#49 - Crazy kids

23/03/2011 (posted 03/04/2011)

Had a pretty good night's sleep.
It's nice not having to use a mosquito net as they're such a hassle to put up and make me feel quite claustrophobic when I'm falling asleep which isn't great.

We walked up to the Pastor's house for some horrifically sugary coffee and delicious Hojaldra though they tasted slightly of sardines, almost as if the pan used to cook the sardines yesterday hadn't been properly washed. I'm not making any accusations though.
It's a shame that they decimate coffee with sugar and milk over here.

The houses here are really basic and small. They're slightly bigger than my room at home and have everything in one small area - beds, clothes hanging up, chickens running around etc.
In Panama, the indigenous communites and especially this one are considered the lowest of the low and really looked down on by society.
The contrast between the simple lives here and ours are just staggering to comprehend. It seems that here, they live just for the next day - most of what they do is making dresses, cooking and if they're Christians, services. Going back to the UK is going to be a massive culture shock but, without meaning to sound patronising, the simplicity here is quite refreshing and it makes like a lot less stressful than in the twenty four hour news Western culture.

We did a kids programme in the morning which was interesting to say the least.
We started with a few songs which have actions. Kids usually really go for these and love joining in but these indigenous people are so shy that almost no-one joined in. Andy and Jess were clowns and really exaggerated the actions but the kids still didn't take the bait.
After more lukewarmly received activities, we finished with a wide game. The plan was to divide the 150 kids into groups and each group had to get a piece of paper from each member of our team, who were hiding.
However they just all ran around like crazy and had no concept of one piece of paper per team - I was surrounded by all these kids grabbing paper from my hand.
Bless 'em.
I managed to find a place to hide in the shade leaned up against rock and even drifted off to sleep a couple of times.

Although it didn't remotely go according to plan, they all enjoyed the run around except one guy who slipped over and sliced his lip open with one of his teeth.
Ouch.

We gave them some leaflets at the end and they crowded around us like a mob just snatching at them. I tried to motion to them to instruct them not to grab but my efforts proved fruitless.

Lunch was ready at 11:15am which was welcome news as we were so tired from the kids programme. However for some reason we couldn't eat it until 12 which was bloody annoying.

We had the afternoon off so did some group devotions in the church whilst eating fresh oranges. We ate them in the Panamanian style - peel off all the skin to leave the white stuff on the outside, cut the top off and just suck. It was interesting but juice went everywhere, so I think I'll stick to cutting in future.

The girls have stopped wearing their tribal dresses already apart from Lissette who, due to her being Panamanian, really looks the part. They're failures.

We went to the river again for a wash - the route may be more complex than Bonyic but there are some brilliant rocks for jumping off and the water is so cool. It's exactly what we need every afternoon.

I MC'd the evening service and it went well. We decided to go right back to basics and teach the fundamental Gospel message which was enthusiastically received by the audience - a lot of them bring their kids along so were glad to have them hear the message. We also taught them Here I Am To Worship in Spanish (Vine Adorarte).

When we got back to the room, I zonked straight out.

JG