La Conclusión

A more-or-less English translation of this post is here.  

Bueno.  Ahora, estoy en Berkeley, California, menos de una semana antes de salir del país para ir a las Filipinas.  Quiero empezar a trabajar allá acerca del ambiente.  Intentaré lo que yo aprendí durante mis tres años en El Cuerpo de Paz.  Vamos a ver!  Pero que estaba haciendo yo antes?

1)  Viajando a Través de los Estados Unidos -- Después del fin de mi servicio en Panamá, yo viajaba a través de los EE.UU. solo por la tierra (el bus, tren, o carro), sin volando.  Entonces, comenzando en Washington, D.C., yo viajaba a través de los estados unidos por casi tres semanas.  Además de Washington, D.C., yo visité mis amigos (y un primo) en Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona y California.  Fue muy divertido de hablar de nuevo cara a cara con ellos después de mucho tiempo. 

2)  Foto del Servicio -- Mi foto más favorito:

Durante un evento ambiental en el pueblo cercano de Las Minas

3)  La Canción del Día

Los Wilburys Viajando -- La Final de la Línea

4)  Las Noticias de Camerún -- es una noticia interesante sobre la bolsa plástica en Camerún, haciendo un mercado negro de ellos.  Parece como un artículo de Onion, pero es verdad.

5)  Lo Único Tienda de Cero Basura en Los Estados Unidos --  ¿Sabe que hay solo una tienda de Cero Basura en los estados unidos? Está en Texas, de todos los lugares.  Si yo sabría durante mis viajes, yo lo visitaría. 

6)  Eso es un poco embarazoso -- recientemente, yo envié aparentemente los solicitudes de amistad por Facebook, pero yo no sabía como.  Entonces, lo siento a las personas que los recibieron.  Pienso que yo lo hice cuando yo no estaba acostumbrando con mi teléfono inteligente. ¿Qué?  ¿Tengo un teléfono inteligente?

7)  Ahora tengo telefono inteligente -- yo decía mucho que yo no prefiera tener un teléfono inteligente.  Pero yo veo que es una buena herramienta, porque lo veo como un computador.  Antes, yo no lo querría por que necesito cargarlo casi cada día.  Pero es lo mismo con el computador.  Ahora yo uso el computador menos que antes.  El teléfono inteligente ha remplazado mi computador.  Es bueno también durante mis viajes.  No necesito sacar mi computadora solo para usar el Wifi para comunicar con mis amigos por e-mail o cualquier cosa. 

8)  No lo sabía -- en la ciudad de Baguio, se produce 360 a 370 toneladas de basura cada día.  También, hay grupos allá que hacen lo mismo proyectos como Panamá.  Finalmente, SM, el gran centro comercial, hizo una relación publico acerca del ambiente. 

Si Me Voy de Aquí Mañana …

… o en un mes.

1)  Epic Rap Battles vs SNL -- SNL is being called out for its lack of Asian cast members.  Witness Manny Pacquiao played by a white woman.  Lame.  In defense of SNL, I can think of at least two former cast members who are part Asian, Rob Schneider and Fred Armisen.  That's like what?  Two during the last 40 years.  On the other hand, Epic Rap Battles of History has had at least two Asian characters played by, well, Asians.  What a concept.  And ERB has only been around for maybe 4 years.   ERB wins. 

2)  Farewell Song for Panama  -- my PM sent me an email about upcoming reports, DOS and poop samples.  COS must be coming up.  Time to think of a song to use for a video montage (that I would never make) of my time in Panama.  Maybe a song with an accordion.  Or maybe a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd?

Note to Giles:  record a longer version of this song. 

3)  The battery dies like a bad joke on stage  -- my dumbphone works just fine, but I was toying with the idea of getting a smartphone and that led me to an article about cellphones with a long battery life.  But this poster still makes me hesitant to get one:

Poster at the UN in Geneva

4)  Bochinche -- that's my new favorite Spanish word.  It means 'ruckus' or 'uproar', according to my Spanish dictionary, but the PC Panama handbook says it means 'gossip'.  Ex:  La chiquitita quiere bochinche. 

5)  This Blog Post Was Brought To You By … -- I can't say enough about safety razors.  I used it to shave my head recently and it wasn't as tough as I thought.  No more electric razors for me. 

La Resurrección …

...of my blog, in honor of Holy Week.

1)  Boquete De Nuevo -- My sister was kind enough to visit me recently.  Aside from Panama City and visiting my post, we also did a hike in Boquete:

The Three Waterfalls hike in Boquete

2)  In Work-Related News …

 

PCV Kelsey and I helping out our counterparts with a reforestation project.  

Where the biodegradable polypots at?

 

What's being planted - guayacan, cedro amargo, cocobolo

Teaching Kelsey's youth group how to make a cellphone case from potato chip bags

3)   Remember those Silly Superlatives? -- I don't remember who got 'Most Likely to Become Director of Programming and Training' back in training or COS Conference, but there's an opening. 

4)  99 Little Victories -- Found a supermarket in Santiago that sells bulk items and that also doesn't require me to accept their supposedly biodegradable plastic bag.  *cough* Schmachetazo! 

5)  I Think That Was an Earthquake, Therefore it Happened --  according to a report from NPR, student-athletes at the Univ. of North Carolina were steered to take so-called 'bogus' classes like geology and philosophy in order to be eligible to play.  What?!  Those are hard classes!  I'm now on the side of the athletes on this discussion. 

The Bad Man Punted Baxter!

Fellow PCRV from Guatemala:  Panamanians tell me I don't speak Spanish.
Me:  Yeah, they tell me that, too.  But as they tell me that, I'm thinking, "I'm not speaking Spanish?  You're not speaking Spanish either.  I don't know what you're speaking."
Fellow PCRV:  We're all pretty much speaking garbage Spanish. 

1)  Conversin' with the Locals -- trying to get into the flow of Panamanian Spanish:

Talking about law schools

Talking about religion

Know your numbers

2)  They Do Eat Bush Meat -- wild iguanas are protected, but I found out that there's a demand for them.  Professionals like lawyers, politicians, the local Chinese population are just some of the people who buy wild iguanas in order to eat them.  Iguanas that aren't wild or "domesticated" meanwhile are ok to eat and a Panamanian told me they're quite delicious.

3)  Queso! -- In Cameroon, people don't smile in photos.  In Panama, its half and half:

4)  Environmental Dilemmas -- a) A fellow PCRV gave me some cheese, but it was the cheese where each slice was individually wrapped, b)  after an environmental meeting, the host gave us all lunch in polystyrene containers.   Sometimes, its hard not to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

5)  Old Movies I'm Appreciating Right Now --   Malcolm X, Anchorman, Gattaca,  Galaxy Quest. 

Esa es Vieja Noticia

1)  You Like Cameroon or Panama better? -- RPCV Mac recently asked me that question and with 3-4 months left in Panama, I think its a good time to reflect on my brief time in Panama.  The first thing that comes to mind is how similar Panama is to the US.  I sometimes feel like I'm doing AmeriCorps when I'm in Panama b/c, well, it IS part of America and its pretty developed in ways like the US.  Panama seems like its just 2-3 motivated counterparts away from not needing any outside help, if they're not there already.  Cameroon, meanwhile, seems like it has a long way to go with so many challenges in its way.  I can go on, but I think this topic is better discussed over a cold beer (warm if you're in Cameroon). 

2)  Todos Estan Pasando … Finalmente.  Parece. -- the megafight between Pacquiao and Mayweather is apparently finally happening:

Front page news in Panama

The topic of Pacquiao always comes up when I tell the locals that I'm Pinoy.  They may have no idea where the Philippines is, but they know who Pacquiao is:

Cross-cultural exchange: discussing the fight with community members

3)  Mountain Fiesta -- I was recently invited to a counterpart's fiesta out in the mountains:

Yup, its pretty deforested, mainly due to cattle ranching and agriculture

A cow was slaughtered and its meat dried in what is called a talanquera

Giants pots for sancocho (a type of soup) and also for yucca, aka cassava

Dancing and music

With my counterparts

Large pots, a big meal, music, hard liquor and dancing.  Reminds me of the mountain fiestas in the Philippines, minus the accordion. 

4)  In Hot Pepper News … -- the eatery nearby finally had some real hot sauce, locally-made:

And my habanero seeds in the backyard are showing signs of life despite the heat:

5)  Everything Causes Cancer -- a guy at the nearby eatery was preparing a charcoal grill and he put some plastic in the grill and burned it.  Not really sure why he did that, but it made me wonder:  if burning plastic is bad and if grilling is also bad,  then the combination must be incredibly lethal. 

Sé Honesto y Despiadado

1)  Garbage on the Front Page  -- it all starts with admitting there's a problem.

2)  NPR Stories --  I don't know why, but its only now that I've started reading NPR's website.  A lot of interesting stories.  For instance, they have an article about how turning off smartphones will supposedly make you think better.  So does that mean that smartphones make you dumb and dumbphones make you smart?  This is an important study, given that I have a dumbphone.     Another story is about the growing popularity of street vendors selling food using redesigned bikes as food trucks.  Sorry to break it to you, NPR, but they already do that in Panama:

 Selling a coconut drink

3)  Third Goal -- Interviewing a former Queen of the Manito Festival (La Reina de la Festival del Manito) for a Peace Corps video:

4)  Book Review -- I'm not saying its because of less time spent on the internet, but I've now finished another book, George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons.  I started it a few years ago, but got bogged down by way too many details in the story.  I thought the book could've done with a bit more editing.  Overall, the book was ok, but I'm wondering if it would've been better if Martin had stopped with A Storm of Swords. The subsequent books have paled in comparison after that classic.

5)  Feeding Time -- every afternoon, the fish vendor throws out his leftover fish in the lake, by the bridge.  That's when the alligators show up …

Perro Salchicha

"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." -- Almost Famous

1)  The Town Fair -- my town is currently having a 5 day fair, called La Feria de San Sebastian.  Its your typical fair with rides:

music:

educational demonstrations (here's a guy talking about the awesomeness of yucca, aka cassava):

and of course, a dog show:

Perro salchicha

My counterpart organization also had their own stand/booth at the fair:

I created a Three R's pamphlet as well as a pamphlet
holder (thanks, internet). My pamphlet literally stands out from the rest.

Requisite photo of me with a counterpart

My counterpart organization's booth

2)  Uncle Chan's Redemption?  -- Is Ken Jeong's documentary about the walk-on Notre Dame kicker, Reggie Ho, enough to make up for his "Uncle Chan-ish" role in The Hangover films? 

3)  Incertidumbres -- I've been to the capital 3 times recently because of my shoulder injury and there was a lot of uncertainty about what treatment I would need.  But the results are finally in and I'll just need some physical therapy.  No surgery needed.  On the bright side, being in the capital allowed me to drink root beer and buy some habanero peppers, the seeds of which I just planted at post. 

4)  Landfill or Incinerator -- the recent NY Times article about incinerators and the problems associated with it made me want to comment a little bit about the topic.  Whether you're in the "developing" world or in the "first world", the problem of garbage essentially boils down to this:  people can reduce the amount of garbage they produce.  Many people just choose not to.

Just take a look at Zero Waste Home and (as the NYT article points out) cities like San Francisco and Portland.  If more people did what they were doing, we wouldn't be debating whether or not landfills or incinerators are the better choice. 

Garbage collection at post

5)  "And hey, I met you.  You are not cool." -- I just saw Almost Famous for the first time even though the film came out in 2000.  Can't believe I've never watched it before b/c its pretty awesome.  And not just because Jimmy Fallon, Marc Maron and Mitch Hedberg were in it.  Not to mention the guy who cut off Jamie Lannister's hand. 

A Man, A Plan, A Canal …

1) … and an Injured Shoulder -- I injured my shoulder a few weeks back so I had to go to the capital to get it checked out.  Hadn't been there since I arrived in country.  Since I was there, I checked out the Panama Canal with PCRV William:

The Atlantic is that way

A ship heading towards the Pacific

Fans of ships crossing the Canal

The canal isn't just for cargo ships but also
for rich people in their sailboats

2)  Todos Somos Americanos -- Barack habla español.  Well, a couple of sentences.
 


3)  Anti-Corporate Video of the Day



4)  Christmas Displays in Panama 

Display at my post.  Snowmen in the tropics?  Makes sense.

Display at a mall in the capital

Also in the capital

Product placement much?

This one is also from the capital and has a magi that looks like its from a 1930s racist cartoon:

Of course, none of those displays compare to this one I found while reading the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa online.  Its a display near Chitré, made out of plastic bottles:

 Note to self:  make pilgrimage to visit this display before they take it down.

5)  Se Puede Ser! -- I made the cover of the PCV Panama Newsletter! 

That's me in the top right

I'm holding a tank while a counterpart is using a circular saw to cut open the tank.  We're building an incinerator. 

No Sabía Que Fuera Gracioso

Title is from the film El Sexto Sentido.  

1)  One of the three R's -- helping out fellow PCV Kelsey with her school recycling program:

2)  Wildlife --  Saw this iguana running outside the office and up a tree:

3)  Las Palabras Divertidas -- Spanish needs a funny word like 'donc' in French.  I know they're out there. 

4)  Uh-huh -- this plastic bag is supposedly biodegradable:

I'm skeptical. 

5)  Mission Impossible? -- they say that the region where I'm posted is ideal for growing fruits, but not for vegetables.  Therefore, tomatoes should do well, right? 

Improvised version of basket composting using chicken wire.
That's a lizard apparently looking for the tomato seeds I planted.

Sin Título

1)  Split Personality -- I work with a counterpart who acts differently when he and I are with a bunch of people versus when he and I are just by ourselves.  Its like when he's with a bunch of people, he has to be a stand-up comedian.  When its just us, he acts like a normal person.  Reminds me of someone I met in Cameroon ... 

2)  Quote of the Day -- "How about owning up to your past, claiming your mistakes and living with the consequences? And then make good on your supposed redemption".  And I LIKE Mark Wahlberg. Say it ain't so, Mark?

3) News Articles Recommended By Me --  concerts moving away from plastic bottles.  The concert article is awesome because the comments in the original article led me to this:  Klean Kanteen and pickathon.  Second recommended article:  How cool is Stephen Curry?  So cool he rode BART.  Respect! 

4)  Mother's Day -- this holiday is celebrated on December 8, which is incidentally also my mom's birthday.  Anyway, I had the following interesting conversation with my counterpart the other day:

Counterpart:  Cuando es el Día de la Madre en los estados unidos?
Me:  No sé.  Mayo, pienso.
Counterpart:  No sabes?  Es un día importante.
Me:  Cada día es el día de la madre.
Counterpart:  Ah, buen respuesto.  Todos los días son El Día de la Madre.  

Good save, right? 

5)  Panamanian IGAs -- funny hats:

Insert Preferred Holiday Greeting Here

1)  Bike!  -- bought a bike.  Unlike in Cameroon, where PCVs get bikes from PC Cam, PCVs in Panama don't get one unless they buy one themselves.  Looking forward to checking out the nearby towns.   And do an environmental bike tour project perhaps??

2) Happy Holidays! -- that's my preferred holiday greeting.

3)  Old News -- Green Seoul, an old story (2 years old), but still pretty cool.

4)  Comment of the Day --"I have no faith in the justice system. It is broken."

5)  Things I Didn't Know -- according to a vendor, most of the vegetables at my post come from Boquete and are not locally grown.  The weather at post is apparently not that great for growing vegetables.

In Boquete

Boquete

1)  Biking in Boquete --  Peace Corps gave us two days off for Thanksgiving, which gave me the chance to check out a bit of Panama.  In this case, the cool climate of Boquete with fellow PCRV William:

2)  Staged Photo of the Day

"Reading" Plato's The Republic in front of a church

3)  Hmmm...  -- according to this Coke poster in Boquete, 2 liter Coke bottles are now returnable:

4)  Quote of the Day -- "Life is too short for me to be piddling around."

PCRV William's translation into Spanish

5)  Music of the Day -- Sublime's Santeria, only because I heard music in Boquete that sounded like the song. 

No Puede Ser

1)  Quote of the Day -- "I get it, you don’t like science.  And you don’t like science that interferes with the interests of your corporate clients. But we need science to protect public health and the environment."

2)  Pacquiao - Mayweather - Marquez -- watched the Pacquiao-Algieri fight (or sparring session?).  Who should Pacquiao fight next?  The old guy Marquez who knocked him out?  Or Mayweather?  I say Mayweather.  If Pacquiao and Mayweather don't fight each other for their next fight, then viewers are just throwing their money away if they pay to watch that fight.  My proof?  Mayweather's last fight was dull and Pacquiao's last fight was a mismatch.  The only interesting fight they have left is against each other.  Besides, Mayweather already beat Marquez, so why not fight Pacquiao?

3)  Awkward-Pose Photo of the Day -- after assisting my counterpart with an enviro ed activity:

4)    Music of the Day -- Tito Puente's El #100. 
 
5)  Things to Do With Your Free Time at Post -- make a wallet out of the Peace Corps newsletter thanks to youtube.  After I learned how to do this, I showed it to my counterpart who wanted to know how to make one, so I ended up spending about an hour teaching her how to make one using newspapers:

¡Ya!

1)  Craigslist Baguio -- There is no craigslist Baguio, which makes me wonder what website the locals use to sell their stuff, find jobs, etc.

2)  Things I Didn't Know -- "If it is a permanent body of water (such as a lake or pond), it is much less likely to be a source of mosquitoes than if it were a temporary body of water such as a puddle."  

3)  Coin Bag

The one on the left I bought in Mexico, the one on the right I made by using plastic grocery bags.

4)  Brindis -- a sad day at the office as we said goodbye to our student interns, who are now headed to university:

Good luck to them all!

5)  News Articles Recommended By Me -- I can't decide which story is more incredible: the one about the lady who produced zero trash in 2 years or the guy who survived falling 11 stories from a building.  Ok, probably the guy surviving the fall is more incredible, but the story about the zero-waste lady is still pretty cool. 

Chiwi

Counterpart: Debe ser un ingeniero. 
Me: ¿Ingeniero de chiwi?

Chiwi means 'junk food bag'.

1) Things I Don't Understand -- why do people say someone "cleaned up nicely" if they're dressed nice, like for a wedding? Does that mean they normally look like slobs when dressed in their everyday clothes? "You cleaned up nicely because normally you look like a homeless person."

2) Recycled Laptop Case Finished! 

One of my counterparts and the laptop case

After I showed the case to a couple of PCVs, they joked that I don't seem to have gained weight and one asked if I was going to do a health talk soon. Well, if you are going to make a laptop case out of junk food bags, cardio does help keep the weight off.

3) Quote of the Day -- "By the way, what have you done that's so great? Do you create anything, or just criticize others work and belittle their motivations?" - Steve Jobs

4) Chalk One Up for the Tropics (Again) -- recently discovered a coconut drink here in Panama called 'pipa'. Gotta love the tropics.

5) Music of the Day -- Jaco Pastorius' Liberty City. 

¿Cómo No?

1)  Whatsapp With That? -- in Cameroon, locals who don't have phone credit will call you and then hang up.  You then call them back and have to pay for the call.  They call this bipping someone.  In Panama, the locals use whatsapp because its apparently cheaper than paying for phone credit.  Unfortunately, I don't think I can put whatsapp on my dumbphone, so what ends up happening is that people who want to get a hold of me will not call me unless it was really important.  Wait a minute, that's actually not a bad deal.

2)  Down with Monopolies -- I just used a free online photo editor to redo the banner for my blog.  Better than paying who-knows-how-much for Photoshop.  Not bad for something free, eh?  Its not the first time I've used a free program instead of the more common or popular one.  I also use a free word processing and spreadsheet program (ie not Word or Excel) and they work just fine. 

3)  Reuse/Recycle -- making a cellphone case using a knitting needle and plastic bags:

Now I just need a rocking chair and about 100 cats.

4)  Site Visit -- my program manager dropped by to check out how work was going.  She also went with me to check out a potential accordion teacher:

What a cool boss.  Tiki would never have done that.  If they had accordions in Cameroon, that is. 

5)  The NFL -- Its Sunday and that usually means watching football back in the US.  But I don't really miss it.  I do miss this:

Throwing the Nerf in Ebolowa

Casi Dos Meses

1)  Throwback For my Mom -- something that's religious and that doesn't involve me hiking volcanoes or crossing the Mexican border:

Semana Santa in Guatemala a few months ago

2)  Reduce, Reuse, Refuse? -- I was at a shopping center in the regional capital and I told the cashier I didn't need a bag for my purchase.  She said store policy requires that I accept the bag.  En serio?!

3)  Speaking of Bags -- Well, I guess the former SF tour guide is not a total D-bag after all.   She owned up to her racist comments and apologized.  She said she would like to work with the Chinese community to mend relations.  Hmm... not sure how she'll do that, but it should be interesting.  She should probably do something that doesn't involve a microphone.

4)  Quote of the day -- "What I do know is there are 12 presidents in Africa who credit a Peace Corps volunteer with starting them on the path to the presidency."  Paul Biya is probably not one of them.  Mind-blowing fact:  Peace Corps has been in Cameroon for 50+ years and during that time, Cameroon has only had 2 presidents.

5)  Teaching English -- my colleagues at my partner organization wanted me to teach them English in a classroom type setting so I willingly obliged.  It was a short class, but it was quite fun.  I think I've found my calling.  Either this or selling recycled crafts.

El Ambiente al Puesto

1)  Clean Up Day  -- cleaning up the streets at post with students and teaching them to separate recyclables from the trash.

2)  Sugar Cane For Your Soda

As the song goes, "I can see for miles and miles and …

3)  Enviro Ed --  teaching elementary school students how to reuse/recycle plastic bottles.

4)  Laptop Case Update --  my laptop case made out of potato chip bags/candy wrappers is almost done.

A lot of these potato chip bags/candy wrappers have the recycle sign even
though most of them end up in the landfill.  Ironic, don't you think?

5)  Alligator Tears? -- This baby alligator is looking sad probably because of everyone dumping their trash in it's lake. 

Please donate.  Or just stop littering.