's cold!")

Next they picked what they wanted to carve and we drew it on the zapallo. They selected our neighbor mom Eneida to wield the knife, and she did a rapid and detailed job of carving the face.

(Panamanians like Eneida are adept at knife work, perhaps from gutting fish and chickens for meals on a regular basis)

Then it was time to light the candle. Even though it was still light outside, everyone was excited to watch.

(Ceremonial first lighting of the jack-o'-lantern)

Here is the carved result, with Elvis and Eneida for comparison purposes. We'll put up some pictures taken in the dark, after April returned, when we come out next.

(For the first time ever carving a jack-o'-lantern, it was a pretty scary result!)

Working together can make anything fun

I thought that you might like this video. It is a clear example of one of the wonderful things about being a Peace Corps volunteer...how much fun we can have together and still get things done.

Let me first set the stage...this was taken on Thanksgiving day after dinner. These three wonderful volunteers are cleaning ALL of the dishes from a Thanksgiving meal for 70 people, and yet they manage to have a ball. When the video starts they do not know that I am taking a video...I tell them at the end (you can tell when they realize from the laughter).

We don't get to work together all that often, but when we do there is amazing energy and willingness to chip in and get the work done. I think that this is the type of comradery and team feeling that I hope to have in all my jobs. How many people do you know that could be this cheerful faced with that many dishes?

Happy Mother's Day

In Panama, Mother's Day is celebrated on December 8th. So I would like to wish all those mothers out there a

Happy Mother's Day!!!

In Panama Mother's Day is a big deal... bigger than Father's Day (at least in our small community. Sorry Dad.) Normally there is a party with music, food, and small gifts. Christmas gets almost no attention in our communtiy, but for Mother's Day they do all that they can on a very limited budget. So enjoy Moms....today is your day too.

Easter

(Kevin here, although April uploaded the pictures first, so the post is attributed to her.)

We are aware that Easter passed a few weeks ago, but sometimes it isn't easy to get time on-line to post right away. So here is Easter in the island.

Similar to Christmas and New Years, it wasn't what we expected. It seemed nobody did much to observe Easter Sunday (there was no mass on the island), but I was nailing together our bambu wall on Good Friday, and a neighbor came by and after a few minutes of kind chit-chat, mentioned that they don't work, cook, ride horses, or anything on Good Friday. I got the distinct impression I should cease making a racket. But it was nothing like a Good Friday observance I'd ever heard of from the Catholic church.

Sundays are our English class days, but we asked some of our main attendees ahead of time if we should skip class on Easter Sunday. She said pretty much no, of course not, why would you?

So we decided it was a good time to teach colors.

Mom Cropper had sent along some egg-dying kits, and we shared some American culture with those who came to class that day, trying to explain in Spanish what a rabbit has to do with chocolate, eggs, fake plastic grass, and coloring the eggs. (We totally omitted what it might have to do with Christ's resurection.)

Using a solar-heater for the water (putting a Camelback in the sun) and a bit of vinegar purchased specially for the purpose, we managed to produce some impressive dyes.

(Looking down on the dying cups, eggs, and dyers)

Unfortunately, we had been at a 15th birthday party the night before on the south side of the island (the 15th is a huge deal here, almost like Sweet Sixteen I guess), so we hadn't had time to boil the eggs.

There was only one causualty, one that was fully decorated around the outside with crayon. But we had one more spare, and she was able to redraw her masterpiece and go home happy.

(Some finished, some still being drawn upon)

Oh, and we did manage to teach the colors (mostly; there must have been some confusion about which dye was which when the one on the left labeled "blue" was dipped, but the "Blue" on the right is right on).

How we celebrated the holidays - 2007

The Christmas and New Years holidays are celebrated a bit differently on our island than we were accustomed to back in the States, but we did our best to incorporate some of our own traditions.

Christmas

This year, we invited Mac and Brooke, another couple from our group who live in the province of Coclé, east of us, to come out to island. Our first night, after making them help us teach English class in the chapel, we put them to work creating crackers (or poppers, depending on how you call them). It being our first holiday here, we had to use new wrapping paper, but like normal, we filled each one with some candies, a pencil, and some confetti (it said Happy Thanksgiving, but that´s okay).



Brooke, Mac, and Kevin constructing crackers

On Christmas Eve, we walked them all over the island to talk to friends, distribute crackers, see beaches, go swimming, buscar pulpo (search for mini-octopus), and dig concha (small shellfish). It was a great day and we returned well tired and enjoyed a dinner of roasted cauliflower and wine.


Cecilia and Maria Louisa, host moms #2 & #3, dishing up arroz con pollo

On Christmas Day, the only big event on the island was the Mothers Group (a class sponsored by the First Lady and taught locally by our last host mom) doing a traditional arroz con pollo and potato salad, at the chapel. They invited us to come join them, because there is always enough arroz con pollo to share.

Afterward, we returned to our house to begin preparing our own Christmas dinner and put out lights. One neighbor connected traditional white blinking lights at his house but we went with luminaria (candles stuck in sand - no lack of that - in clear plastic 2lb rice bags with paper around them to soften the flame - only a few were lost to the winds and fire) and some small battery-powered lights that came as Christmas presents from April's folks.

Our luminera around the porch, lights in the rafters, and candles on our new table

Dinner featured fresh baked bread and spinach pasta with brocolli and tomato. We even cloved an orange. Ironically, one of the mothers returning from their party was blocked by high tide from getting home and so joined us for dinner and got to try brocolli for the first time.

Our Christmas Feast on our new table

After dinner, we chatted with our folks while standing in the corner of our porch that receives cell phone signal and wished our families in the States a Merry Christmas! I think we were a bit warmer than most of them.

Kevin and a luminaria bag, talking to home; our neighbor's boat is still in the end of our porch, but it makes a good seat at times while on the phone

New Years

It seems that there is more of a celebration for New Years. There were many parties, and one of the main traditions is to quemar la muñeca (burn the doll). Our neighbors made a 7ft tall scarecrow, complete with a coconut for a head (including a carved nose and mouth), a baseball cap, and shoes, all on a post to stand him up for the burning.


Our neighbor's daughter and muñeca

At the stroke of midnight (well, whenever the watch of the guy in charge hits 12), they set it on fire, to burn away the bad from the old year and welcome in a good and prosperous new year. Probably the stuffing, which I think was gas-soaked dried leaves, makes sure it burns well.

The muñeca well into burning; he was moved from under the trees in the above picture to a post in the field for the ceremony

So while we missed our families and cold weather, we certainly enjoyed the new customs (though I´m not sure we can quemar a muñeca when we return to Columbia, MD) and had a lot of fun. And a December (and November and October, for that matter) without tons of holiday sales and music was quite a nice change.

Happy Holidays

Hola to all at home: Family, friends, former co-workers and fellow Volunteers!

We wish you a merry christmas....may you spend it with family and friends and snow. We are jealous of all of the reports of cold weather coming from up there...our fleece sweaters are currently growing a bit of mold. We are determined to drink hot cocoa over christmas even if it means sweating.

We also wish you a wonderful New Year. We certainly have quite a few projects to focus on as we more into the new year. We will be working on teaching english, building estufa lorenas, starting up a reforestation effort, restarting the island´s tourism group, and starting a club for kids. As you move into the new year, please remember that there are lots of little ways that you too can make this world a better place without taking 2 years to do Peace Corps. Please consider making one of the following your contribution to a better world:

*Visit special places. Make some time to go to the places you love. Parks, museums, nature centers, plays, concerts, cultural events. Help these important institutions to feel supported with your presence, your attention and your money. Saying you love the Zoo isn´t enough....you´ve got to go and enjoy and support it. If neglected too much we lose these wonders through funding cuts and neglect.

*Follow one of the three Rs that you are not already doing. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...in that order. Are you using cloth bags at the store? Do you even need a bag for this purchase at all? Reuse all that you can... for items that you normally use throw aways think of reusable alternatives. For example paper towels vs cloth rags...I mean it isn´t that hard when you aren´t handwashing things. Change those light bulbs to florescent...it does matter!

*Volunteer your time. If you are not already volunteering somewhere get out there and start. Volunteering gives to your community, makes important community ties and enables our society to accomplish a ton of good with the little funding that most good-doing groups have. Yes, everyone does have some time to volunteer...you just have to want to use it for volunteering. As a full time volunteer and former volunteer coordinator I offer a 100% garuntee that there is volunteer work out there that will fit your schedule and warm your heart. You will get more out of it than you put in, I promise.

*Speak up for what is right, whatever you consider to be right. Consider asking your local and national leaders to support environmental issues. Even if Global Warming is a total hoax it is just good sense to keep this country and globe from being a gross place. We as a country need to lead the world in making the environment a priority and backing up our priorities with $. China isn´t going to do it...and they are the ones jostling to be next to lead. If the USA will not lead in a direction that the world thinks is reasonable, the world will look elsewhere for leadership.

*Make yourself just a little healthier....it will pay off long term in your energy, time available, and less healthcare cost. I can attest that a being a little bit healthier brightens your whole world. You will feel better and thus be more able to go volunteer. Uh-oh starting to repeat myself...it is time to quit.

One of my favorite sayings has always been from Gandhi "we must be the change that we wish to see in the world¨. Kevin and I are living it...and so can you. What change will you be in 2008?

We will be on the island for a while...so you might not see another post until mid January.
Feliz Navidad y prosero año nuevo a todos.
April y Kevin

All I want for Christmas....

Well, we still find it almost impossible to believe that it is the Christmas Season. It is not possible that you poor souls up north have snow and cold weather....and that we are missing it all. Mailing packages home for the holidays was a surreal experience...what holiday are these for anyway, it is too warm for Christmas.

Now, don´t get me wrong. Christmas is celebrated here, in some areas in much the same way as in the states. The streets are more full of sellers and buyers than normal - but the noise and music are much the same as other holidays. Here in Santiago, where I sit typing, there are plenty of christmas lights at night and wrapping paper for sale in all the stores (sold by the sheet). The Virgin processed last night, carried on by a croud of the faithful (these processions happen more often in a year than I would have thought before coming here).

On the island there isn´t much in the way of Christmas celebration. I have been told that Chrismas will be just another normal day. New Years will get more recognition with parties and special food. This leaves us free to make Christmas as big or small a deal as we want within our home. Very exciting to be totally free of outside Christmas imputs...no commercials, no christmas specials, no holiday traffic or holiday cookies luring me from the table in the office.

I did go to a Christmas parade with a boat load of children and adults from the island. There were about 60 of us loaded into a boat that is sometimes used to haul cattle (watching them load cattle is interesting!). The ride to port was a long one as the boat was so full and running just a 40hp engine. Just before we arrived at port there was a general changing of clothes and shoes and every kid had their hair brushed and was sprayed with deoderant or perfume because apperance is very important here.

The local government paid for the ride and provided a small dinner just to encourage islanders to go to the parade with thier kids. The parade started after the dark came and the rain left. It included floats pulled by semi trucks, a marching band, lots of music, and lots of thrown candy. There were also some fireworks and a band/orchestra concert afterwards.

We then piled back into a bus to go to the port only to find that the captain had not bought fuel when we arrived. As it was now 10pm buying fuel wasn´t possible so for a while it looked like we were going to have to sleep in the port area...not a fun prospect. Someone managed to track down and wake up a guy who could sell fuel and so we were able to leave. We arrived home at 1am. It was a long but fun night.

So what does a Peace Corps Volunteer ask for for Christmas? Well, it is different for everyone. Kevin and I asked for:
*hummingbird feeders to lure all the hummingbirds closer to the house
*synthetic travel underwear (synthetic dries fast and the ants like to eat cotton)
*letters / photos from home
*tyvec envelopes (it is hard to find strong mailing envelopes here and they don´t like it when we reuse them)
*and the biggie: a world band radio, meaning a radio that picks up SW bands. Stay tuned (haha...a radio reference) for a post about our experiences with the new radio.


So what are our plans for the Christmas holiday? We have friends coming to stay with us. Brook and Mac are another of the married couples in out training group and they will be with us from Sunday to Wednesday (if we can get them off island then). We hope to get the ingredients for bread, cider, hot chocolate, apple crisp, and other yuppy holiday foods. I hope to do luminaria on Christmas eve on our porch. I think that we will make christmas "poppers / crackers" for our host families and nieghbors to share the spirit and culture with them.

We are thinking of all of you and the wonderful cold that you are getting up there. We miss you (even if I don´t miss all the christmas craziness).