Transplanted

I dropped off a couple specimens at a lab today. I passed the goods through the little window and the exchange with the receptionist went something like this:
— ¿Tu nombre?
— Janell-- her eyebrows raise-- J-a-n-e-double l, Henry.
— ¿Fecha de nacimiento?
— El 30 de mayo del 1995.
Eyebrows shoot even higher. I think. I laugh a little. I tell her I look mature for my age. I feel like an idiot. She laughs. I correct myself.

I am loosing my mind amidst all the urban stimuli of Panama City. My ankle sprain has proven persistent enough to warrant physical therapy. So here I am, finally learning to navigate the congested heart of this country (with much trial and error). I am meeting a different class of Panamanian, the well-groomed and well-spoken urban dweller. I am poorly dressed (in well-worn and stained clothes) and crude-mannered among Latinos (forgetting greetings and farewells, pulling off shoes to unveil blackened soles at physical therapy), but I am trying to redeem my redneck ways, promising to send cocoa seeds to the orthopedist and physical therapist.

Back in Bocas, cacao farmer field days continue. We have graduated from tree nurseries (one of my farmers, Dionildo, has planted over a thousand trees!), and are tackling pruning. It is a mostly new practice for my farmers and one that, if realized at all, is traditionally done with a machete, the all-purpose campo tool. Thus pruning shears and pole pruners had their debut in the community. It was love at first use for my farmers, who promptly asked me where they could buy them and how much they cost. My response disappointed some. Since $15 requires a savings plan for most in my community, we are working with a lending system.

My tomatoes, green beans, and zinnias (thanks, Janet) have become the envy of my neighbors, and the okra and watermelons are something of a curiosity in the community. Last Saturday I tried cashing in on this interest by hosting an open house/work day. I subjected the farmers that turned out (all six of them) to a day of discussing and constructing raised beds and trellises and making compost. Their creativity ran loose; one group used balsa tree bark as a container for their compost and another utilized my fence as part of their trellis design. They tasted okra for the first time, learned how to tell when a watermelon is ripe, and received a party favor: seeds. I, in turn, was introduced to two local plants to use in my epic battle with flea beetles.

Pictures to come when I locate an SD card reader.

Almost famous

Check out a posting by the lovely Bocas cocoa team on the World Cocoa Foundation website: PC Panama Farmer Field Schools