It's just getting dark outside and I'm camped out in my mosquito net. Apparently I've set it up wrong because there are now mosquitoes trapped inside. I've definitely got a couple bites already but nothing compared to what I should have. Maybe they don't know the taste of gringo yet. Maybe they are waiting to strike and have been planning for days. Maybe the mosquitoes inside have been in contact with the others and at midnight they are going to strike. Maybe not, but I need to get these blood thirsty bastards out of here before they do any damage.
I spent most of my day sleeping, laying around and walking up and down the street. Within that time I've done a lot of contemplation. Sitting on an old growth stump next to the dirt banked river I contemplated how I was going to get through this. It was this kind of thought that took up most of my day again this spot I found next to the river seemed to be a great place to come to some kind of conclusion. The scene really was picturesque with the giant groves of bamboo taking over the once rain forest and stretching out over the river to touch each other on each side. The ground that was once covered in jungle now layered with bamboo leaves as the sun fails to reach the ground here. Tranquil. I sat and pictured myself in place where people go into deep thought next to giant bamboo on a regular basis. Maybe somewhere in China. I sat and contemplated if I was going to be able to live this life. A life where food is scarce, time is plenty, and the seeds of hope are just sprouting. I can see why the Peace Corps has us go to our future site for this week. I can also see why they tell us many times that if we are going to be going directly back the states to bring our shit back. I sat and watched the bamboo sway in the wind and wondered what my life would be like back in the states. What would I be doing. Would I be a bartender again working the tireless night shift somewhere and doing computer work in the day? Would I be partying three times a week and falling over my friends and brothers at 2am? I would probably be doing both of those things. The problem is that the grass is always greener on the other side. This one statement can explain most of my life by the way. This whole Peace Corps thing is supposed to remedy that because there is no grass on the other side for these people and they now depend on me to help. I then came to the conclusion that taking this one month at a time will be the greatest solution. I got up and walked down the street to where the kids were playing baseball.
After another nap and some exercise I walked out into the common room to find my Nabere host mother standing in the kitchen boiling something. She then turned to me and asked if I would like a special meal tonight. Tortuga. I thought she was joking so I laughed and the little girl in the house laughed too. I asked her if she was serious and she said yes. They had just caught a fresh turtle in the creek and it was already boiled up and everything. I looked into the pot and saw what looked like the feet of my pet turtles back home. I tried explaining to her that turtles back home are not a common food because there are not enough of them around. She laughed and said that the community here eats many turtles. I guess that is why it so special. Because there are not many left. I left the house telling her that I would try some tonight when I returned.
I showed up at Solomon's house which is the brother of my host mom and my hopeful future counterpart. Solomon is great. He has a two story hut/house with an 800 dollar solar panel system that can power a T.V. Brian, the last PC volunteer in this site lived and worked with Solomon and I plan on doing the same. I can tell that Solomon is tired and has many things to do so I've offered to help him in the farm tomorrow at 7 in the morning. He told me that Brian had only come to help once for about 2 hours the entire time he was here so in doing this I'm hoping to prove my wanting to help and also my desire to really learn about the chocolate. We talked for hours about the plans they had for a better system of grinding the chocolate and some possible new opportunities in the future with tourism. At one point they put together a business plan to construct a 40,000 dollar eco lodge and restaurant. It was quickly turned down. There selling point was that people would want to see some of the water falls and climb the mountain to see the rest of Bocas. That is nice but not really a selling point. I tried to explain to Solomon that people need things to do. Especially gringos. I can remember when my dad and my brother and I went to a Nabere site where they had a little building for us to stay. They took us on a hike and saw nothing. I can remember my dad saying “where the hell are the animals. I better see a tucan or a monkey or something”. We didn't see crap, but we went fishing with the locals and it was great. I went on to explain to Solomon that things need to be set up for the gringos in a different way. First of all, we have to clean up all this trash. Second, find some damn animals in the jungle and not eat them. Third, find things to do like horse back riding or boating down the river. He liked the ideas. I then explained how in the states that people like to go to the top of a mountain with a bike and ride down as fast as they can. He told me that they would have dead gringos if they did that her and I told him that we could use the bodies to feed the catfish that I plan on growing. He laughed and his wife served me a spectacular meal of tofu, chicken, rice, and black coffee. I had him call his sister and tell her I wasn't going to be eating tortuga tonight. I finished up my time by explaining how my mom once spent 400 dollars to get her iguana's leg fixed. He almost fell out of chair he laughed so hard. They eat those too here. I left feeling better about the day and my time here. If I can get good coffee, at least one good meal, and one good laugh a day, I can make it.
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