Self-Entertainment

Movie Night

The next fund raiser was a movie night. A double feature - Gwendolyn and I only made it through Part 1, but David stayed for the evening film too. Gorgeous paintings on the walls by Damond Kyllo. This is in the Gamboa civic center itself, also where the Gamboa preschool and playgroup meet.

Bake Sale

We've started having a bunch of fund raising events for a new roof for the Gwendolyn's school house. On May 9 we had a bake sale at the bridge.

Here's our contribution.

And here's Gwendolyn, doing her part to hold down the fort.

Tall Ships

Last weekend the Tall Ships came through the Canal. Allen Herre came knocking at our door Saturday morning and we all raced down to the Canal, just in time to see 4 of them pass by.

I think Gwendolyn was more interested in this trail of leaf cutter ants. A Saturday morning procession of a different sort :).

Panama Census

Last Sunday was census day in Panama. Like the U.S., they do a census every 10 years. However, the methods here in Panama are a little more draconian than I remember in the U.S. We were told that we could not leave our houses until we had been counted. If we were found on the streets on census day without a card showing we had been censused, we would be arrested and taken to the nearest police station, where we would be fined (and counted). No one was exempt, including tourists, inhabitants of remote villages & islands, transient biologists - anyone who spent Saturday night in Panama was supposed to be counted. I don't know how (or if) they actually counted the really remote places, like the villages in the Darien accessible only by long canoe treks.

We did not have to wait long. The census worker assigned to our street arrived at 10:30 am and seemed very friendly, very young, and very efficient. He said he had only 10 homes to do--so something like 20-25 people. If that was the typical ratio of census workers to people being counted, Wow, that would be a lot of census workers! After he left, we were given the pink sign shown above to put on our front door, and some pink cards to carry around should we encounter the police (we did not).

I had downloaded the form off the Web and spent a good amount of time translating and deciphering the questions the night before, so filling out the form was pretty easy once the census worker arrived, even though it was 13 pages long. Some of our favorite questions:

Q: Of what material are the exterior walls of the building or house you live in composed? (check one)
Block, brick, or stone
Wood (boards or logs)
Quincha or adobe
Metal (zinc, aluminum, etc)
Palm, straw, stalks, cane or bamboo or sticks [This is where I realized, We are not in Kansas anymore]
Other materials
Without walls

Of what material are the floors of the building or house you live in composed? (check one)
Mosaic or tiles, marble and parquet
Concrete
Brick
Wood
Earth
Other materials (cane, sticks, garbage, etc) [garbage?]

How many days per week does drinking water come to your dwelling- during the wet season? during the dry season?
How many hours per day does drinking water come to your dwelling - during the wet season? during the dry season?

Does your dwelling have sanitary facilities? (check one)
Hole or latrine
Connected to sewerage
Connected to a septic tank
No sanitary facilities

If your dwelling has no sanitary facilities, where do you most often deposit excrement? (check one)
Mountain [or cliff or bush or woods - not sure on the translation here; "monte" - anyone?]
River or stream
The sea [We have seen this; many places in San Blas just have a hole emptying into the ocean]
Use a neighbor's facilities

Other

Interestingly, the census did not ask about race, except you could check a box if you were "considered black or of African descent," or another box if you were indigenous. If indigenous, you were asked to specify what indigenous group you belong to: Kuna, Ngäbe, Buglé, Naso/Teribe, Bokota, Emberá, Wounaan, Bri Bri, or Other.

We later heard the census had been somewhat of a disaster, with many people not counted at all, left waiting all day in their houses. Supposedly, the new Panamanian government that started in Aug fired all the old census workers and got new ones, and so lost the benefits of prior experience. We're not sure what the state of affairs is now; last we heard the census counting continues in an attempt to include all those who were missed. We're hanging on to our pink cards just in case.

Un Torre

Gwendolyn, builder of towers.

Morning concentration

Panamanian Birthday

Panamanian birthdays are full scale events - complete with clowns, organized games, catered lunches, DJs, and party themes. Especially first birthdays. We've experienced a couple so far. Jack's was a few weeks ago, and had a construction theme.

Gwendolyn loved the hard hats.

And the bubble machine.

And the birthday boy? We're not sure quite what Jack thought of the proceedings, but he was a pretty good sport about it. Happy first birthday, little man!

Maya

Friends keep arriving! Catalina, Samraat and Maya just got here, they will be in Gamboa for a year. Maya and Gwendolyn were born just 2 months apart, Maya's parents were in graduate school with me in Austin. Maya and Gwendolyn met for the first time last week, here they are, wide-eyed, shy, still not quite used to each other. Hopefully the beginning of many more playdates to come!

Artist at Work

Gwendolyn has entered a new relationship with chalk/crayons/pens/pencils/anything that writes. She suddenly wants to draw on everything. We're having to become a lot more vigilant about what she is doing where (David found her behind the sofa the other day, covering the wall with drawings with a brown crayon.) She takes her work very seriously and really seem to enjoy it!

Santa Clara

On the way home from the mountains, we stopped at the beach.

The waves were big, so Gwendolyn didn't do much swimming. But the rest of us did - the water was a bit rough but wonderfully warm.

Gwendolyn spent much of her time playing with sand.

Making new friends.

And swinging in the hammock.

After lots of lounging, swimming & playing, we packed up for home.

And - after a long traffic jam and many delays - we finally arrived. Just in time to celebrate May 2, 2010 - Toby's 70th birthday. Happy Birthday, Toby!!!

El Valle - Take 2

On Sunday, we all piled into the car and drove to El Valle, the mountain town we had taken David's dad to during his visit to Panama in March.

The fruit/flower/art market did not disappoint.

Although I spent much of my time chasing after Gwendolyn, and trying to replace the items she had taken from vendor's shelves. She was exuberant, dancing, running top speed, and generally extremely resistant to restraint.

When we did manage to hang on to her, she looked a bit impish, like this. Crinkle face!

We had a lovely al fresco meal, during which Theo kindly did the Wren-chasing.

Embera-Wounaan Visit

It seems like a long time since we've written a post! We have both been swamped, David with editing deadlines and me with lab set up I'm racing to finish before a bunch of new students arrive in June. But to catch up - we had a wonderful last weekend of my parents visit.

On Saturday we took a boat trip down the Chagres River, to the village of San Antonio, which is just a few kilometers from Gamboa, and is the nearest settlement to our town.

The indigenous people who live there are Embera-Wounaan. Most of the people in these two groups are found in eastern Panama (the Darien) and in Colombia, but the community near Gamboa was founded in the 1930's (the same time as most of Gamboa).

Despite this being a remote, secluded village, Gwendolyn was greeted as she is throughout Gamboa, by excited shouts of "Gwendoleeene!" It turns out she is well known, even here. We didn't piece it together until this visit, but Telvinia, one of the Wounaan women living in the village, is also Gwendolyn's pre-school teacher. Amazing, the many connections!

We were graciously shown the village, taken on a walk through the forest, and given the opportunity to join in a traditional dance.

Toby joined one of the kids playing soccer.

I think Gwendolyn's favorite part by far was being shown around by the village kids. She was taken by the hand and shown all the major highlights. Here they are stalking chickens.

Some yellow-rumped cacique nests on the way home.

And then the boat ride back. Here's Gwendolyn, moments before falling deeply asleep.