08/03/2011 (posted 17/03/2011)
I´ve been in Panama a month to the day.
Can´t believe it´s that long since I was home - had another brief bout of homesickness this morning where I pictures my home and my room and Harbury and Leamington.
It seems so distant and far away, another life completely.
I guess it is.
Had a good 9 hours sleep - it was pitch black by about 8pm so had no real choice. Mosquito net was very tight around me but it seemed to work so happy days.
Woke up and went for a shower - there was no water. I fancied going to the river but we have to go as a group or be accompanied by a local and no-one was around so I guess I´ll wash later.
It's fairly cool in this area - the sun is very bright but the shaded areas are lovely and comfortable. It'd top it off if there weren't any mosquitoes about but you can't have everything.
Breakfast was punctual and very nice - egg with a sauce and some delicious bread very similar to ciabatta.
We had a drink made from cacao fruit grown a few metres from the church - it was a nice intense chocolatey taste without all the sweeteners we are used to.
The morning was very interesting. We walked to a local community called Solong which consisted of around 6 houses.
I should mention at this stage that the route involved crossing four rivers, all of which came up above the knee but luckily my shorts stretched high enough up to avoid them getting wet. We then walked through a couple of forests before arriving there.
To call this area rural would be a gross understatament.
Upon arrival we split into three groups and went to talk to the residents - we used Evange-cubes which are fold-out cubes that tell the story of Jesus' crucifixion and our salvation.
One houses had the most random collection of animals I have ever seen. There was one ferret-esque thing, a screechey tamarin thing which had sharp claws and just hung off stuff, a pig, some chickens and a cow.
It was difficult just walking into people's houses and telling them stories. I think this culture is much more open and welcoming to people cold-calling but for I, an Englishman, it was tough.
We invited them to a short meeting at a local woman's house. She is called Lisenta and has just one leg. We had a bit of a crowd there so did some dramas, told a story and sang a few songs and that was the morning.
The route back was the same but with it being later in the day, the river was higher. We still managed to get through with our shorts heavily rolled up but my sandals dragged in the current and I nearly fell over, camera in hand, several times.
We had a free afternoon until 3 so Andy, Jarett and I went down to the river. It was refreshing and comfortably cool, not freezing cold.
The current however is ridiculously strong so we had to cling to rocks to stop ourselves being dragged away down river. Apparently some English people died here once so we ought to be careful.
However the current allowed us to develop a game - we waded into a deep area and clung to a piece of bamboo and rode the current for a while downstream. It was awesome.
When we got back Jess tidied up my hair with scissors - it really was atrocious but she did a pretty good temporary job.
We spent the afternoon playing volleyball and softball with some guys who travelled from local communities. They had all the proper equipment and were really keen whereas we were some gringos in completely inappropriate gear who had hardly played ever.
The bowler was amazing and I confess that I didn't manage to hit the ball even once.
Give me a game where you have one hand on the raqcuet and I'm laughing - two is unnecessary.
Dinner was small but I've decided to have no snacks inbetween meals as I need to adjust to the smaller portions. The juice we have with each meal is delicious but at the bottom of each jug is a sediment of sugar so I need to watch how much I drink.
We led a service in the evening in which attendance was fairly high which was nice to see. Jarett did his sermon then we prayed for some sick people.
Again I'm having an early night and planning to go to sleep at around 9. It's a big change for me but I'm getting to like it.
JG
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