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Volunteer Site Visit

Jan 31st.
This weekend Matt Vander Molen and I visited a current volunteer, Ryan Baebler, in La Esquiguita in the Herrera province.  The area reminded me a lot of central California, dry grassland with lots of rolling hills and cattle. The first morning we took a hike up into a park in the surrounding hills.  Ryan and a group of men from the community had cleared the trail the week before, but it was still a difficult hike to the top.  But once we arrived there was beautiful view of La Esquiguita and the nearby communities (see photo of the day, Day 19). 

The following day we woke up at 3 am to attend our first matanza (“cow slaughter”). Ryan’s neighbor had purchased a cow the day before to slaughter and sell to the neighbors.  To kill the cow the butcher slit the cows throat and let it bleed out until it finally stopped moving about ten minutes later.  I was told that this is the traditional way to kill the cows in the area, but it certainly doesn’t help make the meat very tender. We attended the second matanza in the afternoon.  A family in the community had killed a cow and was grilling it up to share with their extended family and friends.  It reminded me of family bbq’s in the US.  There were lots of kids running around while the adults cooked, relaxed, danced, drank, and blasted music. The only major difference I noticed was instead of a bunch of men standing around the grill giving advice with beers in hand, the women did most of the cooking while the men sat around and drank seco (a sugarcane-based liquor that tastes like a combination of gin and vodka.  It’s strong, affordable, and very popular in Panama!)

In the evening we went to a Quince Anos celebration for a girl who lives near Ryan.  Quince Anos are held around each girl’s 15th birthday, and the mark her transition to womanhood.  According to Ryan the Quince Anos is often a much bigger celebration for the girl and her family then the wedding will be. It was a really beautiful party, at least 200 family and friends showed up to the celebration.  The music and dancing didn’t stop until 4am
The View From Our Morning Hike in Esquiguita
Location: La Esquiguita, Panama

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