I think my feet are acquiring the smell of wet boots or it could be that my boots smell like wet feet. Anyways there’re some funky odors embedded in my socks. It has been raining just about everyday during the last 3 weeks, but the rain doesn’t stop the work. I have been helping dig fish tanks and gardens, teaching English classes, and leading cake baking classes.
Cake class was well attended by males and females alike. The women took turns as head chef, and the men took notes for their wives. We make four different cakes: vanilla, chocolate, lemon, and ginger/cinnamon. All of them cooked in a cake pan inside a large pot over a fire. And all of them turned out well, and now I have requests coming from all over the community for follow-up classes. Which means lots of cake sampling. Now I have to think of more goodies to offer classes on that use other local produce. Maybe soon I’ll be teaching marinara sauce and pumpkin pie classes.
English classes are a bit of a challenge, but lots fun. My students, who number my host parents, neighbors, and town’s government official, are very excited. Some even bought new notebooks for the occasion.
I haven’t bit the mud (fallen) in over a week, and I am starting to earn some street credit among community members. Although climbing up mountainsides is no longer the challenge it once was (Columbus, Ohio didn’t supply much training there), I still find myself tired before the day is over ad more susceptible to illnesses. All of the newness around me is a bit much, and it is hard not to internalize the sadness or be overwhelmed by the abundance of teaching opportunities or injustices, the 17 year old with 3 children from a man 10 years her senior. Sometimes I go nuts inside. But it’s one day at a time, one soggy step followed by another soggy step.
About Me
- Janell (Henry) Weiss
- I am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who worked in sustainable agriculture in an indigenous Naso Teribe community in Bocas del Toro Province of Panama.
oh, golly how much do I want it to say 'act globally'
1 comment:
hello! I recently read that it's better to live in hillier places (instead of flat surfaces) b/c then people walk around with their knees somewhat bent and loose, instead of locked like most americans, which affords them more flexibility, agility, and their bodies can respond more quickly to sudden changes, such as in terrain (hence athletes also usually have knees and elbows bent and ready to respond!). it also said that if you keep your knees and hips loose, your spinal column would be looser as well, which is better for general health. as a reminder, don't forget to learn from your pupils. it seems like most indiginous cultures have the most fascinating healing systems, as successful or unsuccessful as the "western" modality (gotta love those iatrogenic diseases...). that actually reminds me of a psychology book i'm reading where they throw out the idea of: "how do we know we are the way we are as adults b/c of how we were treated as children? (cause and effect). maybe we are the way we are as children b/c of what we will become as adults." with the argument being that an NFL football player may have been a wimpy little kid hiding behind his mother because he wasn't yet ready to take on what he would become. as a child, it was still too overwhelming...i thought it was an interesting thought at any rate, and it was written by a 60 year old psychoanalyst who is against the new age mumble jumble, which seemed to give it more credence...take care! i hope you wake up everyday excited to be alive! -manders
Post a Comment