We spent most of the last week experimenting with new foods, and delighting in eating things with fewer steps between where ever it comes from to our plates. For one meal, we had fish sandwiches with fish we caught, bread we baked, and mayo we made from scratch. yes you heard me, FROM SCRATCH. We will never buy Hellman's/Best Foods again. Who knew that mayo could be more than just white gloppy stuff in a jar? Then we learned to make coconut rice, which included making coconut milk from the coconut meat. Again, a roaring success. I have learned a ton of different ways to cook fish, and also how to use local fruits effectively. Papaya can be eaten green if you treat it like potatoes or squash. Mango can replace carrots in bean soup.
I don't post too often these days because I don't want to gloat about how awesome my life is now. I mean it. What can I say except this: I spend my days watching fish and birds, swimming, fishing, visiting with great friends on another boat, and also spending time with the local people in the village we are currently anchored in front of. (I know that is the wrong way to end a sentence. Sorry.) A couple days ago we went into town, and stopped to watch the locals play pool. There are three little tiny stores in town, two of which are run out of people's houses. The selection is limited, but if you pay attention to deliveries, you can keep stocked up reasonably well on produce, and of course, beer. There is also one bar, and a pool hall. The night we were there, a fishing boat had pulled in, and these guys must have done well, because they were buying beer for everyone in town, including Mike and I and our friends. We got pretty drunk, to tell the truth, but had a wonderful time, just being part of the scene.
We have also done some exploring by both dinghy and walking around the island(s). If there are no paths, it is almost impossible to get through the undergrowth unless one literally wants to chop through with a machete, just like in the movies. It sounds really jungle-ish too, with lots of bird and bug sounds. Mammals are usually pretty quiet in the forest, where birds and bugs seem to yowl just because they can. There is always something to listen to. We have found more agates that we could imagine possible in one place. They are good quality too, not simply plentiful.
Sometimes being in the so-called "Third World", or the more contemporary term "developing nation" is hard for me. I tend to romanticize everything, but animals do not have it too good here. There are too many dogs here on this little island in this tiny little village. They are all skinny, poorly tended if at all, and most are suffering from a serious case of mange. There is no concept of spaying or neutering. It is heartbreaking, but there is little to nothing that I can do about it, other than alienating the local people. Mike says we should load up on Frontline, worm medicine, and mange treatment the next time we are in Panama City, and then surreptitiously treat each dog we can get our hands on without getting bitten. He is only half kidding. I have seen no indication the dogs are packing up to cause trouble, so that is a good thing, but I think it is due to lack of energy more than anything else. In town, there are free range chickens - but here, free range means they scrounge for whatever they can get - and at one point I noticed that along with all those free ranging chickens, everyone seemed to have a huge, gorgeous rooster tied up outside their house. It took me a bit longer to realize that these are fighting roosters, as chicken fighting is huge here in Latin America. I have not been to a chicken fight, and probably won't if I have a choice about it. The cats are skinny but seem to be in better shape than the dogs are. Every raccoon I have seen is fat, as are the agoutis.
So here I am, and things could not be better. We are awaiting the new water maker parts, and as soon as we are notified they have hit Panama City, we are off to pick them up. Then our plan (our ever changing plan) is to head north to Costa Rica, leaving by early October or whenever conditions are right for it. Carpe Diem.
"No journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes and equal distance into the world within." (Lillian Smith)
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