Maps Galore

I have recently started working on several tourist information signs which will placed around the community. They will have the history of the community in English and Spanish, a map of the community and a map of the islands. This will help make San Cristobal more tourist friendly, help orient them while walking around and provide some much needed information in English.

So, I was sitting in my hammock the other afternoon, making a few sketches of the community, when I had a moment of inspiration. Why not have a competition among the 3 middle/high school classes to see who could create the best community map? I went to talk to the three professoras and they loved the idea. I was pumped because the kids hardly ever get to do anything creative and I was excited to see what they would come up with.

We started by brainstorming the important things they should include on the map, such as the artisan houses, the small stores, the hostel, the local centro de salud, the Christian and Evangelical churches, the schools, athletic fields and cemetery. Each class then divided up to work on a rough draft and once it was approved by everyone then got to work. Below are some photos from the three days it took us to complete the activity.

Above, one of the rough draft sketches. Below, the kids working to color in the final version.Professora Ida's class won first place with their version of San Cristobal, pictured above. The winners were chosen by the tourism group I work with. Most of the community is centered along a central walkway, so the maps begin at the public dock in front and go all the way to the cemetery which marks the beginning of jungle and people's farms.Professora Lilybeth's class took second place with their map.

Third place went to Professora Gloribeth. I was a hard choice and I will be using all the maps on two signs and the third will be posted in the hostel. More photos of the finished signs to come!

Cast of Characters

I have decided to start a new series on my blog highlighting some of the my most favorite people in San Cristobal. My first profile is of one of the grandmothers in my community named Isabel. But no one actually calls her that...¨Ma¨is her nickname of choice. I will say that most of the abuleas, grandmothers, are called that so if there is every confusion she also goes by Isa Cri. Cri literally means ¨big¨in their dialect and since there are also two Isabels, she is the older of the two hence big Isa. She is a member of the artisan group and mother of two of the other women I work with.

When I first arrived, I thought she hated me. She would sort of shout to me in dialect, and when I didn´t know how to respond, she would stare for a minute, give me a wave of her hand and give me a frustrated Ahhh! and walk off. Slowly but surely, we bonded. I could say a few things, and my spanish/dialect combo seemed to win her over and even thought she doesn´t speak any Spanish, but that didn´t seem to hinder our hilarious converstions. She teases me about boys... especially when cute tourists are around, worries about me when I am away, and calls me her hija. I in turn bring her banana bread or brownies and love to be around her cause we always end up cracking up about something.

The other day I was eating some chicken soup that the women´s group had made and just hanging out with the ladies in the artisan group. It was really hot that day, which in Panama means the perfect day for soup. We were all sitting around sweating, some us laying on benches, just talking. Ma, happened to be eating her soup aross the table from me, when she looks down at the chicken foot she had in her hand. She starts to chuckle to herself and when I look over, she holds up the foot in the air, points to it and then points to me. I give her a look of confusion, then she points to her own arm, then me, then the chicken leg again. At this point, she is near the point of tears she is laughing so hard. I realize she is saying that my arm is so white it looks like the chicken leg.
All of the other women start laughing to and I am in tears. Ma, can hardly breathe she is laughing so hard. I happened to have my camera on hand, and we decided to document the moment. I developed this picture for her a week ago and when she saw it, we cracked up all over again. Spending time with her reminds me of my own grandmothers and I will miss her gentle teasing and her laugh.

Stayed tuned for the next installment of cast of charaters! Shout out to former PCV´s Jay and Julia who inspired this blog.