Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Ruminations on recent happenings

Hello Family and Friends,

It has been an epoch since I have updated my blog but after much talk to family and friends, I realized that more people read this thing than I actually imagined.  So I thank everyone who has their own busy lives but takes time to read a jotting or two about my journey.  It was inspirational when I talked to one particular person and he started to read what I had written on my blog verbatim.  So, dear reader, an update follows by a truly inspired and thankful updater... :) 


I have been busy with classes, meetings and basketball camp.  It is nice to be busy with different things to do and projects to undertake.  It is also nice that (as I hear from other volunteers) my classes aren't shrinking and they are doing the opposite by growing.  Unfortunately, I have had to turn a few excited students down when they requested to be in my English class because there was not enough desks for everyone.  As you will see in a picture, the classroom is completely full with students and people had to sit in chairs that don't have a desk attachment.  We are looking for another facility but it is hard to find because there is night class at the high-school and that is the only other option.  The computer class is going very well too.  Whenever I see the little students in the street, they always greet me with excitement, sometimes too much excitement.
Taking unit 2 test.  As you can see we are over-capacity

Test

Computer class at the elementary school

Working hard or hardly working?

I also started a basketball camp for high school students that has been an unexpected success.  I asked many people in town what they thought of the idea and most people said that basketball is not popular enough to have a camp.  I still continued to try to pursue the idea though.  I went to the high school and gave a little speech about the camp starting and hung up fliers around the school.  Twenty people showed up to the camp!  I was happy that so many people wanted a different option than soccer.  The first part of the camp we have drills and I teach them some rules that they might not know.  The last part we scrimmage and we usually have three to four teams, the winner always stays.  I am the referee and I stop the scrimmage at times to teach.  It is a fun thing for them to do.  Some high schoolers want to start a team with 7 guys and travel around the country playing different teams in Costa Rica.  They still need more practice and drills before this though.

I have traveled to in these days and have been able to see some cool things.  I went home for 2 weeks at the beginning of July and it was a true joy to see all my family and friends during these weeks.  Thank you to everyone for making it so special.  This past weekend, I traveled to Volcano Barú in the northern part of Panama with a family from my site.  The whole family is in my english class: Edwin (the father), Sol (the mother), Steven (17 years) and Emanuel (13 years).  The father is owns a transport company that delivers things between Panama and Costa Rica.  He distributes products for a company called American Flower and transports flowers and plants between their two locations (one in Alajuela which is by the capital of Costa Rica , San Jose and the other in Volcan, Panama right by the Volcan Baru in nothern Panama) or to ports to have the plants exported (mostly to Japan).

The story of American Flower is interesting, I will summarize it.  In the 60's Mike Thomas (yes same last name) came to Costa Rica from Florida to look to a better place to grow his flowers and plants.  He didn't know any Spanish but was able to meet some Ticos and learn spanish and start up his business.  He had three sons: all of them born in Costa Rica and all work the company.  One of them works and the company in Volcan (the town we stayed at in Panama), Tony Thomas.  He was born in Costa Rica but went to college at Texas A & M.     He was a really nice guy and knows english and spanish perfectly.  He looks like an American but is actually Costa Rican.  It was interesting to talk to him and about his life experiences living in Costa Rica and running a business that at times has been in a very competitive market.  They were interesting people and made the trip an enjoyable experience.

In these days, I have been trying to write more poetry.  I feel poetry (even though I am still not good at writing it) is something special that ordinary prose can't express.  So I wrote a little Rondeau, a 15 line poem about our trip to Volcano Baru:

Volcán Barú
Barú the destination that we voyaged,
Erupted with force years ago that ravaged
No more is the force active within,
It sits in silence like the reposed Bolboan
Scarce heard among the Guaymí village

Living their lives as She watches from above,
Fighting to gain another's wife with a shove
Quiet! Let them not see us as we peek
Barú the destination.

We feast as the sun shows its face
On Hojaldres, Tasajo and Torrejitos at a place
Nourishing the body of millions for generation
From Torrijos to Noriega, leaders of the nation
And Gringos, always omnipresent at the base
Barú the destination.



Glossary
Barú- Volcano in Northern Panama.  The highest point in Panama.  There was a large eruption in 550 AD but it hasn't erupted since and most believe it is inactive.

Balboan/ Balboa- Refers to the Spanish conquistador of Panama Vasco Núnez de Balboa.  He came in 1513.

Guaymí-an indigenous tribe that lives in various villages surrounding Volcano Barú.

Fighting to gain another's wife- Is a reference to the tradition by the Guaymian people that if a man wants another man's wife, they have a fist fight and the winner gets the prize of the woman....until another man challenges him.  Apparently this is still a tradition among the people, two different sources told me this.  We saw a fight one night, one man knocked the other down after a nice left hook and after the he helped his opponent from the ground, that man was declared the winner of the "prize."  

Holjadres- A type of fried puff bread of Arabian descent that Panamanians eat for breakfast    

Tasajo- Dried, smoked pork that Panamanians eat for breakfast 

Torrejitos- A fresh corn fritter also is eaten for breakfast.

Torrijos- Omar Torrijos, maximum leader of Panama (dictator but a progressive one if that exists).  Signed, with Jimmy Carter, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties that eventually gave Panama control of the canal.  Killed in a plane crash in 1981 (some say the CIA did it after Reagan was elected.)

Noriega- Manuel Noriega, military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989.  When the US invaded in 1989, he was removed from power.  Exiled in France.

Gringos- Spanish term for people from the United States. Somewhat vulgar but everyone uses it so one needs to get use to it.  Americans have had a long historical presence in Panamanian affairs since the canal was started in 1904.

I hope you enjoyed the poem, even though I don't too much about poetry and I haven't written much in the past I hope to continue to learn, read and write more.

Here are some photos from the trip:

Breakfast!! Holjaldre (top center) Tasajo (left center)

The Zuniga/Ovares Family. Costa Ricans dont smile in photos

Mi Jardin in Boquete.  The shah of Iran visited this garden once.

Eating at a buffet in David, Panama

Ping-Pong at the house where we stayed in Volcan, Panama.

The "fight" between the two Gymians

Barú dominating the background

 I hope all is well stateside, I think of everyone often and I miss and love you all.  PURA VIDA!

Elliot



   

  

3 comments:

  1. Elliot, this was a wonderful blog post! Thanks for keeping us updated!

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  2. Glad to hear your English class and computer class are going well. Sounds like a fun trip to Panama, too. Keep up the great work!

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  3. Hi Elliot, so, it's quite probable that you have no idea who I am. I'm Jeff McCarron's daughter, and many months ago my father sent me the link to your blog. I suspect it was an unsuccessful attempt to guilt me into writing more frequently in my own blog, but regardless of his motives, I have checked your blog every so often and really enjoyed what you've written. So, I just thought I would say hi... and you should keep writing. :)

    p.s. your students are adorable

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