A Day in the Life...

     Continuing with the theme of my last blog, I wanted to devote this entry to further familiarizing those friends and family reading about what life has been like in Panama. While trying to explain to my mother what I’ve been doing the past month and where I’m staying and when I can make contact with her (along with assuring her of my safety and caution every couple hours) I’ve realized that, at least to her, Panama is and has been a dark, enigmatic void of scary jungles, poisonous water, and ever lurking danger. While this illustration may for her describe nearly everyplace out of her field of vision while her children are in question, it is the purpose of this entry dispel such mystery and provide a walkthrough of a typical day as a Kalu Yala intern. 

     Some quick things to know: I live in ‘The Valley’, which is our name for the huge amount of property the company Kalu Yala owns in Panama. The Valley and surrounding land are inhabited only by ourselves and the ‘campasinos’, Panamanian mountain men who own ranches or work for ranchers. It lies approximately two miles from the nearest town San Miguel, though that two miles takes nearly two hours to traverse due to the fact that the hike in is almost entirely uphill. The company also owns a large house in San Miguel, a small, rural town (though very beautiful), and the interns living there do a great deal of community outreach work and teach in the local school. Another two hours journey by bus will take you from San Miguel to Panama City and the company hostel, a big pink building rented out to people for revenue, the only place of the three with reliable internet access, and also the home of the business interns who do... actually, we’re not really sure what it is the business interns do, although keep in mind that that they have internet access 24/7, so I’m pretty sure we can safely assume the answer is absolutely nothing. Anyway, we live in the Valley in stints of 10 days, from Tuesday until the Thursday of the next week, and the later half of Thursday through Monday are our days off to go wherever we please, whether it be between the Kalu Yala locations, the beach, or a huge variety of tourism destinations here in Panama.

     In the Valley, my day begins sometime between 6:30 and 7 AM each morning to the sight of warm yellow sunlight rising above the tips of the lush green mountains which surround us.  Once fully roused I forcibly remove myself from the cot in which I have been sleeping, climb down from the second story of the rancho that serves as my shelter from the elements (our broken tent isn’t quite up to the job, although I hear it’s holding together slightly better than one of the others currently in the process of developing its very own aquatic ecosystem), and await breakfast time. Until it arrives, however, I like to kick back in a hammock and enjoy a book or simply the view before me. Soon the chefs are up and cooking to the beat of whatever music they are playing (lately a fitting soundtrack of Eddy Vedder’s performances from the movie Into the Wild) and breakfast is served by about 8:30. 

     

     The official work day begins at 9, and then we are off working on various tasks according to our respective internship program. As an agriculture intern, I am often doing jobs like working on our gardens, fencing them, planting seeds, trees, and plants, clearing weeds, reading farming and agriculture textbooks, planning crop and plant placements, and other such tasks. There is a lot else going on as well: the bio team is forever on excursions observing and identifying plant and animal life and exploring the vast amount of company property (such as the summit they have dubbed Candy Mountain, which may or may not contain a candycane forest or chocolate river), animal science has been hard at work finishing their chicken coup complete with a screened run, a bathouse (no, not for us, jerk), and very soon a new horse stable, and outdoor recreation in conjunction with some business team representatives have been working on marking and cleaning up trails through the mountains with the intent to put together and market eco-tourism packages filled with such activities for those crazy enough to join us in the wilderness. Around 1 in the afternoon our work is interrupted by the manic cries of chief chef Largo announcing far and wide that lunch is served, and once our appetites are sated and co-chef Alex has given up trying to force third and fourth helpings on our plates like your grandmother does at every family gathering, it’s back to work.

     Finally, the closing bell rings at 4, and after that our time is our own. We all gather underneath the rancho and the cabana to hang out and talk for a while, often times a volleyball game will form, and I usually find myself with my nose in a book or a pen in my hand, writing. I especially love it when the skies darken and a storm rolls over us to put me into a lazy, contented trance, which is fairly often in the rainy season. Every day a group goes down to the river to swim and bathe before dinner, although I soon learned that ‘clean’ is a relative term in the valley.  Eventually a hot dinner is cooked up and served by mad geniuses Largo and Alex (who else but a mad genius thinks up deep fried pineapple or peanut butter apple pancakes?) and we eat by tiki-torch light amongst the company of friends. Finally, by about 10 in the evening, I ready myself for bed, climb up to the second story of the rancho, slide underneath a sleeping bag to shield myself from the cold winds of our lofty elevation, and drift off to sleep under the moonlit sky to the bright, sporadic flashes of fireflies and silent strikes of lightning far beyond the mountains which enclose us within our home, the Valley.

     It occurred to me recently that while I have spent a lot of time writing why I am here in Panama and what my goals and endeavors are for this summer and beyond, I have blogged very little about what actually goes down out here in the valley on a day-to-day basis. So for this entry, I will elect to forgo my usual highfalutin language and grandiose platitudes in favor of a slew of annotated photos illustrating everyday life here in the wilderness.

Behold, the rancho, Basecamp 2.0. This new two-story structure is where take a break from the shade, study up on research (using actual books and encyclopedias, remember those?), and, most importantly, eat. No joke- using only a propane fueled stove our chefs have us eating like kings thanks to an abundance of fresh food and raw cooking talent (raw referring to talent, not our food).

It rains quite often here in Panama, and as a result most every structure which frequently houses human beings is surrounded by water drainage trenches, also known as muddy death traps once daylight fades around 7 each night.

Standing right next to the rancho is the cabana, fully equipped with hammocks and hand crafted benches and tables. The upper story houses a bookcase crafted by fellow UF student and intern Alice, or Big Al. It’s here that I prefer to relax and focus on my writing at the end of the day, staring off at the misty mountains in the distance.

Behold, the aforementioned mountains.

Of course we don’t waste all our time playing volleyball. We call it valleyball here.

One of the local rios. Also, the shower.

This lovely couple frequently visits our home in the valley. I have yet to see them separated by a distance more than about twenty feet.

See, I told you we actually do work. The working day lasts from 9-4 with a lunch break in between, and after the day is over our time is our own to relax, play volleyball, cards, or, in my case, read and write. Here the Ag Crew is constructing a raised bed using bamboo, sticks, and rocks, which we subsequently planted with various crops after researching mutually beneficial combinations. The raised bed allows us to plant seeds in softer, better soil. It’s basically like a permanent planter that you never have to transport once the plants grow too big. Why yes, I am holding a machete.

The finished product, with cowpeas already growing down the middle after less then 3 days. Also, note the barbed wire fence we installed ourselves around the agriculture land. The fence posts you see are actually tree branches, and they’re still living. After a few months they will have sprouted limbs of their own, and eventually each and every fence post will be a small tree growing in the ground. It’s called an agrofence, and it’s awesome.

Here fellow ag intern Jordan and I are working on our Magic Circle. This is where we plant the enchanted beans we traded one of our cows for. But not really though. It’s actually a big hole in the ground we throw leftovers in, giving it the dual purposes of garbage can and composting heap. The nutrients from the decomposed organic material spread to the surrounding soil with the help of rain, making the surrounding soil ‘magically’ rich and fertile.

We learned the Magic Circle technique from a local campesino like this one, Ramon. Ramon lives here in the house he built in the mountains and lives off the land. He is also a wizard. For example, he has a pet parrot that has lived with him for 23 years that herds his cattle for him. Here he is teaching the Kalu Yala interns how to make baskets out of thick vines which he has sliced up with his trusty machete.

Here is a small basket he whipped up.

Here is how Ramon eats oranges. After cutting them this way he squeezes the juice out, he doesn’t even need a cup.

 

Here we are enjoying Ramon’s fresh coconuts, cut down with what I can only describe as a hand made Gopher Grabber. 

This is a secret waterfall Ramon took us to. Of course I was wearing a shirt, mom.

Finally, we’re not in the valley all the time. On weekends we venture out to the city where we meet and worship with our family here in Panama. This picture was taken at a bible study one Friday night at a family’s home, and we also meet Sunday morning for an extended service in a small one-room shop where sermons and songs are in Spanish. To the far right is evangelist and great guy Greg Roark who gives his sermons in an American accent that I can understand and who translates for Sarah and I if we have any trouble.

     So there you have it, a little taste of the good life. We work hard and play hard out here in the valley, and I’m really enjoying my stay. I’m learning a lot about agriculture techniques and management, honing my Spanish skills, taking on responsibility and independence, and having a great time in general. I miss my friends and family back home a lot and think about you all the time, but my place is here this summer.

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Knife

5-25-12

     Most days, when I'm feeling angry or upset or depressed about anything that's happening in my life or that I'm dealing with, I channel my emotions into playing a song that parallels my emotions or by writing, finding refuge in a world of my own creation where everything is as it should be, as opposed to real life. I find the experience cathartic, and it allows me to come to grips with whatever is troubling me without letting the situation reach volatile or violent levels. Today was not such a day. Today I ventured a ways from Base Camp with a well-sharpened, arm-length machete in hand and released the (unrelated to Panama) frustration that was inside of me into the decapitation of innumerable shoulder-height weeds littering the valley in full Indiana Jones fashion. Fields need clearing out for new growth, and so too do minds.
     With that out of the way, and feeling considerably more awesome for having spent a whole afternoon swinging machete around, I must say I'm loving my stay here in Panama. The view is magnificent, the staff is always great to work with, and, believe it or not, the chefs here in the wilderness of Panama have us eating like kings. On the business side of things, I have big plans within the Agriculture program. I'm currently researching and designing an aquaponics system, and would eventually like to integrate full-fledged aquaculture into our sustainable farm. I still have a lot of work to do before my project has a chance to get off the ground, but I'm excited about the implications of such systems (fish and aquatic plants!) and how naturally I believe they will fit into our environment and climate. My end goal is for there to someday be in the town of Kalu Yala a truly natural ecosystem of organisms like tilapia, bluegill, minnows, mussels, reeds and brush, taro, kiwi, passionfruit and more existing in a symbiotic relationship that both minimizes any negative impact on nature and maximizes efficiency and yield through intelligent design tapping into the awesome and too often overlooked power of nature and mother earth.

 6-2-12  

    On the more spiritual side of things, last night Sarah and I visited with a family for a bible study about what the world would be like if Christ had not come to earth, or “Si Jesucristo No Hubiera Venido”. And yes, it was almost entirely in Spanish, with someone translating main points into english periodically. Thankful for my Spanish classes in high school, I was able to decipher, if not all the exact details, at least the message of what was being said before being translated, and I was also able to converse a bit afterward as we ate a delicious meal of arroz amarillo, pan, carne, plantains, y te de pina. We even stumbled our way through a song or two, and I was surprised to learn that a lot of our songs are the same music but with different (and Spanish) words. Overall, it was a great experience for Sarah and me both, and I know we're all the more excited to be spending time and worshipping with these people over the next two months.


"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple."

                                                                                                       -Psalm 27:4