Notes From a Small Isthmus: Back in Panama!

Our world took a dramatic change on November 4th, when Heather slipped getting out of the back of a pickup truck and fell and broke her wrist and her L4 vertebra. It took 12 days for her to be diagnosed correctly and for the decision to be made to fly her via air ambulance to NYC for an operation. They fused her bottom three vertebrae together on November 18th, putting metal rods in her back to support her spine. Steve accompanied her home and spent November and December with her, helping her do everyday tasks which she could no longer do. Heather's sister Jan and her husband Tom invited us to stay with them during the recuperation, for which we are very grateful.

Now that two months have passed since the operation, Heather is becoming very independent. She can finally drive a car, and she can get dressed by herself. She can walk for long distances with no problem, and has walked up to an hour and 45 minutes at a stretch. She is still not allowed to bend, twist or lift more than five pounds, though. She has to wear a plastic back brace for one more month. Heather was medically separated from the Peace Corps at the end of December. They only give you 45 days to recover, and if you're not ready, you have to leave the Peace Corps.

Heather is making great progress, and hopes to be well enough to visit Panama and our town of Chepo sometime in March, which is our final month in Panama.

In the meantime, Steve went back to Panama on January 2 and has been on his own in Chepo ever since. The two months will be the longest we will have been separated in our nearly 40 years of marriage! So far, we are coping OK with the situation. We talk every night on the phone and email frequently, sending pictures of each place to each other.

So, after a hiatus of a few months, the blog is back in action. There is lots to show you. One of the first thing Steve did when he got back is the hike that Heather and he would have done the day of her accident. Joan Campau, the PC volunteer in nearby La Loma, led the trip. We visited the town of El Platito, which only has a few houses and a small primary school. We saw two students who commute to the Chepo school while we were there.

You can barely see the school nestled among the trees in the center of the photo

Then we headed to the hamlet of La Margaja, which has only four houses. Two of them belong to two brothers who have 19 children between them. The grandparents are in another house, and an uncle in the fourth. It takes at least an hour to reach the hamlet no matter which direction you approach from.

On the way to La Margaja

Joan and her dog Bobby lead the way

Arriving in La Loma

Of course, we couldn’t just relax when we got to La Loma. Joan’s host family lives right next door, and a group of kids descended upon us wanting to go to the river for a swim. After lunch and some relaxation, we took three kids with us to the swimming hole.

The water here is crystal clear

All three of them claimed to not know how to swim, but two of them did pretty well with a bit of instruction. Everyone had fun.

Joan has fun with her neighbors

Gifts for Mothers

For the past few years, the political party in power (Cambio Democratico) has given out gifts to all the mothers in our area on Jan 6th, in a thinly disguised effort to buy their votes. This year it was a few days late, but the event took place as it usually does. Every mother gets a plastic bowl full of food, and chairs and mattresses were given out by drawing names out of a hat. A few kids got bicycles, too. A politician from out of town talked for far too long, and then everyone got a free meal. Then the fun started. First the mothers took turns swinging at a piñata, which was filled with candy. After the moms had scrambled for their candy, another piñata was there for the kids. This one was full of flour and candy! You can see the results below.

Anita takes a swing

Flour, candy and pandemonium!

Evangelic Baptism

Our host father Aristides is an Evangelic pastor. This past week he had a baptism for eleven people. This is far different from your typical Catholic or Protestant baptism. First of all, the minimum age is ten or eleven, so that the people know what they are getting into. Secondly, the baptism takes place in a stream with waist-deep water. Here are a couple of people who were baptized that day.