Vacation Daze

Apologies for the extended absence without an update to this blog. I’ve been sans computer for about 3 months now due to a broken power cord situation. This climate seems to devour electronics as many of my fellow volunteers can contest, so I consider myself lucky to have had only to replace a cord. Since my last update I’ve had visitors, taken vacations, partied in Parita, and managed to get a lot of work done amidst everything else.

"Diablicos Sucios" at the Corpus Cristi Festival in Parita. The dance depicts the battle between the Archangel Michael and the Devil.

In Mid-May Heather arrived and our favorite Scottish-Boricua was immediately put to shame by the almost fluent Spanish of her fairer skinned friend. We spent a night at an all inclusive resort here, dancing salsa at the discoteca and getting a workout (and slight sunburn) at the swim-up bar. We then returned to my town where Heather met my friends and neighbors, and hung around in my hammock while I worked with my coop members and tourist group. Heather also cooked some delicious meals for us and introduced me to some new culinary possibilities. Finally, we did touristy stuff in Panama City getting particularly lucky during our visit to the canal where we saw a U.S. submarine pass through, followed by a Disney cruise complete with Captain Mickey waving to us from the deck.

In the last week of May Peace Corps hosted a Business Planning Seminar with the help of some Panamanian government institutions that help develop small businesses. About 6 volunteers attended, each of us accompanying someone from our community who was interested in starting or expanding their own business. I brought my neighbor and friend Maria who has been working with me on the tourism project. Her potential business would be a small artisan store to sell masks, pottery, postcards, and other souvenirs to the tourists who pass through Parita. The seminar helped her put together a written business plan outlining her products, market, and five-year sales projections. In the coming months we’ll continue to develop her project while looking for prospective funding sources for start-up costs.

After 10 months in Panama I decided I needed a vacation, so in June I hit the road to Nicaragua in a tortuous 20+ hour bus ride. Once I arrived though it was all worth it. I visited the beautiful colonial cities of Granada and Leon, taking day trips to the beach and Laguna de Apoyo, which is a lake in the crater of an extinct volcano.

Nicaragua is full of volcanoes and since it seemed to be the thing to do I hiked the extinct Volcano Maderas, which along with Volcano Concepción forms an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Interestingly, this lake is the largest in Central America and was considered alongside Panama as a potential canal site since there would be less excavation work to do. However, a Nicaraguan postage stamp depicting the still active Volcano Concepción was enough to convince American speculators that Panama was the safer choice for their canal investment. I had an amazing time in Nicaragua and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to meet some friendly people and take in the country’s incredible historical and natural sights.

Who's he stepping on?

Heading back South I spent a few days in Costa Rica which was a little more touristy, and accordingly more expensive, but no less beautiful. Between bus rides I managed to zip line through the Monteverde cloud forest and eventually arrived at the laid back beach town of Puerto Viejo. I’ll definitely be making a return trip to Costa Rica when I have more time and money to play around with. Back in Panama I visited my good buddy Mike at his house in Bocas del Toro (near Costa Rica border on the Caribbean side). He had some friends from the states visiting and we all got it poppin’ at his house (see below) and the main island.

I was happy to return to my site after two weeks of living out of a backpack, and sleeping in hostels crowded with smelly people.