More Weekend Adventures: A Rodeo and a Cumpleaño

So Luis and Lupe invited me to go back to their grandparents' finca, this time for a whole weekend because there was going to be a bull-riding and a fiesta at night. It was definitely an interesting cultural experience - I learned how Panamanians do local bull riding, I learned how to dance tipico, and I was the token gringa at the fiesta - for all of the good and bad that the label brings. But it was a fun weekend. here are some photos:

Here come some of the bulls!

Bull Riding - they also rode the backwards (basically laying on the bull's neck with their head on the animal's back, feet around it's neck) - it was pretty entertaining and thankfully not as intense as I was anticipating, so I only got really scared for a rider once or twice. 

Lupe and Luis, the brother & sister who invited me. And yes, I have crazy blue make-up on. Lupe's cousin did it and I didn't have a good mirror haha

The first night there were about 75 people there, I would guess and it was a "discoteca" meaning that it was a DJ, but it was still mostly tipico music. Luis taught me how to dance the tipico Panamanian dance. Then the next night, a lot more people came - probably close to 200 - and that was when I really felt like the token white person. I've felt the stares before, and been called "gringa", and been told my eyes are really pretty, but this was different. One man told me that my eyes just weren't for looking at anything. I responded with - they are for looking at whatever I want. 

Also, that night there was a cantadera - which is a typical panamanian style of singing that is pitchy and culturally-themed - which was really interesting to hear. Then there was a tipico band - guitars, drums and singing. This was when I really became the focus of the party. Luis and I danced once, and then I could hardly sit down without being asked to dance by someone else. And hey - I like dancing, so I really didn't have a reason to say no. I danced with guys who were probably 20 all the way up to men who were probably 50+. It wasn't until it was 1 am, I had been dancing since 9 (almost straight), and I was starting to get creeped out by a few of the men, that I finally decided to go home. Lupe walked me back to the house, but she was going to stay to the end. They sure do know how to party! Overall, it was fun, and I was glad that they invited me.

The next weekend I went into Chitre to go to the Gran Azuero Féria Internacional! It was a pretty big affair with dog shows, cattle shows, cattle you could walk around and see, a lot of plants, rides, artisans selling things, and food vendors. Pretty interesting! I ended up buying a hammock!! Which I'm super siked about. For my birthday gift to myself, I bought some rope and hung it up at the house :) Then Sunday, Steve and Heather invited me up to Chepo again! Their host family is so sweet. It was a weekend similar to the last one (so I didn't take too many photos). We went to the river/swimming hole on Sunday right when I got there. Good thing we went when we did b/c it rained a TON later that afternoon, which made it almost cold! I actually had to borrow a fleece for the evening, which was nice. We just hung out, did a crossword, helped make dinner, and watched a movie. Monday (we didn't have school - an ex-president died) we walked down the road for about an hour and a half, then back - so I got my exercise in! But it was another relaxing weekend up there.

The next weekend was.... my 23rd birthday! It was actually a pretty momentous weekend; the 11th marked 4 months in-country, the 12th was my 23rd birthday, and the 13th was a year-to-date that I graduated college. Where does the time go? Suffice it to say, it definitely got me thinking about a lot of things and missing friends and Vandy. But I had some great PCV friends here who made my birthday special!

The lovely PCVs who came and visited me on my birthday!

Tempest, Miranda, Heather, Steve, Lindsey, and Graycie. It was so nice of them to come. They brought me some lovely surprises including a birthday hat (see below), a bag of mixed chocolates (Snickers, Twix, Milky Way etc), some Ferraro Rocher chocolates, and mango salsa! It was all delicious. I also made some guacamole for us to munch on for the afternoon.

Bruni and our neighbors and some other friends gave me a party that night too - Bruni cooked arroz con pollo, potato salad, meatballs - typical panamanian birthday fare, but it was all very good. And then we went next door and they surprised me with this big cake! It was great and very sweet - but can you see how they spelled my name? My name isn't understood very well here haha. But I was just appreciative for the thought! Several other people stopped by throughout the day and gave me a few gifts - a mug, some lotion/candy, 2 bottles of wine. It made me feel like I'm really integrating here! People actually do like me :)

Then one of the better surprises - I got 2 packages! One from my mom and another from one of my best friends, Liz. all of the baking stuff, and 2 of the cards are from my parents, and the candy/book etc on the left and 4 cards are from Liz. It definitely made my day!!

But if I'm being honest, the best part of my birthday was when I went to school the following Monday. Kids apparently found out that it was my birthday, and when I walked up to the teachers, they all sang Happy Birthday to me and all of the kids in the area ran up to me and gave me hugs! Then one of the other English teachers gave me a gift of body wash and candy. Throughout the day tons of kids gave me hugs and wished me happy birthday. One class even pulled me in their classroom spur-of-the-moment and sang happy birthday to me :) It was really sweet. 

I'll post in the next day or two about the last few weeks of teaching. But I wanted to get these up first!

Besos de Panama and thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday from abroad!

Weekend Adventure #2: Chepo

So two weeks ago (weekend of April 21-22) I went up to the mountains to Chepo de Las Minas to visit Steve and Heather, two other Group 70 volunteers. Their host family graciously let me stay in an extra bedroom where another teacher at their school normally stays during the week. After an ant incident with the bed I was supposed to stay in, I was SUPER comfortable there - they are some of the sweetest and most loving people I have met so far down here! And Chepo is GORGEOUS. I was planning on only staying one night, but I decided to stay two.

Here are some photos from the weekend:

First up on Friday, after an incredible ride up there (aka 27 people piled into a pick-up truck. That's right. I said 27 people. You figure it out.) we went to their near-by swimming hole! it is plenty deep, so you can jump off of the rock or log into the water (I didn't go any higher than halfway across the log... I'm a 'fraidy cat and proud of it.)

GORGEOUS views from everywhere. This is from their house.

The view out my window. PINES! I felt like I was back in the mountains of North Carolina. The first morning I was there, I stereotypically woke up, threw open my shutters and stretched as I looked out and took in the view. It was fabulous.

We did plenty of hiking! This is a really interesting rock that is from the native people that lived here hundreds of years ago. They carved it, but no one knows what it is or why they carved it - pretty neat!

Almost at the summit with Heather! Aldo del Higo - 987 m

Gorgeous views. you could also see the ocean in the distance, though the photos didn't do it justice.

Saturday evening we stopped by anther house in Chepo who was preparing a lot of food for the next day to celebrate a new priest's first mass. These two women are cutting up palm leaves to make tamales.

Who knew? Sledding exists in Panama. Only it is on grassy hills with palm leaves instead of on snow with plastic sleds. Still super fun!

And then there was a rainbow that we could see both ends of. More and more firsts for me! I couldn't get a wide enough view with my camera, but it was gorgeous!

Odelia, their host mom makes cakes (because transporting a cake for a party up from Chitre in a pick-up with 26 other people is all but impossible, so she has her own little cottage industry) and we helped her make a coconut cake! Unfortunately, it didn't turn out so well so she had to make another one, but that just meant we got to eat the "ugly" one, and it still tasted delicious! Above is Steve grating the coconut. Below is Odelia decorating the finished product!

We walked to the other end of town and up another small mountain. Can you see the ocean in the distance? It's the strip of slightly lighter blue in between the two darker land masses. 

 Sunday night I (reluctantly) came home to Pesé, but was greeted by another gorgeous sunset!

Hard to beat this weekend! I plan to be a regular guest up in Chepo :) Get your guest room and guest hammock ready Steve & Heather!!

Weekend Adventures #1: La Criolla

So to recap my weekend adventures the past few weeks, I'll start with my trip to a finca (farm) of one of my students. Well, really, two. Luis is 13 years old and has somewhat befriended me and he invited me to go with him, his sister Lupe (really Guadalupe - age 17), and their dad to his grandparents' finca for a day. It was a lot of fun - we left about 9 in their dad's car (which was a little bit old, as in I could see the ground through the passenger's side floor...) - and made the 25 min trip.

When we got there, Luis showed me around. They have chickens, pigs, horses, and of course a molienda (mill) for juicing the sugar cane and making miel de caña (sugar cane honey)!

Horse & foal!

Molienda (mill for juicing sugar cane) & Fatima

Piglets! We ate plenty of pork...

PUPPY!!!

I got some good hammock time looking out at the countryside

We went horseback riding!! That's Luis.

My horse!

Luis' dad stirring the sugar cane juice (guarapo) that's being boiled down into honey.

Me stirring the honey!

Fatima - Luis' adorable and personality-laden 5 year old cousin

They have guinea fowl!!

Me & some oxen. nbd.

Oh yea. Then I rode in a covered wagon. Basically I'm on the Oregon Trail.

We went to a river - La Ciruelita - in the wagon.

It was gorgeous!

Tiny road on the way home. Had some interesting bumps along the way, but we made it!

Luis' grandparents - they are super super sweet and hard-working!

 It was a day full of animals, horseback riding, sugar cane honey, raspadura (basically hardened sugar can honey with some coconut - SUPER SWEET), swimming in the river, and plenty of panamanian food (rice, chicken soup, and pork, mainly). It was great to get to know another panamanian family!

Finally, Easter Photos

Here are a few photos from the Easter celebrations here in Pesé:

 Dia de San José - Patron Saint of Pesé

This was the float during the parade around town at night after the mass.

 

 Statue of Jesus in the church

 The church on Palm Sunday

Jesus on the "donkey" heading to Jerusalem

Palm Sunday events - parading through the streets - note the flowers strewn about on the road

 
[Side-note: The Last Supper reenactment got rained out - the first real rain I saw here, which lasted practically all day on Thursday. Oh well, I have next year.]

 The angel appearing to Jesus on the Mount of Olives

 

Judas kissing Jesus right before he was arrested

Walking through the streets with the roman soldiers

Jesus vs. Barnabas - and the crowd wanted Barnabas free... 

Really? The funny looking guy with the fro vs. the guy in white? haha

Then they took Jesus behind the set and "beat" him, and he came out looking all bloody - then they put the crown of thorns on him. 

 

 The other criminals walking through the streets to be crucified.

 Jesus carrying his cross to be crucified, and being whipped as he went.

Jesus on the cross - this was pretty powerful for me as
I've never seen the Passion of the Christ or anything-
I was a little far away for my camera to get a really good shot,
but it really looked like he was nailed up there (though obviously he wasn't,
and they were standing on something), though the other two criminals were clearly tied

 Jesus and the two criminals surrounded by the soldiers and Mary

"My God, into Thy hands I commit my spirit."

Taking Jesus off of the cross

I wanted to get a photo of the 3 crosses alone, but my camera died. 

But it was beautiful with the white cloth.

Happy Easter! Jesus is risen! The float to be paraded around town on Easter Sunday. 

I actually helped push the one with the Virgin Mary (though I didn't get a good photo of it)

Easter here was definitely a new experience and really showed what Jesus went through in the days leading up to his crucifixion. Even with this fact, it seems to me that a lot of people here say they are Catholic, but don't really practice. It's not quite as extreme as it is in Europe, but it doesn't seem to me to be a true living-of-the-faith type culture, even though references to God and Catholicism are ever-present in Panamanian life. But either way, it's a good reminder of our Maker!