The Creation of a Culture

A distribution of home prices will allow all the people needed for Kalu Yala to thrive to be able to live here, but we know that does not mean everyone in the world will want to. Our offers to both supporters and future residents are the chance to once again believe in ideals, the opportunity for adventure, and the ability to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, or for those whose hands are tired, to help someone else aspire to do so. This is no disillusioned attempt at utopia, but rather a simple demand for a better quality of life. The most inspiring part of Kalu Yala is the people already being drawn to it and the chance to help create and be part of the culture they are forming.

Kalu Yala
Three short months ago I found myself anxious and stressed out as I tried to decide what the heck I would need to live in the Panamanian jungles. I had a faint idea of what I was getting into, but nothing could have prepared me for the journey I was about to embark on. I [...]  Read More
Singing together
When we were in San Blas last week, Erin and I changed the lyrics of “Leaving On A Jet Plane” by John Denver to make a Kalu Yala Spring 2012 farewell song. This is a video of us singing the song together one night, drinking margarita out of bowls. All my bags are packed I’m [...]  Read More
Sunrise over Kalu Yala
Three months ago I awoke from a dead sleep with a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was four days away from heading to Panama for three months. I knew little of the company I was going to work for and even less about the country in which it operated. Qualms aside, I grabbed my four enormous bags (I didn’t know what to bring so I brought it all) jumped aboard the plane and met my future head-on. Now it is my last day in Panama, and I cannot quite comprehend this little factoid.   Read More
Arbol de la Vida
First for some theory, then for some fun. In my last blog post, I raised the suggestion that as a community, it would be more valuable for us to be confused, and somewhat uncomfortable, by the connections between our data than interpret them according to a predetermined set of expected relationships. As scientists of the [...]  Read More
Kindergarten Kids!
My first two weeks teaching in San Miguel have been eye opening, amazing and absolutely crazy. I am teaching the kindergarten class with Hannah and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade class with Erin. Before I started teaching I planned out the topics that would be taught each week in class while I am here [...]  Read More
public mural
Art in Panama it has momentum, it has style, it is accessible and most importantly it is a binding agent for the community. It has been wonderful to be aware of it, contribute to it and support it. The best part, the art scene is entirely here because the people of Panama want to express [...]  Read More
dsc_0020
March has been quite the eventful month. Since the 2nd day of March my level of stress and responsibility has gone up, and I am just starting to be able to look back on the last few weeks and feel rewarded for my efforts and time. March was the month to paint the mural in [...]  Read More
Consumerism
I bought a DVD from Giant Tiger for $3.29. And before that item, I bought a shirt for $5.48. I don’t need either item, but I bought them because they seemed interesting and inexpensive – and they are both interesting and inexpensive. I don’t particularly want to contribute to the cycle of consumption of goods, [...]  Read More
Ramon and bejuco group
“House construction is a collective enterprise, one in which some men have special knowledge but all play their roles, just as the house itself is a collection of named and symbolically significant pieces that when lashed together create an aesthetically pleasing whole standing for the solidarity of kin and community”  Read More
Morning on the Cinta Costera
One of my favorite Radiolab episodes – “Cities” – explores how certain cities get their individual personalities. The hosts begin with a basic conceit: there’s no scientific metric for measuring a city’s personality. So much of the human-scale details that determine an individual experience within an urban center are left to chance. But two physicists [...]  Read More