Wow! What a wonderful day! And what a long one too...
It started, in a sense, at 11:30 pm on Thursday night when I awoke and went to the john. En route, I felt something damp on the corner of my long nightie. I thought I was simply not awake (I had been rather soundly asleep) But, when I went over to the window, I realized that not only was it damp, it was downright wet on the floor. As in a HUGE puddle! I briefly thought perhaps there was a broken pipe, but quickly realized that the water was coming from the air conditioner. A lot of it. Dripping rapidly.
I grabbed a towel and dried as much as I could - then turned the AC off, put fresh dry towels underneath it, turned on the fan over the bed, and went back to sleep.
At 3:45 am, the alarm clock was 5 minutes away from waking me but my internal clock, set with the "I don't want to miss this by being late!" alarm, rang and I was up. The AC had stopped dripping. I quickly sun-screened and bug doped myself (Eau de DEET). Then I sprayed my clothes with DEET again just for good measure since there is a Dengue Fever epidemic here and all you really can do to avoid it is to avoid being bitten which, for someone who mosquitos seem to think is a great delicacy to be eaten as much as possible, it somewhat of a trick. I put on my hiking boots (so glad I packed 'em) and double checked: camera - check, extra charged camera battery - check, hat - check, large water bottle - check, small water bottle - check, lunch/snack - check, and ruana for the bus - check. I went downstairs so I'd be there when Aris arrived and started an email to my landlord telling him of the AC problem. About then, I realized that I had never had any coffee. !!!!
Right on time, at 4:45 am, Aris arrived and, after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with the guard, was allowed down to pick me up. We sped over to UTP, where a bus was awaiting, as were a number of students. We packed up the bus with all manner of gear: brackets, a spool of cable (coaxial?), numerous bright orange extension cords, tools, antennas, and boxes of gear needed to do what we were going off to do: Namely, to set up 3 schools with networks.
The bus got off at about 5:30 as we waited for the final stragglers to arrive. Everyone looked bright and shiny, although there were also a lot of yawns. Off we went into the darkness!
I sat with Aris who gave me a great commentary on where we were. We passed many diablos rojos, all decked out with pain and lights, and trucks also dressed up with fancy lights. The towns slowly got smaller and more spread out, and finally, we were out in the countryside.
The sun came up - though not in the place I thought it "should" be - it was on our left, so we should have been heading south, but we were heading west. A mystery it shall remain because the same was true en route home.
We arrived at the first school, Los Ruices, at about 9:45 am. We piled out of the bus, and went to meet the principal. Aris kindly introduced me as a visitor from the US, with which, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the front of the classroom, telling me to say something to the class. Out the window went my paltry Spanish! I stammered out something - probably "no hablo bien" (I don't speak well) which was painfully obvious to all present. It was one of those "please, earth, swallow me whole NOW!" moments! You'd think I would have put something together quickly after that. But, whether it was the early morning, or the heat or what, the next 3 classrooms all went about the same way - or rather, worse. <sigh>
Luckily, *I* wasn't the main show! The students quickly went to work. The girls went class to class with a questionnaire about current computer use, while the boys worked to get the antenna up. It took quite a lot of figuring to get it up. Of course. Things like this rarely go smoothly. While they were at work, I busied myself taking photos of the darling kids and of the school as a whole. And sat in the computer lab since it was cooler in there.
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| School #1: Los Ruices |
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| Aris and the Principal |
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| Our team comes in |
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| Classroom for older kids |
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| Current textbook on computers for elementary kids |
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Aris stopping for a moment for a picture. Usually,
she was a blur, moving here and there to
make sure everything went perfectly
(which, thanks to her, it did) |
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| Aris and some of the kids |
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| The guys work with the technology... |
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| while the girls administer the questionnaire about current computer use. |
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| Putting up the antenna was a collaborative effort |
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| Kids will be kids |
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| A lovely mural at the school with one of the lovely teachers |
Once the antenna was up, we all trooped up to the cell tower on the hill above the school to install some software there. Luckily for me, a very kind man who was assigned to the project took me up in his truck. He was an incredible driver! Right before this shot where he stopped to unlock the gate, the truck had slewed and leapt over incredibly eroded and rutted dirt. I really didn't think it would be possible to pass - but he did, saying that he'd been doing this for 16 years so he had a lot of experience. Even so, I think I would have been a little more comfortable had the seat belt worked.
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| The cell tower |
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| The team |
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One of the guys fooled around and climbed up a bit
It was just for fun because what we were
doing was inside the control room
(is that what it's called?) |
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Stringing the extension cord to power the
equipment |
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| The gang walks on down the hill. We follow. |
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Back at school, it's time for the kids to go home (12:30!)
Kids only go to school half a day! |
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| The team finishes up the installation. |
And voila, we're ready to be off to the second school, El Piro.
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| The school was going to give us a noon meal |
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| But the kids... |
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| had gone home. |
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This is the machine we're installing a server on
to provide wireless access. |
While part of the team was working at El Piro, Aris took a bunch of us to the third school, Mwaguada, not far away. No one was at the school, but we were able to get things installed just the same.
Mwaguada is a school for Ngöbe–Buglé children. The Ngöbe–Buglé are one of the indigenous groups in Panama, living on a "Comarca" which is sort of like a reservation for Native Americans. Most live in poverty. This school is for their children.
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| Aris doing a dance |
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| While the team watched |
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| Finding electricity to power the antenna was tricky |
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| Meanwhile, I walked around to the front of the school. |
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| Los Guapos |
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The ladder was too short to work this way
so the bus backed into position to allow
the guys to climb on top to work. |
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| Aris overseeing things |
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Two leaders from the Ngöbe–Buglé community came
up to see what was happening at the school. |
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| Still working on getting power |
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| Testing the antenna, here held by hand on the top of the bus |
At last, the antenna was up, powered, and working. We piled into the bus and headed back to pick up the rest of the team.
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Just next to school was a snack shop where many of us
purchased soft drinks for 40 cents. Cold and sweet,
they hit the spot in the heat. |
Tired, hot, weary and a bit sunburned (and bitten sad to say) I joined as we all piled into the bus to head home. There were many nodding heads and snoring students, to the great hilarity of those who were still awake.
As we rolled along the highway, I thought of how incredible the day had been. What a treat and honor it was to have been invited along!
But it sure felt good to jump into the shower to wash off the sweat and bug/sun gunk, and even better to fall into bed and into a deep sleep.
And, oh by the way, the landlord had come in and fixed the AC in the bedroom AND checked the other two units to make sure they were fine. So it was a deep and comfortable slumber. Zzzz....
[And an update: The AC has continued to work! Huzzah!]
