The Party of a Lifetime
I have the best teachers in the world. In Playona, that is. I mean, I had some great teachers throughout my life, but in my Embera community, these teachers are top notch. They show up to class and care about whether or not their students know how to read. They are concerned about the well-being of the community. They volunteered to help chaperone when I took 16 kids to an ultimate frisbee tournament out of town so I didn't have to coach and supervise my team of 12 year olds alone. (Thank God!) They also put together a presentation for my goodbye party, in Spanish, a despedida.
I had been out of site since March 19th, with the exception of 3 terrible hours on April 9th when I removed all of my belongings and Peace Corps Staff announced to my community members our removal. By the time May 15th came around, I was dying to go back.
The first thing I noticed upon arrival that morning was the wall-sized butcher paper mural in the town meeting hall that said, "Thank you Licda. Amber Naylor! We wish you good luck and success! Remember us, don't forget us, and carry us with you in your heart always! With love, the teachers and students of Playona"
The teachers had found 4 women to cook the arroz con pollo, the Panamanian party dish of rice, chicken, veggies, and orange MSG. When I handed them 45 pounds of chicken and 50 pound of rice, they realized they needed more help. Many of my ladies volunteered immediately for the chance to get to cook for me one last time. They laughed, joked, shooed kids and dogs, and posed for pictures for me. I left the women working and stumbled upon the best going-away present imaginable, all of the finished composting latrines.
At 1pm the school gathered the whole community into the town hall and did a presentation for me. Each grade sang a song, each teacher thanked me for what I had done and shared fun memories, and then different community members were given a chance to do the same. Some of the little girls did the traditional Embera dances for me and the teenage boys played flutes (albeit hilariously terribly!) with them.
After that I presented each family with a certificate honoring the work they put into the project. The average family had accumulated 145 work hours, and the project president topped out at almost 250 hours. I then presented 5 awards to people that were just really outstanding to work with. We ended it with a video slideshow of my time in Playona. Then it was time for some delicious arroz con pollo!!!
I also had a chance to play some games with the kids and prepare them to come out to Meteti for the Darien Ultimate Frisbee tournament, visit some of my favorite people's houses, and get painted one more time.
I spent my last hour at my host family's letting the boys take pictures with my camera and playing with the babies. Finally, my host dad reminded me that I really had to leave to make the last chiva to Meteti. I got lots of hugs and high fives and then he took me to the port. The chiva was late, so I had time to sit there with a couple of my community members and chat for a bit before the truck showed up. Throughout my entire service, I adamantly didn't drink in my community because it is a controversial topic. (Either you are an alcoholic and going to hell or Christian and sober, there's no middle ground) But when the guy running the shop at the port offered me a free beer, I accepted it.
My chiva driver took me straight to the Volunteer house in Meteti where several of my Darien friends were waiting with dinner. We had a relaxing night chilling in hammocks and going to sleep early before the big Darien Ultimate Frisbee Tournament!!!
I had been out of site since March 19th, with the exception of 3 terrible hours on April 9th when I removed all of my belongings and Peace Corps Staff announced to my community members our removal. By the time May 15th came around, I was dying to go back.
The first thing I noticed upon arrival that morning was the wall-sized butcher paper mural in the town meeting hall that said, "Thank you Licda. Amber Naylor! We wish you good luck and success! Remember us, don't forget us, and carry us with you in your heart always! With love, the teachers and students of Playona"
The teachers had found 4 women to cook the arroz con pollo, the Panamanian party dish of rice, chicken, veggies, and orange MSG. When I handed them 45 pounds of chicken and 50 pound of rice, they realized they needed more help. Many of my ladies volunteered immediately for the chance to get to cook for me one last time. They laughed, joked, shooed kids and dogs, and posed for pictures for me. I left the women working and stumbled upon the best going-away present imaginable, all of the finished composting latrines.
At 1pm the school gathered the whole community into the town hall and did a presentation for me. Each grade sang a song, each teacher thanked me for what I had done and shared fun memories, and then different community members were given a chance to do the same. Some of the little girls did the traditional Embera dances for me and the teenage boys played flutes (albeit hilariously terribly!) with them.
After that I presented each family with a certificate honoring the work they put into the project. The average family had accumulated 145 work hours, and the project president topped out at almost 250 hours. I then presented 5 awards to people that were just really outstanding to work with. We ended it with a video slideshow of my time in Playona. Then it was time for some delicious arroz con pollo!!!
I also had a chance to play some games with the kids and prepare them to come out to Meteti for the Darien Ultimate Frisbee tournament, visit some of my favorite people's houses, and get painted one more time.
I spent my last hour at my host family's letting the boys take pictures with my camera and playing with the babies. Finally, my host dad reminded me that I really had to leave to make the last chiva to Meteti. I got lots of hugs and high fives and then he took me to the port. The chiva was late, so I had time to sit there with a couple of my community members and chat for a bit before the truck showed up. Throughout my entire service, I adamantly didn't drink in my community because it is a controversial topic. (Either you are an alcoholic and going to hell or Christian and sober, there's no middle ground) But when the guy running the shop at the port offered me a free beer, I accepted it.
My chiva driver took me straight to the Volunteer house in Meteti where several of my Darien friends were waiting with dinner. We had a relaxing night chilling in hammocks and going to sleep early before the big Darien Ultimate Frisbee Tournament!!!
Comments
Post a Comment