Back in the USA and more to come

We have made it safely back to our families, despite the best (worst?) efforts of Spirit Airlines (we arrived a day and a half late). It was a hectic last couple of weeks in Panama, and has been pretty busy here as well. Plus Blogger didn't publish some posts we'd scheduled (who knows why), so it has been a bit slow here lately. Sorry for that. We promise to make up for it soon.

Over 4th of July weekend, we were at my folks house in Lexington, VA, along with my grandma, my sister and her husband and the nephew we'd never met, my cousin and his wife and their daughter we'd never met, and April's parents. It was a busy time, but extremely fun, with lots of food, laughter, and talking. We didn't even view any of our photos.

So far, cultural adjustment hasn't been too hard. We have stayed in the house mostly, with just one quick run to Kroger's and to Wal-Mart. (We were subjected to the Michael Jackson memorial "news" on TV, which was definately a cultural event.) We are catching up on some sleep and shopping for a laptop and a cell phone, two of the main steps to plugging back in. We have our veggie car back (thanks to April's folks for taking care of it), and April proved today that she hasn't forgotten how to drive, so we have some independance as well. Next week, we'll visit April's grandma in North Carolina, and figure out where we are visiting next (Cincy and the Baltimore area are our top candidates right now).

But more importantly, watch here for some more recaps of events during our time in Panama (April will do pictures and summary of the course and time she spent in Isla Coiba), as we reflect on our final weeks and the full two years, realize differences we hadn't noticed while we were down there, and look through our pictures and find other stories we wanted to tell. Thank you for watching over these past years, and we hope to see many of you soon.

Final Boat Update

A few weeks ago, I thought I wouldn't have any more progress to report. They had righted the boat and put a "roof" over it of zinc panels. I thought that was to keep it drier during the rainy season than it would have been otherwise.

(Allie's boat under cover for the rainy season; it was perfectly upright originally, but they tilted it again when they continued working)

It turns out I was wrong. They covered it so they could keep it dry enough to work on. Pedro and a fellow from port applied fiberglass to the lower sides of the boat (a very smelly process) and then started to paint it. The fiberglass and resin/glue cost roughly $800; which is more than most folks on the island make in two or three months, so it took some budgeting and planning to purchase the materials and have them applied (labor is probably $8 to $10 a day as well, and probably took three to five days on a boat this size).

(Painting the boat after the application of fiberglass layers; five on the keel/bottom and three on the sides.)

Pedro achieves the very straight edge by tautly stretching a line of cord from the back to the front of the boat, and slowly painting and chatting.

(April helped out with the chatting part of the painting, which is a very common form of help)

UFO in Panama!

Many of you reading this already know that I am a bit nerdy at times....I might as well admit it to the rest of you because you will figure it soon enough. But really, I am also a fairly normal person too.

So it all started last year...the observation of one of the coolest bugs that I have ever seen. Panama has some great wildlife to observe...but I doubt that many people have visited to see the lightning bugs. Yes, lightning bugs (or fireflys to some) do exist, they are not just a Disney or Hollywood creation as my fellow PCVs from the west coast thought...poor souls who grew up deprived of lightning bug wonders.

Here on the island we have "normal" lightning bugs, a little bit smaller than those in the states and sometimes a bit more sychronized (video of sycronized lightning bugs)....but basically the same. We also have two other types of lightning bugs. My nerdy self just wiggled in excitement at the diverisity of it all.

The first one I noticed had a big bright orange light...its light was about the size of my thumbnail!!! I only got to see it flying as it tended to fly faster and higher than the "normal" lightning bugs. It also seemed to flash with a bit more frequency and when it flashed its light was frequently a sequence of flashes, not just an on and off again. I was facinated by these bigger orange lightning bugs, but they seemed too fast for me to catch, especially since they seemed to like the woods around our house more than the fields...making running after them much more difficult. So I just admired from afar waiting for the day that one would make the mistake to cross my path.

There was also a lightning bug who had the normal green/yellow color to its flash. I only knew that it was a different type at first because the strength of the flash was so strong. It strobed with the power (and sometimes the speed too) of a weak camera flash!! One night we had one of the strong flashers in our bed room, so I got out of the mosquito net to see what it looked like. It was a fairly non-descript beetle...a bit bigger (about 2x the size) than of a normal lightning bug. Pretty cool, not as common as the other two...but very powerful flash!

So just imagine my gleeful nerdyness when I looked out the "window" (fancy word for the space where we made the bamboo wall in the kitchen short to keep the view) and saw two bright green lights at the edge of the woods near the house. They looked like green LED lights. So of course I went to look thinking that it would likely be two bugs...and was very excited to find one bigger beetle with two lights.


This is what the lights looked like. He could control the brightness of the light to some extent...it could be very bright or dim...and powered up and down like it was on a dimmer switch. Very cool.

This is what he looked like under a light. Pretty non-discript in his color and markings.

This is to give you a sense of scale and size. He crawled all over my hand for a few minutes...turning his lights on and off. If touched the lights turned on very bright. I was finally tired of bothering him when he decided to fly away...and shocked the heck out of me...as he took off and flew away the underside of his abdomen light up ORANGE!! I was thrilled!!

Lucky for me, he did not fly far and I was able to chase him down and look at him again. I looked at his underside...but there was no way to tell that he had an orange light under there...it must be covered when at rest. But each time he prepared to fly the orange light would flare up on the underside. After much patience on my part and a hand over top of him to keep him from getting far I managed to get a photo of both lights. The orange light is just starting up in this photo.

It turns out, I think, that he is the same lightning bug that I have been admiring flying around our house. The one that was brighter, orange and tended to fly faster and higher than the "normal" lightning bugs. I had wanted to see one up close and never managed to catch one until now...and even then it was a suprise!

Below is a brief video of the lightning bug taken by Kevin. If you are very observant you can see the orange light start up in the moment before the beetle escapes us photographers with a flying get-away. Watch carefully...when he goes it is FAST!

In my wanderings around the web I visited the Wikipedia site on fireflies and found out that sycronization of flashing is common in some areas...

"In the United States, one of the most famous sightings of fireflies blinking in unison occurs annually near Elkmont, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains during the first weeks of June. Congaree National Park in South Carolina is another host to this phenomenon."

Guess I know what I want to see if I can ever manage to hit Tennessee in early June!

I continue to watch the lightning bugs in facination. There are some really cool insects here to see...and to photograph. I would like to thank my faithful and patient lighting aide Kevin for his help to photograph the bugs that visit us. Some people would think I am just strange, but he just smiles and holds the flashlights steady.

Grand Opening for the Island Library

It happened!

La Biblioteca (the library) is open! As you may recall, the community had made plans to make bookcases and organize books. Well, the chainsaw never worked out (due to a lack of gas and/or oil and/or machine), and bookshelves never got built. But, there was a spare bookcase from the kitchen in the school, and they decided it would work fine for the library and they would replace it when the chainsaw happened.

So, as scheduled, on 5 June Cecilia and her husband Eduardo brought their boat to our cove and we loaded up the six "Panama" bags we had filled with the books stored at our house and hauled them to the school. We organized them that day and the next with Cecilia and Maria Luisa into little kids (thick pages), easy reads, medium reads, chapter books, Panama information, science and education books, health books, books about adolescence, and English or Spanish books. We confirmed the plans for the checkout system and library hours. They talked to everyone about the Grand Opening on Tuesday, 9 June, and we actually left for the weekend, arriving back on Tuesday morning.

It turned out that Cecilia and Maria Luisa, together with the maestra, were up to a bit more than the Grand Opening of the Library. The maestra had organized all the kids in the school to sing a song or recite a poem for us, and they had a going-away lunch.

Then we had everyone wash their hands (manos limpias para los libros - clean hands for the books) and we held a story time to celebrate. We had all the kids, plus some younger siblings, and numerous parents. I read one of the Guillermo Gusano / William Worm books that the kids have enjoyed. I think it was a good example for the parents of how to read to the kids.

Then April went over the rules of the library and how to treat books well so they last. (And to think, I was librarian's child. :)

(April reviewing the rules of the library, on the whiteboard and posted on the wall. Together with a map of the world - we later added a map of the Gulf of Montijo and one of the island - it looks pretty official. The books nearly fill the bookcase already; they are planning on making another one.)

After the rules, April read them a book we hadn't read in nearly exactly a year, Donde Viven Los Monstruos.

(April with a very attentive crowd of listeners as Max sails back home)

When the wild rumpus started, April shocked them to their feet to dance around, while I joined in banging on a plastic bucket. They thoroughly enjoyed story time, and hopefully Cecilia, who will host the Wednesday Library Hours with Story Time, will carry on the enjoyment. (Maria Luisa will hold Sunday Library Hours.)

But while we do hope Story Time continues, one of our main goals is to encourage kids and adults to read in general. We hope to have something for everyone.

(Rubiel, Carlito, and Kiko reading, while Roxanna and Soray look at books and talk with April)

Thus, this picture is one of the ones we enjoyed the most. These three boys all clambored to find a small book and sat down to read it. Kiko lives north of us and had been by our house regularly on his way home from school to ask for a book to read, and searched out his favorites. Rubiel lives on the south of the island and Carlos near the school, so they had not read any of the books before, and enjoyed discovering the options. I have faith that they will continue to read in the future.

So what came of the donations, which were originally intended for sealable boxes and desecant packs? Since the community decided the books would be more accessable on a bookcase, and donated the bookcase, April searched around online and found another addition to the library that they had wanted: an encyclopedia, to support homework projects and learning. She found one from Encyclopedea Brittanica for $250 (plus $50 S&H once we got an Embassy address; originally, to ship to Panama was $250 as well!) with 20 volumes, aimed at the middle school age range, so it should provide as much as they need. We just spent the rest of the money yesterday at Hombre de la Mancha, one of the few bookstores in Panama (the name comes from Don Quixote, not only one of the greatest Spanish-language novels, but an appropriate label for the jousting at windmills that is selling books in Panama), picking up the fourth Harry Potter, a set of 12 books on nature, the world, and science, and other kids books. In total, the library now has nearly 400 books! Thanks to all of you who shared your love of reading and your willingness to help with our community members!

Campaign Signs

I know the election is over, but here are some photos of campaign signs.

("Chalo" is running for Alcalde, or mayor, of Santiago. Because he is the PRD candidate, he is in the first position on the ballot, thus the "1" with a checkmark. His suplente, or backup, is also listed. And the presidential logo for Bablina/Navarro 09 is included, along with the name and photo of Ruben de Leon for Diputado, which is more or less a congressman.)

Often, utility poles will be utilized by all the parties.

(This pole has a Molirena flag on top, then a Union Patriotica poster for Diputado - which also includes the presidential alliance with Martinelli of Cambio Democratico -, then off the side a PRD flag, a Cambio Democratico poster for Alcalde, and then a PRD poster. The PRD poster says Vota PRD and Vota Plancha, which means vote the party, and shows the Presidential candidate, the Diputado, the Alcalde, and the Representante. There is a "1" on the side, just in case you forgot which spot PRD holds on the ballots.)