back to my hut

Well, I figure I´ve waited long enough so I better put a little update on here. But hopefully I was able to personally share some stories with you on my trip home for Christmas and New Years. The -14 degree weather of MN was definately a shock.. I was constantly complaining that I was cold, and my mother constantly telling me to go find some slippers. But skiing, making a gigantic super-snowman, and wearing winter clothing were all lots of fun. It was perfect to slip into a beautiful snowy winter for two weeks knowing I´d be able to escape very soon. I also had a chance to see lots of family and friends which was wonderful. It was perfect timing to get a glimpse of what the states is like these days without getting too attached to the comforts of home knowing that I have less than six months left here in Peace Corps Panama. CRAZY!!! Where has the time gone? I´m not looking forward to the scorpians I will find after leaving my house alone for so long.. but I am excited to see my friends and get back to work. Before heading home, work in site was pretty slow but with such a short time left I´m going to be busy finishing up all the things I´ve started. We have received the funding for the Peace Corps Partnership grant to fix up the restaurant and cabin in the community and construction will be starting asap. I´ll also be continuing the Muchachas Guias or girl scouts group I started last January, as well as continuing with my adult English class. Time is going to fly and I´m already sad thinking of saying goodbye to my incredible time here.

my world

I live in a world where oranges are green, where lemons are limes, where banana bread is a dulce (sweet) and Tang needs extra sugar.

Where chocolate has a season and grows on trees, where water comes from the sky, not the faucet, where coconut comes from, well, a coconut.

Where the ability to speak English guarantees you a job, where its normal for aunts and uncles to be older than nieces and nephews, where king kong and mermaids exist, where the season depends on the weather that week,

where conversations can be as simple as stating the obvious (you’re washing your clothes… yup),

where playing volleyball is a sin, where cutting the grass means sharpening your machete, where fishing is to get dinner, not a sport, where having electricity is a luxury, where cars are non-existent, where finding 10¢ is like finding $10, where life is simple.

I live in a world where I am happy.

happy birthday! happy 4th! happy medical exams??

It´s official. I´ve now been in site for over a year so the countdown begins.
I had a wonderful 23rd birthday last week. Sooo much better than last year. Last year I had been in the community for only four days and didn´t know anyone so it was a lonely day. This year I was traveling and saw a lot of friends. Thanks for making my day great!! Then I made the long trip to Panama City with another volunteer, Joanna. After one year in site we are required to do medical exams and because I live in an indigenous community we had to stay in the city for three days. It included lots of poking, pooping in a cup and six hours in the dentist´s office. Unfortunately the appointments took longer than I had hoped for (surprise surprise in Panama) so I didn´t have as much free time as I would have liked. But I still fit in a movie, shopping at the malls, a pedicure and lots of good eating out! Good thing I had been saving up my money for a while... Yesterday started the long haul back to Bocas with a night in David and now I´m just waiting for my boat. It was nice to have a break but I can´t afford to do it too often. I´m looking forward to getting back. While I was away I got a call from my best friend in the community saying her dog had puppies so I´m excited to see them.

Paradise...ahhh

I'm living the rough life right now... the managers of the resort on the other side of the island where I live invited me over for the weekend and I'm LOVING it!!! I've got my own cabin with a super comfy bed and I crank up the AC at night, hot shower, a pool, three course dinners, and so much more. It's called Popa Paradise and it rocks. I totally recommend it, and there's a chance all the volunteers in Bocas will be able to come for a couple days. They'll also be able to help me out with transportation to the main island so I'm sooo excited!! Unfortunately it was rainy today so I didn't get much pool time in but hopefully tomorrow will be better and we'll go to the beach. My life just got better!
Life in site is same ol' same ol'. I just taught my friend how to play cribbage (no, it's not just an old person's game even though that's what everyone says..) so I'm excited about that! And the volleyball playing continues as always... I finally started teaching English in the school. I had been avoiding it before but the new professor has been coming to my adult class and asked me if I would help in his class. He teaches 7th-9th grade. So, I'm going to help out every Thursday. I went last week and loved it! I'm pumped to be doing something else in the community. I'm excited about the possibilitites of working more with the resort as well. They are possibly going to be bringing more of their clients to visit the community.
super... short and sweet. Hope all is well wherever life finds you! Chao de Popa!

busy, busy, busy

Fewh! It's been four weeks since the last time I used a computer. I've become very anti-internet but unfortunately Peace Corps always sends a million e-mails and it's reporting time so I've been forced to do some computer work. Fortunately I'm at a friend's house who has internet! Just like back home.

Recently I've been busy helping out with group 63 training. They are a great group and it's nice to have a break from site. Last week I was in Cocle for TEA Technical Week. They taught in the school, worked on a recycling project and helped update a brochure and webpage. At first I didn't think it would be much of a vacation, but after showering the volunteer whose house I was staying at asked if I wanted to use her hair dryer and I knew it would be an alright week. Yesterday we had our regional meeting. The meeting itself wasn't anything too exciting but it's always fun to get together with other volunteers an last night we went dancing so that was a good time. Today I'm getting in my much needed computer time and tomorrow I'll head back to site.

In site I'm keeping busy teaching my English class- which is going well, and as always working with the ladies. We recently finished getting four stamps made which we will use as our price tag. Now I'm starting to write up a budget and project proposal for the much needed fix-up of the restaurant and cabin. The weather is perfect. Sunny for the most part during the days and raining at night.

Recent saying I've become fond of saying: "Oh, Panama..."

Waa finally updating!

Hola!! It has been forever since I've had the opportunity to update so I'll do my best to fill you in...

First of all, over a month ago I ventured to Antigua, Guatemala to visit my friend, Krista. I had a great time!! I traveled by bus to Costa Rica and flew from there. I got to see the school where she teaches English, many old church ruins, beautiful Lake Atitlan surrounded by volcanoes, a huge artisanry market, and much more. My favorite was climbing a volcano, camping near the top overnight, and roasting marshmellows on the lava. It was an incredible experience and a great break from Panama.

After Guatemala I spent a few weeks back in site but getting re-motivated was difficult. The women's group that I work with is having some major power struggles and organizational issues. So I've been laying low, sewing lots and working on the relationship side of things with the ladies.

The rain finally stopped, but unfortunately it really stopped. When I was last in the community it hadn't rained for a month and people's water sources were running out. But the lack of rain meant lots and lots of volleyball in the afternoons. And me and a few friends have started playing cards, mainly rummy 500, everynight.

Last week we had an all volunteer conference where the over 150 current volunteers in Panama got together to share project ideas and information and talk about culture. It was great to get together with some of the volunteers I hadn't seen since training and meet many people I had never seen before. Bocas del Toro region won the Jeopardy game and Group 61 won the Panamanian challenges.

I'm currently in Panama City waiting to meet group 63 trainees who arrive in the country today. Because of that I had about five days to visit some fellow volunteers in between the conference and today. I visited two conservation volunteers, Ashley and Brandon, in Colon and a fellow tourism and English volunteer, Elena, in the Chagres National Park. It is always crazy to see how other volunteers live and what their daily lives consist of because they are all so diverse. In Elena's site I got my whole back tatooed (don't worry mom, it washes off in about 2 weeks) and got to go tubing down the river. It was really good to hear about their projects and it makes me excited to get back to my site and get working.

Yesterday I spend my whole day in Albrook mall! I got a manicure and pedicure, a haircut, saw a movie, and shopped at Zara! I'm feeling bad about so much time out of my community but this has been a really good break and I know I'll be better able to work when I return to Bocas.

I have now been in Panama for over a year! I arrived in the country April 16, 2008. CRAZY!!! It's hard to comprehend the passing of time when it is perpetual summer here. Time is flying by but I'm still wondering how am I going to fill another year, yet how am I going to finish all I wanted to accomplish! Well, I think that pretty much covers it, hope all is well with you. Chao!

rain rain go away

Helllloooooooo everyone. It´s finally time for another update in the life of me. As a Minnesotan the weather is always a popular conversation topic so I´ll start with that.

Weather: It won´t stop raining! We´ve had about two days of sun in the last two weeks so the volleyball playing has been limited, but the water is plentiful and the tanks are full. Which means I´ve gotten into the habit of washing clothes at home rather than making the muddy trek to the stream, and I´m liking the change. We were put on the "alert phase" at one point but we´re now back in the "all clear".

Business: English classes are marching along. I´ve got about six students consistently coming to class. It´s small but that means good participation. We´ve got three weeks left of this round of classes (aka until I go to Guatemala) and then we´ll take another break. Next Monday we have a test so we´ll see what they´ve actually grasped. Ay ay ay... working with the women´s group is always a challenge. Two weeks ago I took two lovely ladies (the secretary and president of the group) to a leadership and project management seminar. It was a great experience and I think they learned a lot or atleast had their eyes opened to some new possibilities. We returned back to the community with our minds full of ideas and hope for better organization, as well as lots of fabric and beads for the artisanry. The group meeting we had went GREAT! There was discussion and debate, which means change and the possibility for improvement. Finally everyone was in agreement that we would change some things around... and then a week later the president makes her own changes without informing anyone. ergh! If everyone were honest and working for the good of the group things would be SO much easier. But alas, I must work with what I have. We´re working on making a price tag for the artisanry and still trying to find a way to fix up our leaking "restaurant". The solution at this time seems to be Bingo, dominoes, and beer. We´re going to have "activities" once a month to collect funds, with our first one next Saturday. Hope all goes well. Aaaand I´ve got a girl scouts group with nine niñas ages 7-12. We meet once a week to play games and chat about things like washing your hands, leadership, conservation, self esteem, garbage pick up, etc. Last week we went swimming in the river after class. A little stressful for me the chaperone with two girls who can´t swim. But they had a blast.

Current Events: Where am I now? On my way to an English teaching seminar. I left a day early to get in some much needed computer time. And I already stopped by "El Rey del Helado" or The Icecream King. And tonight I´m going to go see a chick flick at the movie theater! Things in site are going well. I´ve made some really good friends and I´m staying busy with work. It´s hard to believe that I´ve already been in Panama for ten months! Time is really flying by. Hope everyone back home is staying warm! Love from Panama, Jessica (PS pictures are of the seminar and making a straw structure with my girl scouts group)

Update Time

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!! Big exciting news is that I’m finally in my own house and all settled in… and I LOVE IT! I think I have the nicest house in the whole community (which makes me feel a little guilty sometimes, but only a little J ). With a lot of help from my architect Ramon I think we finally have all the finishing touches and it’s better than I ever imagined. I’ve got a giant bedroom, a kitchen complete with running water and stove, an enclosed bathing room connected to the house, a large porch with a bench for visitors and of course a hammock. It is so great to finally have my own space (except for having to kill all the scorpions by myself) and finally being able to cook for myself after 8 months with host families is AMAZING! I’m getting into baking because once it’s dark and everyone heads home, there’s really not a whole lot to do but make brownies, lemon bars, m&m cookies, banana bread, or, sometimes I read. I’ve been in my site for almost three weeks and am just now taking a computer and electricity break.
I was invited over to a neighbor’s house for both Christmas and New Years and they were both very mellow but good. It didn’t quite feel like Christmas without the snow and cold. But I certainly still got a lot of presents when my parents came to visit.
Work wise, things will really start to pick up again starting on the 12th when English classes begin again and I’m starting a girl scouts group, and of course always throwing around ideas with the women’s group. We’re starting to use a “control de ventas” aka a spread sheet where they write down sales and expenses for the day, so we’ll see how that goes.
Well I think that pretty much covers everything. I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas, hopefully I’ll be able to make it home to visit for the holidays next year!

vacation´s over

It’s finally back to reality after almost three weeks away from site. First was training, then the evacuation for flooding and then the visit from my parents. I’m on my way back to the islands now. I was able to return to the community for one day before the arrival of my mom and dad and during that day it was non-stop moving from my last host family to my new house. It’s hard to believe the day finally arrived after waiting five months.

I tried to organize things the best I could and the next morning I headed to the main island to meet my parents at the airport. It was SO good to see them and our time together went by way too fast. We spent three days in my site- the first working on my house (it’s still not quite done), the second at a beach nearby, and the third participating in Mother’s Day activities. I knew it was their biggest holiday of the year but I had no clue just how exclusively “mother’s only” all of the activities and meals were. Fortunately for me, my mom was there and because she doesn’t speak Spanish we were both included. We left that evening to avoid the night craziness and headed to the main island where the real vacation began with good food, hot showers, and electricity.

After telling them what a pleasant bus ride it is to David we had the most uncomfortable five hour bus ride the next day, but made it safe and sound. Once in Boquete, our next destination, we realized that the trail we were hoping to hike was closed because of the flooding, so we took a coffee tour- very educational even for a non coffee drinker like me- and we did a zip line tour through the trees. That was a blast. It was fun to have a chance to do some things I wouldn’t normally do on my PC salary. And finally we made our way to Panama City. We saw the sites, went to the canal, but my highlight was the mall J It’s hard to believe that leaving eight months ago I was always looking forward to their visit in December and now it has already passed. But my time here is truly flying with already a quarter of it complete. I am looking forward to getting back into my routine and I’ve still got the school’s graduation, Christmas (although I’ll miss all the good cookies), and New Year’s to look forward to. Merry Christmas! God Bless!

Stormy Weather

Wow, it’s been a crazy couple weeks here in Panama. It started off with a fun weekend with the November 16th parade. I went with a friend from the community, Rosa, and her family. We stayed on a nearby island with her inlaws. It was like being part of a mini family vacation- we had a really good time. Right after that is when the weather started to get bad and we had a tough time getting back to the community. Fortunately, work on my house was going really really well and they finished my bedroom! So, planning to move in, I put a 5 gallon bucket outside to collect the rain that was falling and unfortunately I fell really bad off the side of my host family’s house and thought I broke a rib. (There was also an earthquake that night, but I slept through it.) Because of the rain and wind I wasn’t able to leave for the hospital for three days and even when I did the sea was as rough as I’ve ever seen it. I got x-rays and the good news is that nothing is broken but the bad news is that it still hurts. After that I continued towards Panama City for our first in-service training. It was good to get together with the 40-some other volunteers in my group (#61). We sat in the classroom during the day and hung out at the beach at night.

The rains continued and there is some really bad flooding in the region. A few days later all volunteers in Bocas were pulled out of their sites and eventually consolidated in Chiriqui. I have been in contact with my community and it doesn’t sound like we have any damage but hearing the stories from other volunteers and the rivers they crossed and rescue missions they went on to save community members has been crazy. So many people lost everything, not just their homes but all their crops and therefore their income for the next few months. We’re here now learning about disaster response and what we can do to help. It’s nice to have electricity and internet, but we’re all anxious to get back to our sites to help out. Panama is not normally in the hurricane track but this is the closest to becoming a hurricane a storm has come. And the rains continue so we’re not sure when we’ll be able to get back. There were several land slides and the road we take was washed out in several locations. Hopefully I can make it to my site before my parents who fly in on Saturday! It’s been good to hang out with other volunteers but I do miss my community and hope everything is okay. Please keep everyone here in your prayers!

My first real break!!

I finally made the 6 hour trip by boat and bus for a little rest and relaxation. Well, if you can call running around shopping, printing pictures, typing Peace Corps documents, and using the internet and phone like a crazy R&R. But warm showers are hard to beat.

Recently I’ve been keeping busy in my site doing the same old same old. Unfortunately no work has been done on my house for weeks on end and it still sits sadly frame completed and ¾ roof completed waiting to be finished. I am no longer building it with hira (the “traditional” way they built houses) because everyone was waiting for everyone else to be the first to cut their part and as a result nobody cut the wood. So, now I am going with tablas or essentially 2x4s for the walls. Luckily my boss came for my four month visit and fanned the flame a bit so they say I should have my house done in two weeks.

On Wednesday, Pablo my APCD, aka my boss came to visit my site. I was a bit nervous not really having a whole lot planned but it went really well. HE BROUGHT ME ICECREAM! Even though by the time we ate it, it was more like ice cream soup, it was delicious and will probably be the only time I get ice cream in my site. He also participated in my English class where I taught about clothes. I had lots of fun games planned and my students didn’t let me down. They really are a smart bunch and Pablo was highly impressed. Then we had town meeting. I hadn’t planned it in advance but still had a pretty good turnout- although as usual it started over an hour late. Basically he asked the community to evaluate me, how I’m doing, if they’re satisfied with the work I’ve done, etc. And as we say, my “tanque” was filled. They said I’m very hard working and always participating in whatever activity, cleaning up the school, fishing, etc. They even asked how it would be possible for me to stay longer than two years. Which is kind of ridiculous considering I haven’t even been there six months. But never the less it made me feel pretty good. Then Pablo showed off his mad skills in volleyball and it was back to my host family’s house. It was good to talk and get his advice, especially for the tourism part of my project.

The next day, because I wanted to leave, I went with his boat on the way to visit another volunteer and I was dropped of at a beach to hang out for the day. I do lead a tough life here… Unfortunately it was raining and COLD!! I was wearing pants and a fleece and my fingers and toes were COLD! It was exciting. I chatted with a hotel worker for most of the day and went on a 2 hour walk along the coast. Panamanians are truly friendly people. But it’s annoying to be a blond and have your phone number asked for by every guy you talk to for more than 30 minutes. Yesterday in my travels everywhere I went people would chat with me, but it’s neat that some how I stand out as a Peace Corps volunteer because they all ask, Cuerpo de Paz? I was even invited to the woman’s house that I sat next to on the bus. Anyways, I made it to the hotel safe and sound.

So, that’s pretty much what’s going on in my life right now. There are lots of holidays in November so English classes won’t be as regular. Hopefully I’ll get moved into my house and then it’s more training for a week at the end of the month before the big Thanksgiving celebration. The pictures are of a birthday party I went to and my current host family...

well...this IS Panama

So, of course things didn´t go all sunshine and butterflies as I had hoped... We´ve had one more meeting with the tourism group since but nothing has changes. They say they all agree that work should begin at 9am every day, but they already know they aren´t going to be there. And someone is taking the entrance fee the tourists pay and not turning it in to the women but rather keeping it for themselves. drama drama drama. And no work has been done on my house for about three weeks now. So as you can see there are ups and downs and times when things just stand still. But I continue to play volleyball, sew, fish, and yesterday I even tried working a bit with a machete. I´m not very good. It is a long slow process when a community has lived and worked they way they have for all their lives and are accustomed to doing things the way they want. Change is hard.
Today I had lunch and a brief Ngabere language lesson with some of the other volunteers in the area and a volunteer who will be finishing here service in just two weeks. Hard to believe that day will come for me too. Time for icecream. Chao, Jessica

Three months- check!

I´ve finally passed the magical date which is three months in site. Where has the time gone? I honestly love my site! The transportation situation is a bother, but other than that (and maybe a beautiful beach) I couldn´t have asked for a better community. I´m still teaching English three times a week, doing a language exchange with one of the teachers, and now I´m finally going to get started on some real business work. As a result of the tourism seminar, the tourism group got together and had their first real meeting in months. It was decided that we will put together a business plan, which will hopefully start more great discussions and changes for the better. I´m really looking forward to it!
Yesterday was my first regional meeting. We were up in the mountains and it was cold! I also got my first warm shower in months. It was nice to finally meet all the other volunteers "near by" but a group of them is already finishing their service in a few weeks. And in less than a month a new group will start their service. I´ll be getting a couple new volunteers "near" me. Hopefully they can help me build my latrine :) Well I think I´m off to get a pizza and some icecream. Later!

ice cream and abono

Hiya! I just finished up with a three day tourism seminar with six members of my community and all of the other Peace Corps TEA volunteers from my group. The seminar was good, boring and long at times but gave some great basic ideas about what a business is and some of the planning and work that goes into starting a tourism business. As usual I had fun joking around with my community and the topic of choice was abono aka poop. I am really hoping to do a composting latrine project as right now the only latrines are at the school. I´ve been spreading the idea around whenever I can and it always creates a smile as collecting your poo in a large concrete box and waiting for six months before scooping it out and putting it on your crops to help them grow is somewhat of an awkward conversation. But it made for some good times this weekend and showed me that there really is interest in the project. It has also been great to see the friends I made during training. Strange being together everyday for three months and then not seeing eachother. It has also been a good time as there is a fair here. I went the last two nights and ate some traditional fair food like cotton candy as well as some not so traditional (MN that is) fair food like fried noodles with chicken. I´ll be heading back to site in about 30 min, but it was, as always, a good break. Ti ni gira/ya me voy/I´m off. Later!

transportation shmantzportation

In need of a break I sat at the port yesterday morning hoping a boat would pass by heading to the main island. I finally hitched a ride to some nearby restaurants on another island then waited there until a boat hauling cargo passed by. It took about 4 hours total but ended up being free! After a little rest and relax and good conversation with some other peace corps friends hanging out at the regional leaders house I am attempting to head back to my site today. Easier said than done. I was planning to meet my ex-host family at 1pm and have been waiting ever since hoping they show up. Finally I got through on my cell phone and found out we are atleast in the same city so hopefully I can get back with them. OK, they just called, gotta go! BYE! PS things are still good :)

Buenos Dias! Ñontoro Dego! Finally another day of electricity and internet! Unfortunately I didn’t prepare appropriately for the rough sea and got here completely soaking wet as if I had jumped in the water- and when it’s salt water that’s really uncomfortable. So the first thing I did was buy a new skirt to wear for the day.

I feel extremely busy lately. There has been lots of work on my house- we cut the palm last Friday and I got to go with. Now I understand why nobody wanted to do it. They climb the tree and chop down huge palms and then carry them through the jungle- mud and water and all- to load them in the boat. There was lots of laughing though whenever anyone fell in the water and got wet. Then, a feast of 10 pounds of rice and 15 pounds of fish with boiled bananas. They have also worked two days putting up the palm to form the roof of my house. We’ll need to cut some more palm to finish, as well as cut the wood for the walls and floor, but we get a couple weeks of rest until the moon is right again.

Last week I got to participate in a volleyball tournament with 5 other women from the community. Sadly, we were the only women’s team to show up. We played with some men that where there but they clearly had never played volleyball before in their lives, so we won! We even got a trophy. We had a lot of fun- I enjoyed wearing the team uniform.

I moved in with my third (and hopefully final) host family. It is a little far away in the jungle so I have to return home earlier than usual each night because the snakes come out. Luckily I have yet to see one. I really like the family and have a giant room all to myself. There is a 22 year old woman, her 3 month old baby, a 14 year old girl, and sometimes the husband of the 22 yr old is there too when he is not working.

Adult English classes have begun! I have 8 students- small, but the same students have come back each class and many more have said they want to enter. I’m happy with the number and they are learning much faster than I expected. It’s fun because I know everyone in the class so it’s like teaching friends- we have a good time. Now I need to come up with something for the kids that keep bugging me for English classes.

I pray all is well with you who are reading this! Hasta luego from Panama!!

Update

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to update and I can’t even remember all that’s happened. Time seems to fly and stand still all at once. Somehow I fill my days with visiting houses, working with the women- sewing and making bracelets, playing volleyball, and acting as a nanny for my current host family (I’m living with a single dad so he takes advantage and I end up cooking and taking care of the kids most of the time).

Recently I had the opportunity to join two women from my community in an artisan seminar where we along with about 25 other women sewed for three days straight until our fingers were sore and thoroughly punctured with needle wounds. A famous designer in Panama was in charge of designing and we were in charge of making. I came out with a pretty sweet bag. I’m currently inventing other projects using the Ngabe design to sell at the provincial fair in September.

Every Saturday (well sort of) there is work building my house. They have finished the frame and will cut the palm for my roof hopefully sometime this coming week (while the moon is right). Unfortunately enthusiasm for giving their day to work for free has dwindled and work this weekend was cancelled. We’ll see what happens with that.

My adult English classes begin in just over a week! I’ve planned three weeks worth of lessons and hopefully have all the logistics taken care of- now all I need are the students. I’ve set up a town meeting for this Monday to discuss the details. I’m sure I’ll have a full class in the beginning and I’m hoping at least a few people will stick with it for the two years.

As my days start to become busier it’s hard to believe I’ve only got 22 months left- I have so much to do! I feel as though I’m always saying this (which is a good thing), but overall things are going great. I’m starting to feel at home and adapting well (including some bad habits such as talking with food in my mouth and peeing wherever nature calls J ) Those of you in MN, enjoy the state fair for me and eat an extra pronto pup in my honor (thanks mom and dad)! Love, Bichochi

I'm on an unexpected 3 day "vacation" from my site. I've been somewhat sick for over a week now and I finally decided today that it was worth a trip to the clinic, so 1 1/2 hours in boat and 45 min in bus later I made it to the clinic where I received an IV injection, a shot in my butt, some pills, and I get to stay for the next two days for more butt shots. But I can already tell a difference and it will be nice to be healthy again. And having internet and air conditioning for a couple days isn't so bad. Tonight I'm going to have a little me time and watch a movie on my laptop- I also bought skittles, oreos and cheetos! I'm horrible I know!

For a little more insight as to what life is like for me, I'm going to share a journal entry I wrote a few weeks back that I rather like...

I hate that:
-The nearest bathroom is a 10 min walk that involves mud, squating, and BYOTP.
-Burping is not rude.
-Babies pee and poop on the floor and it's only the second that gets rinsed with water.
-People have so much Pena.
-I'm seen as a walking dollar bill.
-I'm used for my "gringa" status.
-I can't understand what people are saying 65% of the time because of Ngabere.
-Kids don't have all the opportunities I had in school.
-There isn't an inch on my arms or legs that isn't overed in bug bites.
-I'm discovering new gigantic bugs everyday.
-There's not enough time in a day, yet half the time I'm bored.
-There are ants in my bed.
-I have to do diagnoses for Peace Corps.
-There's always a radio on when God's jungle music is so much better.
-I can't solve all their problems.
-Nothing dries.
-I'm condemned from the church for wearing pants, having short hair, wearing a watch and jewelery, listening to the radio, playing volleyball, and playing Bingo.
-Because of many things mentioned above, so many people in the community are condemned from the church (ex. my host brother-in-law likes to play baseball, my host sisters like listening to the radio)
-I have pena to pasear.
-I don't eat fish scales or heads.
-Bochinche exists.

I love:
-That I'm living on an island in Panama!!
-When I remember they're Indians and how proud and strong their culture is.
-When I realize that worlds apart dads still put on their reading glasses to read to their sons and big brothers help their little sisters with school projects.
-That I get to play volleyball.
-That I'm starting to feel at home.
-That I get to bathe naked everynight under the stars watching lightning in the distance.
-That I really am living in a house on stilts with a palm thatched roof.
-That people are so excited about English classes.
-I know I've got great friends and family back home rooting and praying for me.
-The simplicity of life.
-Hammocks.
-That I'm actually speaking Spanish all day everyday.
-The prospect of changing lives for the better.

Alrighty then, I'm going to start my movie now. Peace out for now!

Sloppy Joe

Wireless internet, electrical outlets, public phones, flushing toilets and a sloppy joe- today has been a good day! I was definately in need of a break and today has fit the bill. Life on the island is going well. Some days I feel overwhelmed with the tasks ahead of me, but taking things one day at a time, and playing lots of volleyball makes things seem do-able. The most exciting news is that work on my house has begun. On Satruday 14 men and 8 women showed up for my work "junta". The men cut and carried the wood that will become the posts and frame of my house while the women and I cooked 10 pounds of rice and chicken foot soup. And the fun will continue next Satruday when we will work again. I can't wait to cook for myself and have a space to call my own. Athough the prospect of having to face giant spiders, cockroaches, scorpians, and blood sucking bats on my own isn't all that thrilling. On Thursday I'll move in with my second host family in the community. It will be a big change moving from a house with 17 people to one with only 4. A change should be good though. Posted are some pictures from my site. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts! Someday I'll have time to write a more detailed post, but for now I'm off to buy nails for my house. Hasta luego, Jessica