My two year old neighbor Miringo comes over to visit by himself to help me shell beans.The day after I flew into Panama City, I hopped onto a bus westwards as quickly as I could to get away from the city and back to my house. My return back to my community got off to a good start because the car driver decided to go off his regular route just to drop me off at my front door. My dog Ñono came bounding out of nowhere to give me a big hug. Up until current day, I have barely cooked for myself because my neighbors keep sending me over bowls of food. January is the official start of summer (dry season) and also the start of the bean harvest. Beans are first harvested green, and later harvested dry in order to save for seeds. Thus due to the dramatic protein increase in everyone’s diets, and the omnipresent sun after months of rain, people seem happier.
However, not so idyllic was my return to the work projects. After I had settled in, I started poking around, asking about the aqueduct and latrine preparation. Everything seemed exactly as it had when I left 3 weeks earlier, because nothing had been done. Granted, I was absent during the holidays so not much would have happened anyways, but it still would have been nice to hear that someone had tried to call a meeting or a work day. As my remaining months are counting down here, I am pushing to see things get done without me poking and prodding and asking annoying questions every step along the way. We’re not there yet, but there’s still time.
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