Farewell Boquete

It was with a bit of a heavy heart that I left Boquete yesterday morning, and not just because I had to pack up and lug my big pack again after a month of settlement.  It was because I felt at home in Boquete; at home in my house with my family, at home in the city knowing the streets and lifestyle, and at home with new friends of the local and travelling variety.  Yes I will miss Boquete, not sure when I will get back, but it’s nice to know that I will always have a warm welcome if I do.

Elva, Yolanda & Patricia

One positive was the escape of the tropical rains that seemed to move in over my last week there.  Each day the downpour starting a little earlier until yesterday when despite getting up at the crack of dawn I still had to take my laundry to a Laundromat for drying - wadding through puddles up to my ankles from the day long flash flooding with laundry and umbrella precariously perched.  The light at the end of the tunnel was the cutest little girl that I met while waiting for my drying.

 

She was 5 years old, and spent about half an hour talking to me in Spanish.  I couldn’t understand much of what she was saying at first, so I tried to tell her about me and why I was there.  Upon hearing this she immediately said that she was a very good teacher and started pointing to different items of clothing, saying the name in Spanish and looking at me to repeat the word.  What a sweetheart.

I think this is what I will miss about Boquete, the small village vibe where most everyone is friendly.  After a month you see the same people and are automatic friends when you see each other out and about.  Sad but true, all good things must come to end…however usually one experience is just a prelude to the next great experience, so wherever you are enjoy your time today and dream for tomorrow.  

Rewards of Volunteering

I have had the opportunity to volunteer at some pretty cool places down here when I’m not in class.  As with any other volunteering I have done, it has been a very rewarding experience. 

Casa Trisker is an orphanage in Alto Boquete.  They have over 80 children living there of varying ages.  I went to help with the new project of planting a garden.  Once it is up and running not only will it be a wonderful source of food for the orphanage, but also a valuable tool for the kids to learn about gardens and take on the ownership of caring for it. 

Casa Trisker

We started by tearing up the weed overgrown earth and clearing a patch for the garden.  After a lot of work it was ready to plant.  We planted a variety of vegetables and herbs, hopefully with all the Boquete rain they will thrive and produce soon!

Amigos de Animales is an effort to help the animals and reduce the number of stray dogs and cats in Boquete.  Once a month a couple of veterinarians come to Boquete and the locals can bring their dogs and cats in for free operations; mostly for the ‘snip snip’.  I spent some time there on Sunday and saw over 70 animals come through.  My job as a volunteer was to care for the animals post operation, as their anesthesia wore off.    

The Five Little Kitties!

Most of my time was spent with Flopsy, a border collie looking pup.  She was one of the slower to come back and it was over 2 hours of my massaging her before she was ready to go home.  I think she just loved the relaxation, because every time I would stop petting her she would start stirring, as if to say “What is going on here, why are you stopping?” 

I also helped five little marmalade kitties who came through, they were absolutely precious.  The little kitties were so tiny, weighing only 1 lb., they had to be sandwiched in between heating pads to keep their temperatures up post op.  After about 20 minutes with the extra heat they started to stir and then it was all cuddles!    

El Milagro Coffee Plantation

There are over 200 coffee farms in Boquete, it is one of the most famous regions in the world for specialty coffee production.  I visited ‘El Milagro’ or ‘The Miracle’ which is a small Panamanian owned coffee plantation that produces a specialty coffee known as Geisha.  This variety demands one of the highest prices on the coffee market and Mr. Tito, the owner, exports almost 100% of his coffee to other places around the world.  In the 2010 National Coffee Competition, Mr. Tito won second place for the best specialty coffee in all of panama.  This is no small feat given that his modest plantation is merely 12 acres; he is competing against huge plantations of over 900 acres. 

El Milargo Coffee Plantation

Of the over 200 plantations in Boquete only 6 or 7 have the equipment to process and roast their harvests.  Almost exclusively these are the large plantations, because the machinery required is very expensive.  Mr. Tito has engineered all of his own processing and roasting machinery from old jeep parts and other recycled materials.  For example his roaster is made out of a dryer bin with tin foil for insulation.  It cost him a few hundred dollars to make, versus the 15K it would cost for an industrial roasting machine!

Large Dryer Bin Roaster in the Back
Test Roaster Upfront Made of a Jeep Headlight

Many Salvaged Parts Came From This Jeep!

The cycle from planting a coffee tree to drinking a cup of coffee is very long and involved.  Approximately two to three years after a coffee tree is planted it will start to produce a crop.  The tree flowers, and then when the flower falls off a bud slowly grows into a berry.  Berries take around 9 months to ripen to the point of harvest.  The berries are fleshy and contain 2 seeds; they have a mild coffee flavour. 

Coffee Beans on the Trees

Once the berries are harvested they go into a machine to remove the outer skins.  After this they go into a basin for 30 hours to ferment (this is a special process that larger plantations don’t incorporate).  Fermenting allows the beans to soak in the flavor of the flesh.  After fermentation, beans are separated and dried.  They sit in drying racks outdoors for 15-20 days, followed by 3 months indoors in a secluded room so they don’t absorb any other smells or tastes. 

Once the beans reach the proper humidity level they go through another machine to remove the next layer of skin.  At this stage they are called green beans and smell like dark chocolate.  Over 60% of the crop is exported at this stage, as many specialty coffee shops like to roast the coffee beans in house.  The name on the hand screen printed coffee bags is ‘Royal’, which is a combination of Mr. Tito’s parents’ names, Rosa y Alfredo.

Beans Drying

I had the opportunity to actually do the roasting process.  The beans were roasted for around 12 min; a glorious 12 minutes where the entire place took on the smell of chocolate.  The difference in roasting a light to a medium to a dark roast is about 45 seconds.  Light roasts have the lightest flavor but the most caffeine.  I learned that lower quality beans do not come in light roasts, because it is necessary that beans of lower quality be roaster longer to slightly conceal the flavor of the actual bean. 

After the roasting I tried each bean to taste the difference, and then we ground it up and drank an amazing cup of coffee; plain black, very smooth and not bitter at all. The morning was very motivating.  Mr. Tito’s plantation and processes are ingenious engineering, a feat of amazing creativity.  He is truly an inspiration, proving that we should all follow our dreams, no matter what the odds!

Our Roasted Beans

Mr. Titto & I 

A Few New Roommates

It’s a good thing I am a lover of almost all animals…and in my old age have become comfortable with insects, rodents and amphibians…  Why?  Because I have a few new roomies that like to grace me with their presence when I least expect it! 

First is the gecko.  He is pretty cute and usually comes round in the evening, creeping his translucent little body about my walls. 

Next are the roosters (my fail proof alarm) and chickens, their favorite pastime is to fight on the tin roof over the shower. 

Third is a teeny little mouse, only about an inch long…I like to think she’s a she; and often she comes in my room in the evening for shelter from the rain.  This is not by choice of mine, but from a teeny little hole she has chewed in the door. 

Fourth are the frogs, they have yet to hop into my room (thank god), but I hear them wribbet with rejoice for life every day.

Lastly are the butterflies and beautifully colorful moths.  I usually have one waiting on my door or stoop to welcome me home.

Not exactly what I'm used to, it always keeps me on my toes...but I guess it's nice to have some friends in Boquete who don't tire me out with a language I don't understand!

An Awesome Saturday @ Exploradora Garden & Club Cabana

This weekend Elva and I went to the Exploradora Garden, which is a very unique, whimsical, and inspiring place.  Visitors walk along paths taking in beautiful flowers, panoramic views of Boquete, and imaginative creations.  When you reach the peak of the garden you are at over 2,200 feet so the views of the city below are spectacular, although as usual in Boquete it was quite foggy.

Witty and inspirational quotes are all around, tucked into every nook and cranny.  I could understand some of them, Elva helped me with others, and I took pictures of lots to figure out for homework!  My favorite was a sign posted on a big tree, “What is the biggest miracle of the world?”  After you round to the other side of the tree there is a mirror that says “You are”.  I also quite enjoyed a witched smashed into the side of a very tall tree with the sign “If you drink, don’t fly”.  

Elva and I picked berries along the way, not sure what they were - sour, but delish!  She also pointed out the coffee plants, which will be ready to harvest in November.  Boquete is famous for its coffee production because of its extremely fertile volcanic soil.  It’s on my list to visit one of the many coffee plantations here.  After we finished exploring Exploradora we walked the few miles home, just barely missing the afternoon showers.   

In the evening I went to Cabana with a neighbor to see a Panamanian band perform live.  They were awesome and it was a great night full of music and dancing.  I even found a translator; he kept me up to speed on all the lyrics which was nice J.    

Five Reasons Why I Love Elva

I feel so lucky to have landed in Elva’s house for my month in Panama.  She is a wonderful woman and I am going to miss her incredibly when I leave.  Here are the highlights of why I love my Panamanian Mama so much:

Elva my Panamanian Moma

1.)    She Talks Slowly.  I am getting to the point where (with a little of the dictionaries help) I can read and write most simple stuff in Spanish.  I am even starting to be able to express myself with confidence.  The hardest part for me is listening to a Spanish speaker and trying to understand what the hell they are saying.  It’s nearly impossible!  Elva speaks slowly and if I have a blank look on my face she rephrases things in another way for me to try and understand.  If I don’t know a word she will act it out for me so I can guess.  I feel more comfortable conversing with her than anyone else!

2.)    She Loves Bob Marley.  Her lives her life ‘muy tranquillo’ as she says, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory in English.  It’s fitting for her demeanor that Elva loves Bob Marley; she sings to the songs and dances around the house all the time.  She was suitably impressed that I had just seen Damien Marley live at Coachella!  Along the same sing song note, Elva also loves Glee and we watch it on TV in Spanish!

3.)    She Includes Me With Her Friends.  She is really trying to make my time here memorable and authentic.  After dinner we often go on walks together to her friends’ houses, the women start talking a million miles a minute and I can barely pick up a word, but its fun!  Last week she took me to a Birthday Party.  I couldn’t believe it - they sang two versions of Happy Birthday - the English one and a Panamanian Song (not just the normal words in Spanish, but a special song). 

4.)    She Knows Everyone.  Elva grew up in Boquete and I don’t exaggerate when I say she knows everyone.  Usually we eat dinner at home, but a couple times we have gone out together to local a restaurant and she buys me dinner (at local places a large dinner w/ drink is about $2.50).  This is always really fun because she knows EVERYONE and they all stop by to say hi to us!

5.)    She Has A Blender & She Loves It.  Anyone who knows me very well knows that I believe the blender is the most important kitchen appliance…by far.  In her quite modest kitchen, Elva’s blender is front and center.  She blends up the most delopsh liquidos (smoothies with ice) and batidos (milkshakes) in the entire world.  Fresh Mango, Pineapple, Passion Fruit, and Papaya are my favorites…Banana is also a keeper!

A Trip to the Supermarcado

I was planning to go to yoga this afternoon, however as I walked out from class an older Panamanian woman, with a young girl, called me over and started asking me question after question; Do you go to school at Habla Ya? Where are you from?  How old are you?  Is your house close to here?  On and on…I got parts of what she was asking.  It was raining outside and she wanted to give me a ride.  I explained that I lived very close and she immediately knew it was Elva’s house and wanted to come over to say hi.

Unfortunately Elva was not home.  This woman kept chittering to me in Spanish at a million miles a minute.  God knows how I picked up through her extremely rapid Spanish that she wanted me to go grocery shopping with them.  I figured what the hell and hoped in her car…

Grocery shopping was very interesting!  The woman was shopping like she was stalking up for the end of the world…15 cartons of milk, more pounds of chick legs that I care to remember, 12 bars of soap…at this point I started to worry. 

Was she kidnapping me and this was to be my ration in her basement cell?  Was she going to try and make me pay for all this?  Was I going to be trafficked into the Panamanian sex trade?  Was the girl accompanying her merely a strategically placed prop to lure me in?

I made sure to say to her multiple times, in as best Spanish as I could, that after shopping I needed to go home and speak with Elva as she would be worried about where I was.  I would have just left, but I was worried about offending her (due to my overly active imagination concocting an unlikely situation).  I am here to write the tale, so yes she did take me back home eventually!

I later learned that Louisa-Marie is in fact a friend of Elva’s, and is a lonely woman who talks a lot because she lives in a big house all alone.  In Elva’s words she is very nice but, MUY LOCA!

My First Week Learning Spanish – Practica, Practica, Practica!

Thus far, I am thrilled with my experience learning Spanish at Habla Ya in Boquete.   I take a 1 hour private class with a tutor named Janeth each morning, and then a 4 hour group class every afternoon with Irasema.  Both of my professors are amazing, very positive and encouraging.  Basically no English is spoken in the class, all instructions and explanations are given in Spanish.  Talk about being thrown into the fire, I am certainly glad I had at least a little bit of a base before I arrived!

In the classroom there is a large focus on speaking and comprehension, we do lots of reading exercises and just take turns asking each other questions.  The hardest part is trying to remember all of the vocabulary we are learning so quickly.  We also go on little trips to practice our Spanish in ‘real life’.  We all went for lunch at a local place, Café Nelvis, and practiced ordering in Spanish and then had a great time getting to know each other better. 

My First Week Class & Teachers

Cafe Nelvis

Every Tuesday evening the school hosts a ‘Panamanian Dinner’ where they invite all of the students for a traditional meal.  This week they served the traditional dish for the celebration when a girl becomes a woman at 15 years of age.  It was coconut rice with chicken boiled in some sort of delicious sauce and a salad of beets and carrots with a dressing that I can’t even begin to describe.  The food was excellent and I loved learning about the culture behind it.  It was also nice to get to know more of the other students.  We spoke some Spanish, but also a lot of English which was a nice break for my brain!

Boquete is a fairly quiet little village town and very safe to stroll around.  My house is right in the center of town and I can walk everywhere.  There are a number of restaurants and bars - one of the most popular is Zanzibar.  You can always find a couple of students and locals hanging out there.  The locals are very keen to have a drink with you and let you practice your Spanish on them, especially the men ;)  It’s pretty nerve racking and I’m sure I sound like a train wreck, but they are very patient.  Usually about 10 minutes in we are speaking Spanglish as a lot of younger people here speak some English.

If you want to learn Spanish, or anything for that matter, the mantra is ‘Practica, Practica, and more Practica’.  It is invaluable to be in Boquete learning Spanish as there are so many different situations in which I am learning - in classes with my teachers, out with Elva and her friends, and in the community with my fellow students.  After only a few days I am inspired at how far I could come in just a month of immersion.  Practica, Practica, Practica!  

Mi Familia y Casa en Panama

Let me start out by saying that I absolutely love my family and living situation here in Boquete, it is pretty much perfect!  Elva is a 54 year old single mother who has raised two children on her own.  Patrice, her daughter, is 21 and lives at the house.  She goes to school in David and works in Boquete so she is not home very often.  Elva’s son, Franklin, lives in Jamaica with his family.  Also in the house is Elva’s mother, Grandma Yolanda.  Yolanda is a sweet heart; she sells lottery tickets in the town to help support the family, which by the way is illegal!

My House in Boquete is One of the Oldest in the Town

Elva, Yolanda, and Patrice are all very positive and supportive of me.  They only speak Spanish to me and it is unbelievable how well we can communicate after only a few days.  Patrice speaks some English so every so often she will speak English, but Elva doesn’t like this.  She says, “NO, solo en Espanol Patrice!”  Elva has taken a real interest in my Spanish learning and she spends a lot of time with me chatting and trying to teach me things.  Sometimes she asks me to teach her a couple English words too J

The Backyard

A lot of our chatting and learning is done over breakfast and dinner.  Elva is a great cook and is always asking me what I like so that she can buy it at the market.  Panamanian food is not so different than food at home, although the fruit is much tastier!  For breakfast sometimes we have an omelet with cheese, peppers, onions and tomatoes; sometimes we have yogurt and fruit; this morning we had a mango and pineapple smoothie (woman after my own heart) and raisin toast.  Dinner is the smallest meal for Panamanians; typically they have their large meal at lunch.  At dinner it’s usual for us to have rice with beans, salad (usually cucumber, tomatoes, vinegar), and a small amount of meat (lots of chicken).  Fish is very uncommon as it is very expensive here.  Last night we had spaghetti!

The Kitchen

Elva is very laid back and the whole living situation is pretty flexible.  She just asks me my plans and we eat and visit whenever.  My room has its own external door to the house so I can come and go through the lovely garden path as I please.  When I’m home I spend some time in my room and lots of time in the living room and kitchen with the family.  Elva and I watch TV and movies in Spanish; I can’t understand too much yet, but it helps to listen to the words. 

The house is one of the oldest in all of Boquete!  It is made of a combination of wood, cement, tin and cardboard.  The house has 3 rooms and is all open air; the door frames don’t reach the tin ceiling, there is air flow in between.  The windows are generally screen stapled to the wood.  The floors are cement, as is the shower in the backyard.  The house is very comfortable - I could be happy living here forever, with one minor adjustment, the shower water!  They have hot water which is a luxury in Boquete, however I guess ‘hot’ is all relative…I would rate it as very cold…not ice cold, but not even close to luke warm!    

The Shower

   

An Unforgettable Journey from Miami to Panama

Tavelling on a budget means not always taking the most direct route from A to B.  If I had chosen the easiest and expensive route from Miami to Boquete, Panama, I could have done it in 5 hours with one flight and a couple of taxis.  However, in order to arrive in an economical fashion, my trip covered many different legs in a voyage lasting over 24 hours.  Some may be thinking, “AYE - I’ll just spend the money”. 

I would argue that my route left me not only richer in the pocket, but much richer in experience.  If I had taken the easy route I would have missed out on some amazing memories and the people that went along with them.  Not to preach, but it’s an important life lesson, slow down and take it all in!

The first leg of my journey was the public bus from South Beach to the Miami Airport.  I met a wonderful man who was from Mexico, but grew up in Los Angeles.  We chatted about my recent trip to LA and our mutual, newly found love, for scuba diving.  He was on his way to the Bahamas for a scuba vacation.

From Miami I flew to Atlanta, where I had an hour layover.  My hour was spent in the company of Dwight, an Atlanta native who has been to Panama many times.  He drew me a map and wrote down some must see places in Panama.  In addition to the insider tips, it was so nice to have someone to walk and talk with when arriving in Central America and going through customs for the first time.

OK, next was a taxi from the Tocumen International airport to the bus station in Panama City, about a 40 min drive.  Enrique was my favorite person that I encountered along my journey.  Not only was he the first Panamanian I talked to, but the first thing he told me was that I needed to learn, “Quiero las pintas o cervezas”!  Enrique is a 28 year old Panamanian who lives in Panama City; however he studied English and French in Montreal for 10 years, so we bonded over our Canadian ties.  He was born in Boquete, so he told me all about the city and even knew the host family I was to stay with.  I was early for my midnight bus so Enrique gave me a tour of Panama City, a very modern place in architecture and feel.

At midnight I boarded the night bus from Panama City to David, a 7 hour trip.  I was the only tourist on the bus and there was absolutely no English, so I was a little unsure…but it all worked out, I just followed the local’s lead.  I got a little sleep here and there, but it was tough being my first ride and not really knowing what was going on (multiple stops at which officials got on to check ID’s and panhandlers walked the aisles).  Even at midnight outside it was HOT, on the bus…not so much, I was freezing!  The woman beside me saw I was cold and shared her blanket with me.  She didn’t speak any English, she just looked at me wrapped me under her blanket with her, bless her heart. 

I arrived in David at around 7am.  David is the second largest city in Panama, after Panama City.  Boquete, my final destination, was another 30 kilometer away.  The Spanish School arranged for someone to pick me up at the bus terminal in David upon my arrival.  Sounds like the most legit part yet right, hahaha…well it was definitely the most entertaining. 

My driver Felix informed me that he had been notified an hour before (mmhmm) while at the casino drinking rum that he needed to pick me up.  He was happy I was Canadian because I could understand why he smelled!  We drove along, sometimes crawling and sometimes flying, with him continually saying “OH NO, I get fired, I just jump out!”  After which he would come to a stop on the side of the road and start laughing hysterically.  He also wasn’t quite sure where he was supposed to take me, and thought maybe his casa would be best.  He threw out the suggestion that we should just be married, along with a couple other borderline inappropriate ideas, but all in good spirit so I didn’t mind!  

We finally arrived in Boquete and he talked to the school who told him I was to go to my host family’s house not his!  With multiple cheek kisses, he bid me farewell to my Spanish family - Familia Miranda.  Immediately I felt comfortable and knew I was going to love them. 

When Mama Elva, daughter Patrice, and Grandma Yolanda welcomed me into their home with open arms I knew my journey was complete.  And what a memorable journey it was…I wouldn’t change any of it, no matter how long and tiring, for a million bucks!