The One with Christmas on the Beach

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are resting up for a fun filled New Years celebration.

Obviously things are a bit different for me this Holiday season. I traded in the snow from Tahoe for the sand on the Pacific side of Panama. I spent two fun filled days with 16 other volunteers from my training group; playing in the waves, relaxing in Hammocks, and catching up on each others lives. Honestly, there was absolutely nothing about the day that reminded me of Christmas. I would often have to remind myself that it was, of course the phone calls home were a bitter sweet reminder.

On Christmas morning we did a white elephant gift exchange. Nothing says Christmas like stealing presents from your friend’s right?

Christmas Day was spent playing in the ocean, walking the beach in search of seashells, playing football, relaxing in the hammock and simply enjoying each others company.

For Christmas dinner we went to this German Restaurant on the beach. We had the place to ourselves and they made us a special 3 course Christmas dinner. Even though it wasn’t a traditional Christmas dinner, it proved to be one of the best meals I have ever had.


I think it is true that you appreciate something a lot more once you don’t have it. I know that my Christmas’s in Tahoe are not gone forever, but being away for the first time EVER has made me value the little things that Christmas usually brings.

What I missed most about Christmas….

• Family
• Cutting down a tree with my Mom and always having the honors of putting the star on top.
• Reading Christmas cards about what family and friends have been doing the past year.
• Christmas cookies, especially the cinnamon ones
• Zucchini Bread ( even though I did get some when I went home last month, thankgoodness)
• Getting creative when making my Christmas gifts
• Good conversation while making Tamales (and eating the Tamales too)
• Polar Plunge into the Lake
• My Pops fake palm tree Christmas tree. Even though I had plenty of real ones around.
• Midnight Mass
• Christmas dinner at the Rasmussen’s
• Snow/ being cold

From the list above it seems that what I missed most are the things that are traditions, things that usually happen every year for Christmas regardless. And I know that the entire list happened this year without me, and that’s ok. I agree that traditions are good, and for me Christmas IS tradition. However, that being said, I know that in 10, 20 and 50 years from now, my memories of all these traditional Christmas’s may just blend together, but I will always remember that ONE Christmas I spent on the beach in Panama, and I am thankful for that.
But missing 2 Christmas’s is enough! Only one more to go, and I then I will be looking forward to returning to the traditions =)

As my gift to you, here are some more pictures =)
This first link is my Buena Esperanza album. I added a bunch of new photos at the end. Most of them are of my new host family because I put together a photo album for them for Christmas. http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/BuenaEsperanza?feat=directlink

And this is a link to some pictures from Christmas. I actually didn’t have my camera with me, so all the Photo credit must be given to my friend Derek. http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/ChristmasAtTheBeach?feat=directlink

I want to say Thank you for all the warm holiday wishes. It is nice to know that within all the commotion that Christmas brings you were able to find time to send me a message; I very much appreciate it and feel so lucky to have such great friends and family.
Have a safe New Years celebration!
Miche

The One With the Hotdog

Well, here I am back in Buena Esperanza, “good hope” (Which is exactly what I have returned with) The past 2 weeks sure have been a whirlwind. I still find myself opening my eyes each morning wondering if it has all been a dream.

For those of you that knew my Uncle Tim, know that he would have wanted me to return to Panama ASAP. So that is exactly what I did, even though I am missing out on some serious fresh powder back home. The day after the memorial I was back on a plane and traveled more than 24 hours before making it to my village. Even though we were all brought together by the tragedy of my Uncle’s death, it was wonderful to see all of you and receive your words of encouragement. I also had no idea how many people were actually reading my Blog, so maybe now I need to put a little extra effort into it =)
So let’s get into it…..

• The first point I would like to share with you is some “reverse culture shock” that I experienced during my trip home. Because I was so rushed to get out of B.E and be with my family, it really never even occurred to me that I might experience any sort of reverse culture shock. Oh but it hit me right when I set foot in the Huston Airport. Moving sidewalks? Best Buy vending machines? and flat screen T.V’s everywhere. I found the restaurant directory and B-lined it to the closest Jamba Juice, where I happily indulged in a Caribbean Passion smoothie with a boost of Protein (much needed) and 2 ounces of wheatgrass of course. The total came out to more than $10… OMG did I really use to pay this much for a smoothie? Moving on, I should have know better than to peruse the infamous airport magazine wall, but I had a few hours to kill and of course I was curious on what I had been missing. WOW, talk about information overload. Oprah’s leaving? Britney is married? And Tiger cheated?
  
  My Uncle’s memorial took place in L.A County. Now, I had culture shock visiting Las Angeles even before I joined the Peace Corps! That place is a whole different world.
  
  When I was home, in Tahoe, I stayed in the house most of the time, trying to spare myself of more unforeseen culture shocks. But, even in the house, I found myself using the toilet even when I didn’t need to and being so grateful that each time I turned a facet the life giving substance of water flowed freely and with such force that if I moved my cup for just a second I felt guilty for wasting that bit of water.
  
  And to top of the “reverse culture shock” when I got off the plane in Sacramento, my hippie brother (who I would often have to remind to put deodorant on for the sake of the mankind) greeted me by telling ME that I smelt….. And that was after I had been to the restroom to “freshin up.” Now I feel bad for whoever was sitting next to me on the plane.
  
• So I made it back to my village in time for their Mothers day celebration, which is December 8th. It was so great to see that woman in have a day to themselves. Even though they still had to cook breakfast and dinner, wash clothes, clean the house and watch after all the kids…. The men cooked lunch for them.
  
  When I was in the states I went to Wal-mar (yikes) and printed out all the pictures I had taken of my host family. I put them in a photo Album for my host mom for Mothers Day. As much as the Nagbe people (especially the women) don’t show emotion, I could tell that she was very pleased with her gift. The photos also kept the kids busy the rest of the day, they must have looked through it 100 plus times.
  
• I have moved into my next and last host family host! Now I am living with the school teacher, his wife, mom and three kids (7 less than before) The kids are: 2 boys ages 3 and 7 and one little girl who is 1 1/2 . My first week in this house has been good. The living conditions are pretty much the same except I don’t have a bed and they don’t have a rainwater catchment system so I need to be a lot more careful about the water I am drinking.
  
  I bathe with a bucket and cup still but it is not in the kitchen like before. Now, I walk about 10 min through mud and cow patties to fill up my bucket in the “Pozo” which really is just a muddy hole with water in it (pictures to come.) But I must admit that even though I am bathing with dirty water, there is something really wonderful almost spiritual about showering outside, especially when the palm and banana leaves act as your shower curtain. I can still remember almost 10 years ago when my Uncle Chip showed me his outdoor shower and I thought he was crazy. Turns out he knew what he was talking about (like always). I have made a mental note that wherever I end up living after Peace Corps, an outdoor shower is a necessity. But a shower head, clean water and a drainage system are musts… actually maybe not, we’ll see.
  
• By now my entire community knows that I don’t eat meat right? They still are fascinated by it and it is still often the topic of conversation. The first night in my new host house the “vegetarian conversation” lasted a good hour. Since I am living with one of the most educated people in the community (the teacher) he helped me establish that I don’t eat “any part of anything that was once living.” This was as clear to all, or at least I thought so… The next morning I received nothing more but a fried hotdog for breakfast! All I have to say about this incident is that if these isolated Indians take one look at a hotdog and genuinely think that it is something other than meat, that should tell us something about hotdogs.
  
• Thursday was my first English class. I had more than 40 people show up. There were so many people that they were lined up outside watching and listening through the window. I began the class with my rendition of Simon Says. It proved to be a good way to give them some vocab without actually having to teach them because they could just follow that I would do. I would say touch your head, touch your feet, touch your knees etc and then repeating and pausing when I usually say the body part to have them fill in the blank. They would laugh so hard each time I told them to touch their butts.
  
  After the Simon says into I taught them the Alphabet , some greetings, numbers and days of the week. I have jumped into teaching English right now because I know that is what the people want and really what they need. However I have absolutely no experience teaching so I would like to welcome any pointers from anyone. The people here are very reserved and I know that it is going to be a challenge to get them to participate in class.
  

Well, I would like to thank my Grandma T for reminding me and everyone else that attended my Uncles memorial, of the saying “Life will never give you more than you can handle.” Yes, it is unfortunate that “life” has prematurely taken my Uncle Tim, but now we each must “handle” this loss in our own way. For me, I know that the words my uncle wrote in that last e-mail will be running through my head each day I serve as a Peace Corps volunteer, and I am so grateful to have that.
And in case you are not on my uncles Marcus’s e-mail list, here is the link to the amazing slide show he put together for my Uncle Tim. http://vimeo.com/8036951

I would like to thank everyone once again for all of your support and acts of kindness.
And don’t worry about me down here! I am still staying positive and trying my best to stay focused.
I love you all very much!

Miche

In a New York Minute, Everything can Change

On Saturday November 28th my Uncle Tim (Moms younger brother) was killed in a car accident in Ripon California where my family was celebrating Thanksgiving.
Within hours of receiving the call from my mom I was on a boat out of my village, and traveled more than 22 hours straight to be reunited with my family.

Below is an E-mail I received from my uncle a few days ago. I wanted to share his words of wisdom with all of you (especially my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers).

Hello Michelle,

You are doing such great things and we are all so proud of you. I have been reading all your blog entries and love all the pictures. From your note below I can tell that sometimes things are frustrating for you. That is totally understandable and more importantly perfectly normal. You are right on to continue to focus on your mission of why you are there. Set some very very small goals for yourself to achieve that are related to you mission so you can get a few "wins" under your belt. Simple things, that you can accomplish in a day or two or a week or so. Write them down, plan what you need to do to complete them, note your progress, then note when task or objective is completed. By doing this you will see the headway you are making and the impact you are having. Long term goals are awesome, but sometimes they can be overwhelming, especially when working by yourself. Set a bunch of small short term goals that, when accomplished, move you closer to your long term goals. Set personal goals, too. You need to do things for yourself to ensure that you are good for everyone else. Be a tiny bit selfish every once in awhile.

You are doing something that very few people have the courage to do. Please know that and know that we all think that you are amazing for choosing to do what you are doing.

Love You, Uncle Tim

The memorial services will be held Saturday in Costa Mesa California. I will most likely travel back to Panama on Sunday.

The One With the Thanksgiving Pictures

I figured I better make the most out of having internet...

Here are all the pictures I took during Thanksgiving.

http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/Thanksgiving?feat=directlink


I hope all of you were able to share a day of giving thanks with the people you love. It is easy sometimes to take for granted all that we have in the United State. Not just physical possessions and food, but educational opportunities, health care, the freedom of choice and so much more. I hope that your giving of thanks and appreciation will not be limited to one day but will continue throughout the year.
In case you ever forget how much you have to be thankful for, my blog will always be here to remind you =)

Love,
Michelle

The One With an Ear Full of Chocolate Pudding

Well, my life in the “campo” continues to be entertaining. My daily schedule is more or less the same as I mentioned in my last blog with different highlights and goals for each day.Tomorrow I plan to travel to Cerro Punto in the province of Chiriqui. Here, about 110 other Peace Corps Panama Volunteers are gathering for a huge Thanksgiving celebration! I am so excited to see my friends from training and swap stories about our first month is site. It is also going to be a great opportunity to meet other current volunteers from different groups. Another plus, Cerro Punto is high up in the mountains of Panama and we have all been warned that it actually gets cold there, like in the 60’s, maybe it will feel a little bit like fall for a few days.

Anyway, before I get to far into the future, let me tell you a bit about what has been going on the past few weeks. Let’s just do it point by point (in no particular order)

• I have decided to start with English classes sooner than I had planed. We were all warned by PC staff that every community is going to ask for English class. This proved to be true (X 10) in my community. PC staff also encouraged us to make sure that teaching English is a practical use of time or if there are other stressing problems that are more important. In my community, there are many problems, or what I like to call “potential projects.” However I truly think that because of the location of my village and their proximity to the “gringos/ex-pat” population, the truth is that the more English they know the more job opportunities they will have. I had a meeting yesterday and 25 people showed up, all guys and their sons. We decided that we are going to have class 3 times a week, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. I am not sure yet if my Spanish is good enough to be teaching an English class, but I guess wewill find out. The good thing is that they are very eager to learn! In their eyes English=More Money.

• You know those funny looking Croc shoes that everyone makes fun of and swears that they will never wear? Ya, well, Crocs and knee high rubber boats are now my new best friend. There is so much mud here that really any other type of shoe really would only have days before the sole gets ripped off. Actually, now that I think about it, I am really the only one in the community that wears shoes on regular bases.

• Apparently the cool thing in the schools down here is to speak Spanish in a sort of “pig Latin” way. So around the house, all of thekids are saying “Chi” or “Che” in between the syllables of words. Ican’t tell you how frustrating it is trying to learn Spanish, when they are speaking this strange made up version of it. I told the kids that when I am around they have to speak real Spanish to help me learn, but they think it is hilarious that I can’t understand what they are saying. On a few occasions I have asked the kids how to say a word in Spanish and they have given me the Pig Latin version of it. I am worried that the Spanish I am going to learn is only going to be understood by children in Buena Esperanza under the age of 11.

• When I go from house to house visiting families, one of my favorite things to do to break awkward silences is to tell them what their shirts say. Most of their clothes come from donations from the states. Some of the people have been wearing a shirt for years, and have no idea what it says. There have been a few times that I haven’t shared with them what their shirt said. For example a woman who is wearing a shirt that says “Real men wear Pink.” Also, I would like to urge all off you to continue supporting your local “Relay for Life,” because not only is it helping find a cure for cancer, the t-shirts are clothing many people throughout Panama!

• I have been meeting more and more of the “Gringos” in the area. All of them equally welcoming and entertaining as the indigenous people in my community. Anyway, when I went to pizza again on Sunday I met a man named Joe. He has started this wonderful non-profit organization called “Operation safe drinking water. In Buena Esperanza there are two 500 gallon water collection tanks that were given to the community during the presidential campaigns. So the two tanks have been just sitting here for many months completely useless, because the community can’t afford the extra materials needed to set them up. So Joe heard about this situation through a friend of his that I had mentioned it to earlier and when I saw him at the pizza place on Sunday he says “we are coming to your community on Tuesday to install a tank at the school.” Just like that! So they showed up with 3 volunteers from the states and all the materials, and I got a few of the guys in the community together and they worked for about 3 hours until we had a brand new rainwater catchment system at the school for the kids. Here is the link to their blog, They have a little story and some pictures from my village. http://operationsafedrinkingwater.org/blog/

• My closest “Gringo” neighbors are David and Linda Cerutti. They have a farm called “Green Acers” and a chocolate business called Cerutii family chocolate. David is the type of guy that is constantly messing with machines and thinking up crazy inventions. Anyway, we had this idea to start selling “Chocolate pudding cones,” (which is just as it sounds, chocolate pudding in an ice cream cone) at the farmers markets on the island. Our idea was to eventually get some of the older kids from my village involved as a way to teach them about entrepreneurship and basics of doing business and working with customers. Anyway, we planned to go into town the week before farmers market to give the“Chocolate pudding cones” a trail run before the actually farmers market. It ended up raining so hard that day so were weren’t able to set up in the park. So we went into one of the restaurants where all the locals hang out and had some lunch trying to wait for the rain to die out. It never did, so we decided instead of wasting all the pudding we would give it out to everyone in the restaurant. Plus David was very eager to try out his creation! Try to picture this: A plastic juice bottle that is full with chocolate pudding, on the bottom of the bottle David made a little hole and connected a small pump (like the type you use to pump up a soccer ball). Then on the cap of the bottle was another hole with a rubber tube running out of it. So the idea was to pump up the bottle with enough pressure so the pudding would flow through the rubber tube and you could fill up a cone. So all was going according to plan, David was holding the bottle upside down and manning the pump while I was using the rubber tube to fill up the cones for everyone in the restaurant. Everyone was happy and impressed until David handed off the pump to another friend who let’s just say pumped it one to many times… The bottle filled with to much pressure that the cap blew off!!! Of course it happened to be pointing right at me so I got covered in chocolate pudding!!! I was looking to my left when it happened so my right ear just got stuffed with pudding. Needless to say everyone involved (including myself) pretty much died laughing. It was one of the funniest things I had ever been apart of.... There will be picuters.

• If all my crazy stories have intrigued you enough to look for some property down here in Bocas, it’s your lucky day!!! A property right next to my village just went up for sale =) You could be my new neighbor!!!
  
  Well, I think that is about all that I have time for right now. If you skipped to the bottom of the page, here is a summary: Started English Classes, Got a rainwater catchment tank hooked up at the school, and got covered in chocolate pudding!

Here are some more pictures... Enjoy http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/BuenaEsperanza?feat=directlink

And most importantly, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!! I hope you know how truly Thankful and Blessed I feel to have such loveing and supportive friends and family. You are all in my thoughts during this Thanksgiving holiday.

~Meti

The One With Pictures and a New Mailing Address

Hello Hello,

I know how much you all like the pictures, so I managed to find some time to upload some. I even figured out that I can add some Captions to give the pictures some context. So whenever I have time I will try to do that.
This first link is picture from Swear in about 3 weeks ago.
http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/SwearIn?feat=directlink

Amd this link is pictures from in my site over the past 2 weeks
http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/2WeeksInSite?feat=directlink

I have yet to bring out my "real camera" my SLR in site yet. I have decided to wait until I am out of a host house. But these pictures will do for now.

Also, I have a new mailing address:

Michelle Aguilar
Cuerpo de Paz-Panama
Entrega General
Bocas Del Toro, Bocas Del Toro
Republica De Panma

Remember if you are going to send in anything make sure to put religious symbols on the package and that way they will not mess with it in the mail.

Until Next time,
Meti

The One With the First 10 Days in Site

Hello

Other Peace Corps Volunteers have told me that once in site, “the days go by slow and the weeks go by fast.” That has proved to be true with my first 10 days in site!

Run down of a typically day so far:

I wake up around 5:30 am to bathe before the kids wake up. I call it “bathing” because it involves taking a cup and filling it in a large bucket full of rainwater and then pouring it over my head, (whiling standing in the middle of the kitchen), and I would hardly call that a shower… But it does the job.

Around 6:30 am the kids start to wake up, all 10 of them. They start crying one by one until they are all wide wake screaming, crying, and running around the house so it feels as though an earthquake is taking place. I sit outside reading and enjoying the beautiful view of Dolphin Bay, while the kids get ready for school. Breakfast is usually a cup of coffee (or should I say a cup of sugar with some coffee in it), which inevitably ends up split all over my book because the house is so sensitive to motion that when the kids run, you better hang on to everything! After I drink my coffee that I sneak some protein powder into, I head out into the community to get involved in whatever is happening that day.

It did not take me long to realize that a boat or “cayuco” was going to be necessary to get around. It is possible to walk through the main grove, but each time I try, I feel like I am struggling through a competition of gladiator, hanging on to the vines and walking the makeshift bridges that are no bigger than a balance beam, trying not to fall into the dirty water. The Natives, especially the kids can do it with such grace, but on day 2 in site I put my order in for a cayuco!
You might know a cayuco by its other equally common name, a “dug-out-canoe.” From what I have gathered the process of making one of these involves first, waiting for there to be a full moon, then hiking way out in the jungle and searching for the perfect tree (there is certain criteria it needs to meet) then dragging it all the way back and working many hours to hallow it out until it floats. It might be awhile until I actually get it. Let me know it you have any suggestions on a name for my new floating tree.

Moving on… I make sure to return to the house before it starts raining, usually around 2 pm. However, I think my “weather rader” could use some tuning. Let’s just say that there is hardly ever a trinkle before the down poor when it rains here. But at least my host family finds amusement when I show up soaking wet.

For lunch/dinner I usually eat a huge bowl of white rice and either beans or lentils. The rest of the afternoon is filled with studying, reading, playing with the kids and watching the rain. Sometimes in the late after noon there is another meal, then I “ bucket off” and head to bead as the sun goes down.

Some highlights from the past 10 days in site:

• My host sister taught me how to wash my clothes… This involved kneeling literally one inch away from a 10foot drop and hitting my soaking wet/soapy/slippery clothes against a piece of wood as hard as I could. It is obvious that I am a novice. It is a great way to release anger, but I am not sure why they insist on washing their clothes in such a hazardous spot.

• On either side of my village there are “gringos.” I have already had the pleasure of meeting 5 of them. One of them took me to a local Pizza place where I was introduced to MANY other “gringos” that live in the area. The all were very warm and welcoming and may prove to be valuable resources both in my work and personal sanity = )

• I have made my first composting toilet, which for now is really just a composting bucket. I went on a scavenger hunt with some of my host siblings to find the ingredients, I am sure they all think I am crazy, but as much as I want/need to live the way my community lives…. Having a place to go to the bathroom is going to have to be a matter in which we differ. Oh, and while we are on the subject, if you would really like to know… I took a 2 litter Coke bottle and cut it in half, the bottom half serves as my “pee cup” and the top half aids me in the catch and release of the many cockroaches I live with.

• One day I worked with 3 other woman to make over 250 Johnny Cakes in celebration for Independence Day, Nov 3rd. It took us close to 6 hours. It reminded me of making tamales with my family. I have pictures of the whole process that I will try to put up next month some time.

• There was a storm one night that made me feel as though I was in the “Wizard of Oz.” I thought for sure I was going to wake up the next morning and the house was going to be in a distance far away land. There was no way I could sleep because there was water being blown in my room and falling through my mosquito net and drenching me, as if there were no roof at all. And the wind sounded like a train, I could literally here it coming miles away and could do nothing but brace myself. The next morning was pristine, with clam waters and blue skies. It will be a storm I won’t soon forget. Let’s hope that it is not just one of many.

• Nov 3rd, yesterday, was the celebration of Panama’s Independence from Columbia. I celebrated at our local school with all the kids and the “Padres de Familia” which is like the PTA. We ate the Johnny Cakes for breakfast, then the kids did a ceremony where they sang the national anthem and raised the flag. After that one little boy read the history of the Independence, none of which I heard any. After that it was time for the games to begin. The next 4 hours involved games such as; running races, sac races, boat races, two piñatas, and my favourite was the “musical chairs.” The “music” ended up being one of the teachers banging a piece of coconut against another piece of wood, when he stopped all the kids would race for a chair; the kindergartens were the most entertaining. I also have pictures from this I will share ASAP.

Well, after a few short blog entries, I felt like I owed you a longer one! Please forgive some grammar/spelling mistakes as I am working as fast and as best I can in this internet café with a Spanish keyboard. I plan on figuring out a way I can use my own computer again.
Anyway, I will try to update my blog as much as possible. Only time will tell with what regularity I will have internet access.

Love, miss, think and talk about you all often. Friends and family is something that is universally, and everyone in my community loves hearing stories and seeing pictures of you all!

Until next time - Meti

The One Where it is About to get Real

Buenas!!!

Training has come to an end. It definitely had its up and downs but overall I am not sad to see it end, other than the fact that I am going to miss all my new friends!

The past 2 weeks included many long days in the Peace Corps office. We were briefed on more safety topics, had a lot of time to go through the resources library, and spent one morning in the pool learning how to make a flotation device out of our pants….That was definitely a highlight!

On Thursday October 22^nd I was officially sworn in as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer. The ceremony took place at the house of the US Ambassador. It was a very nice ceremony, there was a lot of Panamaian press ( I will let you know if we shoe up in the newspaper). We are all very proud of our group, because we are the first group in the past 8 groups that has made it all the way through training without anyone dropping!! Here are a few pictures from the Ceremony. The First Picture on the left is the CED (Community Economic Development) Group. The one on the right is the EH (Environmental Health) group. And the last photo is the US Ambassador in the middle with our Peace Corps Country Director to her right, and a director of a national service orgainization to her left.

The past two nights we spent celebrating for the last time as a group. Now we have all split our separate ways. It was really sad to say goodbye to my friends. We have all become so use to being around each other all the time. Suring the past 10 weeks, we have all grown really close. Because my trip to my site is so long, I am staying tonight in David.

Tomorrow will be the beginning of my new life in Bocas! I have a lot of emotions right now; nervous, anxious, excited etc. Thank you to everyone who has sent me words of encouragement. They are probably going to be more and more helpfully now that I am about to venture out on my own.

I am not sure when the next time I will have an opportunity to update my blog. I am hoping at least once every other week

As Peace Corps says, “Life is calling”……. And I am finally on my way.

~Miche

P.S Sorry the blog is a bit short.... didn;t have much time on the internet =(

And here are some pictures that I took from a friend of mine. They are from all during training. For those of you requesting more pictures of me, you will find some here. But I must say they are not the most flattering of pictures..... Enjoy =)

http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/20091025?feat=directlink

The One with some Pictures

Buenas,
Quick Update. We have left our training site and home stay families and are back at Fort Clayton. Today is the last day of training (hard to believe). Tomorrow by 4 pm. I will officially be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer =)

I plan on doing one more blog post before I head to my site on Monday. Until then, I wanted to share some pictures with you.


This first link has pictures from a few different days we spent as tourist in Panama City, some of them you may have already seen, but I added a few from Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo. It was great learning a little more about the history of this amazing country!
http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/PanamaCity?feat=directlink

This link has pictures of our going away party at our training site. I was of course designated as the photographer, so you will find pictures of nearly every family with their trainee =)
http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/Despidida?feat=directlink

Enjoy!
Meti

The One Where She Visit Her New Home

Welcome to Buena Esperanza!!! Here it is…… my home for the next two years. Not bad huh?
I tried not to take to many pictures because I didn’t want to come in looking like a tourist. But I managed to snap a few photos when no one was around.

So here is how it went down... Last Tuesday we had a conference in the province of Cocle. All 36 of us each had a “community guide” who traveled from our community to pick us up. This was so amazing because I would say about 70% if not more of these community guides had never traveled out of their province before.
My guide proved to be a bit shy during the conference. I could tell he felt a bit uncomfortable being out of his element. After a very full day at the conference, we headed out, for my third, 2 day journey across the country to Bocus!! However, this time I had to add on a 2 hour boat ride to the end of it. Of course, because this is Panama, once we got off the bus in Almerante and it was time to catch the boat it was pouring rain!!!! We were sitting under this tiny zinc roof next to the water when all the sudden my guide muttered something really fast in Spanish and just ran off into the rain. I had absolutely no idea where he was going and when/if he was coming back. Turned out, he did come back…. 3 hours later!

However, those 3 hours turned out to be very entertaining. I conversed with an interesting aray of people. My first visitor was an indigenous woman selling oranges, she was very interested in me, she told me she didn’t have name and did not know how old she was or where she was from. She sat quiety right next to me for the entire time I waited. My next visitors were 2 old Latino men who had a very intense conversation that lasted about an hour about whether or not Peace Corps was part of the CIA or not. I decided to stay out of it and once they were done, the bought me an orange from my Indian friend, handed it to me and went on their way. Next was a young kid, in his teens old who seemed really motivated about his future (which is kinda rare here) He sat and talked to me about what he wants to study in college and how he really wanted to learn how to speak English. Right when we were in the middle of minie English lesson my next visitor showed up. This one was an extremely drunk cowboy who spoke nonsense to the three of us for about 20 min , while we all tried not to laugh. Then he stood up real ubrubtly, bought an orange from my no-named friend, handed it to me stumbled on his way. My final visitor was a professor from Bocus island. He didn’t say much to me, he walked by, asked what I was doing, I told him I was with Peace Corps, then he bought another orange from me friend, handed it to me and walked away silently. So 3 hours and 3 oranges later my guide final showed up. I never actually did find out where he went…..So, I parted ways with the Orange selling Indian woman and the motivated teenager and begin the 2 hour boat journey to Buena Ezperanza.

Basically, the only reason this boat ride took 2 hours is because the boat we were riding in was a very narrow dug out canoe, that leaked and had a 15 horse power motor. We loaded all my stuff (two years worth) into this tiny little boat, I sat on top of my bags indian style. Behind me, my guide maneuvered the boat while scooping buckets of water out so we didn’t sink…. Did I mention it was still pouring rain. Regardless, of course I still had a big smile on my face!

By the time we arrived at site, it was dark. A few of the community members met us at the dock to carry my bags to my host families house.

So by now, I kind of know what to expect with a host family. However, this family caught me a little of gaurd when I walked into a room that had 10 kids all under the age of eleven!!!! Needless to say it was a long 4 days in that house! Here is a picture of some of the kids… There were cute yea, but only to a certain point. Anyway, my 3 days in the community were pretty jam packed. I had 2 community wide meetings planned where I had to give a speech about me, Peace Corps and what my role in the community will be. Also, my guide and I went to every single house in the community (about 40 houses). Everyone was very welcoming. The People in my community live a very simple life. They all have farms (fincas) and live off their land. Like I noted before, there are no latrines, no aqueducts and no electricity. Because of the tourism in the region, they have had a lot more western influence and have a desire for a higher standard of living. They are also not as traditional as other Nogabe sites. While they still speak their own dialect, they do not were the traditional dress. They do however all have Ngabe names, as do I! Drumroll.... My new name that my community will call me from now on is.....Meti. Has a ring to it dont you think?
As of now, I am not exactly sure which way my work will take me within the community. They have many needs and a lot of potential!!!

I am very much looking forward to beginning my 2 year adventure with the people of Buena Ezperanza! Only 2 more weeks of training!


I hope everyone is doing well back home!
I am starting to realize how much I am going to miss seasons. I can’t believe that it snowed 5 inches in Tahoe already... Even though it is probably all gone by now. It is also strange to me that this is my first Fall in 16 years that I am not going “back to School."

On another note, if you haven’t read a book called Siddhartha, I think you should =) It is a small book, you can read in a day. Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse…. I am sure a lot of you have read it already. I am not sure why it never crossed my path until now. Wonderful book!

Peace for now!
Michelle

The One About Tech Week

Ok, this one will not be quite as long as “The One About Culture Week .” Our Tech week was spent in the Commarca. As a reminder a commarca is the Panamanian equivalence of a reservation for indians. We were in the Comarcaca Ngäbe Bugle. This is the first time that CED volunteers have gone into the commarca for tech week.

To get to our tech week site, we had to take an 1 ½ Chiva ride through really steep but beautiful mountains! Even though it was probably one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on, most of my attention was focused on not getting sick…. Which I was successful at thank god. The site was way up in the mountains, a good elevation for growing coffee.

After culture week, I had high expectations for my host family. This week, my host mom turned out to be 2 years younger than me, and had 2 really cute kids. While that was my host family, of course there were about 10 other people that stayed in the house. To tell you the truth, I never was able to figure out how there were all related. They were all very interested in me and would watch my every move. The grandmother only spoke Ngäbere and thought I did too. Our conversations were very interesting to say the least. I would say something to her in Spanish and she would rattle off in Ngäbere while I just stared at her blankly until her daughter stepped in to translate. My food situation was the worst it has been yet. Basically, it was hot white rice in the morning and the same rice, but cold, for dinner. There were also a few boiled bananas thrown in there. Our house was made of what appeared to be branches lined vertically side by side to make walls, the floor was dirt/mud when it rained, the roof was penca, there were no doors, no electricity, the closest latrine was literally a hike away (impossible at night) and the beds (tables) were made of hard wooden planks laid side by side and elevated off the ground. Lucky for me, “miss vegetarian” my family provided me with a lovely cow hide to sleep on. I was the only one who had to sleep on a dead cow all week. Here is a picture of it if you don’t believe me. And below that is a picture of my family in front of part of the house.

The logistics of tech week included splitting up into 7 groups to work with different business in the community. My partner and I were paired to work with a family run business that makes clothes. The first day we interviewed them about their business practices. Then we prepared a “charla,” which is basically a lecture, to give to them. We concluded from our interview that they needed help with basic financial matters. So we put together a presentation and taught them about money management, cost analysis, how to track costs and use a calculator, all in spanish of course. On the last day of tech week we did a community wide charla, were everything kinda came together! I think the really got it! Here is a picture of my group after our personal Charla.

I took advantage of being in such a beautiful spot for that week by hiking every morning. Three of the mornings a few of us did sunrise hikes. Here is a picture from one morning. It was absolutely gorgeous!!! And we could see the Pacific Ocean from up there. Which brings me to my next topic…
After tech week, all 36 trainees meet up for one “free night” we had before heading back to our original training site. After spending 2 straight weeks in very harsh living conditions, and demanding training hours, we were all but ready to have a free night! We rented these sweet little cabanas ($5/per person) that were literally right on the beach. A few of the volunteers actually had water come inside when the tide was high. It was the first time I had been to the Pacific since I have been in Panama, it was great to see what I like to call “my ocean.” We spent the day swimming and surfing. At night we got some awesome Italian. After dinner, we did some dancing at a German bar and then found a big group of people from Boquete. Boquete is a popular mountain town where a lot of gringos live and tourist go, suppose to be beautiful! The next morning I spent surfing a bit more and strolling the beach and collecting seashells. It was a very relaxing and much needed break!
Now, we are back to the same old schedule of training, but not for long! Wednesday I am headed back to Bocas!!!! But this time, I actually get to go to my site. This is the very first time since I have been in Panama that I will not be with someone else from Peace Corps. I am so excited/ nervous/anxious to see my site, and meet the people. We only get to stay in our sites for 4 days to do some assessment on living situations, work possibilities, and just to get a feeling of what to expect. Then we are back to training for 2 more weeks and then I get to go back to my site and actually stay….for 2 years!!!
On a more somber note, the ex-president of panama died on Tuesday. His name was Guillermo Endara. He was the president that lead panama to their independence in 1989. The day after his passing was a day of mourning, no one in panama worked and no kids went to school, everything was closed.
Sorry to end on that note, but it is part of my job to do some cultural exchang .. and I think that is something everyone should know about.
You probably won’t here from me until after my site visit….. Wish me luck!!!
Oh and here are the two links for culture week pictures and Tech week pictures, sorry I forgot it last time =)

http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/CultureWeek?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/TechWeek?feat=directlink

Much Love

The One about Culture week.

Buenas!
Ok, you guys ready for this... I have a lot to say!!!

As most of you know, I spent the last 2 weeks doing, what I like to call “travel training.” So far I have only had time to write about culture week

Here is a Recap of what went down:

All 36 volunteers were split up according to what region of the country your site is in. There ended up being 11 out 36 trainees going to Bocas Del Torro, we by far had the largest group. Here is a picture of us. The typical trip from our training site to Bocas takes about 14 hours (not including wait time). By the end of training I will have done this trip 4 times in 7 weeks!!!! Luckily, since it is such a long trip Peace Corps gives us enough money for a hotel so we can split the trip into two days. We usually stay in David at a hotel where all volunteers stay at when they are passing through. They have hot showers, great prices and have a well established relationship with Peace Corps. One can pretty much assume that any gringo you see in this hotel is a PCV.
When we stayed in David, on our way to culture week, there was a huge motorcycle event going on (made me miss my pop). It was cool to see all the bikes! I guess because there are so many differences between my life in Panama and life in the US, I often find myself pleasantly surprised when I encounter things that are the same, this motorcycle convention being one of them.
Anyway, our entire culture week was spent on the same site I was at for my volunteer visit. It is a little island in the Caribbean, close to the capital of Bocas, Isla Colon. Most of the community members, especially the kids remembered my name. I could walk down the middle of town and hear someone way off in the distance say “hola mechell” (that is how they pronounce my name). Also, all the girls form the Girl Scout Group remembered doing yoga with me a few weeks before, and it didn’t take long before they had me leading a very loosely structured class of yoga every afternoon at the school. Here is a picture of some of the kids holding a pose.

The volunteer that was hosting all 11 of us, did a great job planning the logistics for the week. Each of us were matched with a host family in the community for the week. The volunteer knew from the last time I visited that I was a vegetarian; she assured me that this would not be a problem with the host family I was with. She said she spoke with each family many times to guarantee they understand the “special needs” of each trainee. As an example of how things can culturally be interpreted differently; the first night I was with my new host family, they gave me a huge fish for dinner…. I am talking with the Head, fins, teeth, eyes and bones sticking out all over the place. Even if I wanted to, I would not have known how to eat this thing without doing some serious damage to my face, because of course I didn’t have a fork. The family understood why I was unable to eat there fish, and seemed somewhat pleased to hear (as if for the first time) that I don’t eat meat. The meals for the rest of the week included a mixture of white rice, lentils, beans, eggs, and for breakfast these amazing fried pastries called “ohaldrines.” Boiled bananas and a vegetable called Pifa are also staples in the Ngäbe communities. Both of these are physically hard for me to take in. To be honest there were a few times that I threw my food out the window to the starving dogs when the family wasn’t looking =)
Apart from the food, I was really pleased with my host family. Historically, Ngäbe families are large. My host mom and dad had 6 kids between the ages of 9 and 31. The oldest actually went to Cuba to studying medicine, and now works in the Hospital in Panama City, she is kind of the star of the town. And she happened to be visiting her family during the week I was there. It was wonderful getting to talk to a Ngäbe Indian who has some experience, not just outside her community but out of the country as well. Even though she spoke some English, our conversations were always somewhat limited. So, most of my free time was actually spent with the youngest daughter. After the first day, I noticed that almost all the women in the community have their hair pulled back in braids. Out of curiosity, I asked one of the volunteers how to say “braid” in Spanish. Later that night, while making conversation with the youngest daughter (9), I asked if she knew how to braid. Her face lit up, and long story short, I showed up to culture class the next day with 40 plus braids in my hair. Here is a picture of me drinking a coconut showing off my new harid do!! Also, Here is a picture of the house I stayed in.

There were two rooms, I slept on the floor in a tiny room with 4 other people. Because the house was on stilts it would sway back and forth when people walked, which made it fairly difficult to fall asleep at night. There were also large cracks in between the wooden planks on the floor, some large enough to be a tripping hazard. Just in case the swaying house, wasn’t enough of a sleeping distraction, early in the morning there are roosters, which actually I have become somewhat accustom to because they are all over Santa Clara as well. However, here, every morning this one cleverly cruel rooster would go underneath the house and position itself directly under my head and “cock-a-doo-dal-doo” at the top of his lungs every 15 min from about 3:30am until I got up at 6am. I could literally lay there on the floor and see his shadow right below me through the cracks. He and I both knew that there was nothing I could do about it.
During the week we had different cultural activities planned. The artisan group did a demonstration for us on how they make their bags . The entire bag including the die comes from plants that grow in the region. Here is a picture of one of the women working on getting the fibers out of the plant. We also went on the medicinal plant walk, were we encountered a sloth!!! It is so funny how slow those things move. By looking at a sloth, one would think it is harmless, but they actually are carriers of leishmaniasis, which humans can contract from mosquitoes that get it from the sloth. Ewwww
Another one of the days we went out swimming in the ocean. All the little boys in the village have their own dugout canoes. They are tiny little boats that hardly float. I was in one by myself with one little boy about 7 years old, wearing only his underwear and paddling for me. The whole set up reminded me a little of the gondola boat ride I once took in Venice, Italy. But, this ride was a lot less romantic!! Right when I got in the canoe I thought for sure we were going to tip. Let me tell you, it was quiet an ab workout balancing that little boat until we got past the very dirty water that acts as a bathroom for the village. Once we got out a few hundred feet, the water was crystal clear, we were swimming around this coral reef that tourists would pay hundreds of dollars for a boat to take them too. There were 25 of us out there swimming and we had 1 broken mask and one flipper, that happened to fit me =) As we passed the one broken mask around and we were able to see what was below us, everyone’s reaction was one of aww. How lucky we are to have been given the opportunity to live in Bocas for the next 2 years!!
On the last day on the island, we hosted a little farewell/thank you party for out host families. There ended up being what seemed like 200 kids under the age of 10 at the party. We had a Piñata, and as tradition goes, we filled it with candy and… flour!!!! OMG I have never seen such madness. Here is a picture of the kids stacked 3 fold, covered in flour fighting for the candy. The picture hardly does it justice.

Another little highlight of culture week is this little guy. He is a quiso. I don’t think he has a name in English. The boy next door had him as a pet. The only thing I know about them is that they are nocturnal animals and have proven to be very smart and trainable. Maybe I will get one when I get to site =)

By the end of the 6 days on the island I had really grown to enjoy the company of my host family, I shared a lot of fond memories with them, either playing volleyball, doing yoga at the school, braiding hair, washing clothes on a rock, bathing (fully clothed) in the waterfall, and much more. However, there is one memory that I wasn’t able to share with anyone because there was no one else around, but I would like to share it with you. First, let me preface this short story by explaining that this island village just recently got a generator for electricity. So they have access to electricity for about 4 hours every night. During this time, around 7pm-11pm everyone in the community is either staring at their TV’s or blasting music. The norm in my host house was TV, usually cartoons. So, I would go to bed around 8 every night, I would sleep with ear plugs to try and block out the noise. On my 4th night there, I was woken up around 10:45pm by my host brother (age 25) singing loudly and in English to The Eagles, which I am sure you all know is my favorite band. He was able to sing the entire song “Hotel California,” though I cannot be sure that he knew what he was saying. Even though I was woken up, my initial reaction was comparable to when I saw the motorcycles in David, delighted to encounter not just the familure, but the best of the familure! There was something so comforting about hearing that song at that moment. I remember laying on the floor, listening to him sing along with Don Henley and thinking to myself how amazing it is that him and I lived a world apart and lead completely different lives, but we both were finding enjoyment in the same type of music. And who would have guessed, less than 2 months ago, when I was listening to that very song, that there was someone in a small village, who is part of an indigiounious community I had never even heard of, who speaks a foreign dialect, who is somewhat isolated on an island in the Caribbean listening to the same song. For some reason this incident made an impact on me. I just thought I would share it with all of you in hopes that is serves as a reminder that sometimes, even if most of the evidence points to all our differences we still are more similar then we may think.

Well, those were some of the highlights from my culture week. Here are the links to look at more pictures.
I am planning on going to the City on Saturday, so I will try to do my update about my Tech Week experience in the Commarca then.

Paz out.

The One where she had to learn Ngäbere in Spainish

Buenas,

So site announcement on Wednesday was defiantly the highlight of this week. I am supper stoked about my site. All of you who are thinking about visiting, start planning you trips!!!! There is an airport on Isla Colon (Bocus Island).

There are 10 other trainees who will be going to the Province of Bocus del Toro, and there are currently 21 volunteers already in site there. Some things I have heard from current volunteers about volunteer life in Bocus:
- All the volunteers grow really close because they are so far away from the other volunteers in Panama.
- Cost of living is a bit higher because it is a tourist area so volunteers tend to have to dip into their savings…..…haha, guess I better start saving = /
- It rains the most in this provenience, last year Peace Corps had to evacuate everyone from their sites for 2 weeks due to flooding.
- Very rich in biodiversity, one can still encounter jaguars, tapirs, conejo pintados, sloths, toucans, boa constrictors and several varieties of brightly colored poison dart frogs. These animals are rare to find in Panama because they have all been eaten =( In the water there are Manatees, sea turtles and in the bay I am located at there are MANY dolphins. They say that this is a great place for diving!!!
- Bocus was isolated from the rest of Panama by mountains and think rainforest until 1996!!! Thus, they are very unique in their mix of culture and ethnicities.
- And a final quote from my regional director in Bocus “you are a member of a very select group- only the strongest wills can thrive in this province. The weak have historically all terminated their Peace Corps service early.”

I mentioned in the last post about being in an indigionious community. Let me take a step back and give you a little information about the land layout of Panama. Basically, Panama is split into 12 different sections, physically I mean… so if you look at a map you will see 12 different colors. 7 of these are provinces (like Bocus Del Toro). The Latinos live in the provinces. The other 5 sections of the country are Comarcas. I think the best way to discribe a comarca is to compare them reservations (but a lot bigger) that the Native Americans have in the states. So the 5 comarcas are the land for 7 different indigiounes communities (Ngäbe, Bugle,Kuna, Embera, Woonan, Naso and Bri-Bri) However, some indigionious people have formed other small communities outside of their comarcas, usually on an island or someplace closer to the water. My village is an example of this. So the indigionous group I will be working/living with for 2 years are Ngäbe. And if you are wondering if they each have their own languages, the answer is yes, but most of them will speak Spanish also.

That brings me to the explanation for the title of my blog. Thursday everyone who found out they were going to an indigenous site had to start talking different language classes. So I started learning Ngäbere!!! There was a point in during this language class that I just had to stop and reflect on what exactly was going on….. I was being taught an indigenous language, that is not written and only a few thousand people in the world know, in ANOTHER language that I hardly even speak….. wow.

We all had interviews last week to make sure our Spanish is improving. When I was tested 5 weeks ago, I was at a novice medium level, and now I am at and intermediate medium level. I can now speak in 6 different tenses, It is not to pretty though…. So, I have the option to either continue with Nabere classes or stick with Spanish. I am definitely going to stick with Spanish for the rest of training and then possible start learning more Ngäbere once I get into site.
Moving on….
Friday morning our whole training group had to do a presentation for the community of Santa Clara. It lasted about 3 hours, and the whole thing was in Spanish. I had to present on the economy in Santa Clara. In the afternoon, we got in groups with our spainish classes and each cooked a traditional Panamanian dish. My group cook Lentil soup (yummy) then we all go together for a little fiesta and shared the food. The Spanish teachers brought tradition Panamanian clothes from all over the country for us to wear. I wore a Nagua. It is a traditional dress that the Ngäbe women make and wear, Even though it is not the most flattering of clothes, it is very comfortable.
Here is a picture of me in it =)

On a different note, my host mom has been really sick for about a week. She has the dengue virus which is contracted from a “daytime” mosquito. Without going into much detail, I will just say that this is one sickness that I would never wish upon my worst enemy. It breaks my heart to see her suffer and for her daughters to have to see here like that. It is a constant reminder of how lucky I am (and all you are) to have access to good health care.

I am leaving today for two weeks of "travel training" in Panama. The first week is called “culture week.” All 36 trainees are split up depending on what region of the country your site is. Ironically, culture week for the Bocus Del Toro group is going be held at the same place I went for my site visit 2 weeks ago. We will be living with host families in the community and our days will be jam packed with different cultural presentations. After a week here, we will travel into the Commarca Ngäbe-Bugle. Here we will meet up with the rest of the CED group for what is called “Tech week.” This is where we will get a chance to put into practice all the skills we have been learning during training. Then it is back to Santa Clara.

I will be able to get online at least once within the next 2 weeks, but I will most likely not be updating my blog until I get back to Santa Clara.

Also, I made a big purchase this week and bought a cell phone. I have put my number on facebook, but if you don’t have access to that and would like my number just shoot me an e-mail or ask my mom or pop. If you get an international calling card, it should be pretty easy to call me for only about 5-10 cents a minute.

I hope you were all able to view some of my pictures. I have kinda become the designated photographer for the group and Picasa is the way I will be sharing my pictures with you guys at home as well as the other volunteers here in panama. So if you are wondering why I put up so many pictures of the same thing, it is so that the if the volunteer wants a certain picture they are able to choose which one they like best. I have also made 2 videos since I have been here, but I have yet to find a computer that will allow me to upload them. I should have said this a long time ago, but a special thank you to everyone how helped me get my “dream camera” I still have a lot to learn about it, but I am very happy with my purchase and excited I will be able to capture these next 2 years.

And here are a few more links

http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/CultureDay?feat=directlink This is from culture day

and this is from my site visit, the same place I am going back to this week http://picasaweb.google.com/maguilar317/SiteVisit?feat=directlink

Ok, so for all of you who told me not to make my entries shorter….there you are =)
Paz
~Michelle

The One With the BIG News!!!!

Today was the day!!!!!

I found out where I will be living for the next 2 years of my life and I couldn't be happier.
Here are the details....

Proviece: Bocus Del Toro
Village Name: Buena Esperanza (idiginous Ngabe community)
Population: 290 people
Possible work: Working with a women's artesanry group, helping them with basic business practices and marketing towards the tourist in Bocus island (isla Colon). They also have expressed interest in taking advantage of their location by making something for the tourist to take advantage of, such as a local restaurant or a "parking spot" for tourist yachts. They also want to learn some basic English to communicate with tourists and want to form some sort of youth group. (lots of work!!!!)
Previous Volunteer? : No, I will be the first
Other Details: No electricity, no running water (except for some rain catching systems), no latrines, and I will have to build my own house....
I am on a peninsula that sticks out into the Caribbean ocean. I have to take two boats to get to my site. I am only about a 30 min boat ride away from Isla Colon, which is a large tourist town. This is where I will have to do my grocery shopping, use Internet, and go to the health center when need be.
There are lots of other volunteers that will be relatively close.
I am leaving on Saturday for "culture week" in Bocus but I will not be able to go to my site until week 8 of training, so 4 more weeks.

I will add more to the blog soon..... time to go celebrate with all the other trainees!!!!!
Miss you all
Also check out this site for some pictures from Santa Clara http://picasaweb.google.es/maguilar317/SantaClara?feat=directlink and here are some pictres from Panama City http://picasaweb.google.es/maguilar317/Panama?feat=directlink and here are some pictures of when I was in DC, which seem like forever ago http://picasaweb.google.es/maguilar317/DC?feat=directlink