The One with the 3 month mark

January 26 ^th marked the anniversary of my first 3 months in site!!! That means I only have 21 months left as a Peace Corps volunteer, Wow! I totally understand now why Peace Corps has a strict 2 year commitment!

As Peace Corps staff encouraged during training, my first 3 months have been mostly dedicated to doing my “Community Analysis,” finding my role in the community (explaining that role to the members in the community), and figuring out where my efforts need to be focused.

I took it upon myself to start a list that I titled “potential projects.” I started this list the first day I arrived in site 3 months ago. Whenever I saw a need for something in the community that I thought I possibly would be able to help with, I wrote it down…..That list has grown and grown to span more than 2 ½ pages now. It is a bit overwhelming to tell you the truth. Now that my 3 month mark is up, I need to start prioritizing those potential projects based on effectiveness and feasibility.

I was brought into Buena Esperanza as a CED (community economic development) volunteer. However, because I am the first volunteer in this community there is some ground breaking that needs to happen first. There are some basic things in the community that I feel need to be fulfilled prior to focusing on economic development. It is reassuring however, that Peace Corps most likely will put a follow up volunteer in my site once I leave.

Anyway, Hooray!!! Happy 3 month anniversary to me =)

Moving on…

My last blog post was dedicated to my new housing situation…. While simply trying to survive does take up most of the day, I actually have been doing other things as well:

Here are some of my adventures that top the charts this time…

The Boat: During those big storms I talked about in my last blog post, I had a scheduled visit from my boss from Panama City. This was a routine 3 month visit that they are required to do with each volunteer. Basically to make sure we haven’t fallen off the map, or gone completely insane… yet. Anyway, the morning we were suppose to go pick him up was rainy and windy (just like the 3 days preceding). Normally, I would have spent the day hunkered in my house trying to stay dry but on this day I really had no choice.

So myself, along with 7 other community members (who were just going along to take advantage of a free ride to town) loaded into a large-ish cayuco with a 15 horsepower engine. I was dressed in my full out rain suite… rubber from head to toe and bright yellow, I was not joking around! When they pulled up to my dock to pick me up I announced “Ready for an adventure” to the passengers, assuring them that, yes, I did know that I looked (slightly) ridiculous…… And oh boy, an adventure is exactly what we got!!!

Leaving Dolphin bay was fine. It was raining and windy, but we were still fairly protected by the islands. That all changed fairly quickly. Once we got out to more open ocean the swells grew to 5 plus feet, the wind was howling, and the rain was coming down so hard we could barely see the front of the Cayuco. Do I need to remind you that we were in a dug-out canoe, a hollowed out tree trunk….Not the most stable thing, especially when you have 5 foot swells coming at you. Each wave that hit us, it felt like someone was throwing a 5 gallon bucket of water straight into my face from about 3 feet away. Then the cayuco would drop straight down, leaving my stomach dangling in the air. Of course my Peace Corps issued Life jacket was left under my bed in my house (incase I ever need it in the middle of the night…? I don’t know). So during the boat ride, I was constantly checking my surroundings, the land was always within a mile, so I knew that if we did flip (which I thought was almost certainly going to happen) I would be able to swim to land. Unfortunately however, I was the only one on the boat who knew how to swim. I saw complete terror in the eyes of the Indians on that boat. It broke my heart to see how scared they were! In their minds, if that boat flipped they were going to drowned, no question. So I started think seriously about what I would do if we capsized…. I remembered back to PC training when the staff taught us how to make floatation devises out of our pants. Suddenly, I wasn’t as ashamed anymore that I had chosen to wear my yellow rain suit over my other pants… I was going to be able to save 2 people!!! =) Attempting to overpower the sound of the fierce ocean and howling wind, I tried to give the Indians some reassurance by yelling to them “ Don’t worry, I can make a life jacket out of my pants!!!!”…. But they just stared at me blankly; they probably just assumed I didn’t know what I was talking about. I confuse words all the time and I am sure they just thought I was doing it again… Looking back on it, it does sound a bit ridiculous.

Fortunately, we didn’t flip. We ended up maneuvering over to one of the islands and anchored behind it until the water calmed a bit. They said, “you were right Meti, that was an adventure!”

Needless to say, “teaching them how to swim” has made it one to my “potential projects” list. Aside from the whole raw sewage in the water issue, there is really no good place to learn how to swim right by our village, so I need to put some thought into this one…. It is really something that needs to be done though! These people are around water all the time, they need to learn how to swim!!!(or how to make a flotation devise out of their pants)

The Farm Part of my attempt to get to know the community and their way of life, I will often join them when they go working in their farms.

On this particular day, I joined my first host family. We loaded up in 3 different Cayucos, because of all the kids of course. The first half of the trip to their farm we were weaving through the jungle on a narrow river. It was just like going through a ride at Disneyland (isn’t it kinda strange when you are experiencing the real thing and it reminds you of a theme park… I guess that is a complement to the design team at Disneyland). Anyway, about 30 minutes later we pulled off on the bank and began to hike inland. I was struggling on this hike… I was all set with my knee high rubber boots and all I was carrying was a little backpack with my camera, water bottle, and Machete. But with the combination of mud, very thick and slippery ground vines and the extremely steep incline, it was not easy! It didn’t help my self esteem that my host mom was pretty much skipping up the mountain! Especially because she was carrying a 30+ pound bag of corn wrapped around her forehead and draped on her back, on top of the hand woven bag was her youngest son, holding on like a little monkey, and in front she was carrying her youngest daughter in her arms, and to top it off, she wasn’t wearing any shoes and had a skirt on!!!

Their farm was gorgeous! They were anxious to show me their new house they just finished. My host mom made a big meal, complete with more starches than one could ever want. She unloaded the 30lbs of corn at the house to make room for putting her son actually inside the bag, istead of having him hanging on, and we all went for a walk through their Caoco trees. We came upon a fresh river with a swimming hole. All the kids jumped in, while their mom waited on the sideline with a bar of soap in hand. One by one they took a break from splashing around and ran over to her to get scrubbed down. At first I sat watching and taking pictures, but I couldn’t resist joining in the fun. All the kids went absolutely crazy when I dove in with all my clothes on!!! We played in the water for what felt like hours. I was launching the kids through the air the way my dad use to do to my brother and I when we were young. After all the bathing/playing was done, we returned to the farm house, played with a dead snake for while and then made chocolate balls out of some dried Caoco seeds they had…. If was a wonderful day in the “finca.” I think I concluded that I appreciate this host family soooooo much more now that I don’t live with them =) Here are some photos of the day...

The Book One of my favorite little boys in the community came to visit me the other day. He knew I was heading into town the next day so he was stopping by to ask me to buy him something. Unfortunately, this is something that the Ngobes do often, they will ask you do buy them something or give them money. So I took this opportunity to lecture my little friend on how it is rude to ask people for things all the time, I really gave him an ear full!! When I paused he said, “But Meti, I have been helping you a lot with your garden and it is my 10^th birthday tomorrow. “ And it actually was his 10^th birthday. I sighed and asked “If I were to get you something, what would it be?” I assumed of course that he wanted some sort of toy or candy. After a long pause, we looked down at the ground and explained “I am going to be 10 years old tomorrow, and I don’t know how to read. Will you buy me a book so I can learn how to read?” Needless to say, my heart pretty much melted! I feel like books and any sort of educational material is something that is worth buying for them! I returned the next day with “Peter Pan.” He was truly grateful! He said “Thank you” like I have been working so hard to teach him, and ran off to learn how to read…..=)

The World Kind of a similar story….

One of the first things I put up in my house was a poster of the World. I had a little girl visiting me one day (age 13). I brought her in front of the map and asked her if she could point out where Panama was. After about 5 minutes of thinking, she confidently pointed to Russia (because it was the largest). Once I showed her Panama, and how small the country is in comparison to the world, she tells me that she wants to be able to visit all those other countries. I told her that the best way to be able to see the world is to study really hard in school. I said that if you have a good education you have a better chance of seeing the world. She just kind of nodded, I wasn’t really sure if she understood. A few days later, I saw her pass by my house. Like I always do, I asked her what she was planning on doing that day, she looked up at me in my window and said “I am going to study all day so I can visit the world!”

I guess she was listening.

These were just stories that warmed and brook my heart at the same time so I thought I would share them with you. The more I think about it, I think a lot of my work is going to be focused on the children of Buena Esperanza. After all, they are the future right?

The knowledge My community members heard about the earthquake in Haiti from the radio program they listen to. The number of people affected by this tragedy and the immense poverty that the Haitians live in is something that my community has trouble grasping. A few of them have come to me asking if I know anything about it. I take the opportunity of explaining that the people in Haiti are among the poorest in the world. Their initial reaction usually is disbelief that there are actually people in the world that are poorer than they are. In attempt to put it in prospective, I try to explain that the Haitians don’t have the rich natural resources that the land of Panama provides. They don’t have their own farms where they can grow food, and a lot of them go hungry. I also touch on Haiti’s lack of a solid infrastructure, where here they can grow trees that are as solid as steel. I think it made them appreciate and be proud of what they have here in panama. It was one of those lessons of life that we all have had…. No matter how bad things seem in your own life, someone always has it worse.

That’s all I have time for now.... is there 10 feet of Snow in Tahoe yet?

Love,

Me

Ngobes Say the Darnedest things

I had a family of 7 visit me one afternoon. I was showing them some photos of my friends and family. I showed them a picture of my good friend Julie who just moved to Switzerland. The father of this family says “Are California and Switzerland neighbors? For example, like “Shark Hole” and Buena Esperanza?” (Shark Hole is a 30 minute hike away.) I answered. “ No Switzerland is on a different continent, and it is a different county than the United States.” He gave me a long “mmmmmmhhhhhhhhhm,” and says, “so it would be more than a $5 taxi ride to visit her?”

Uncle Tim's words to the not to wise “Take what you got and work with it to get what you want…Don’t blame the wind, get the sail out to catch more of it!

The One where she has some Freedom

The first night in my house was nothing less of extraordinary! Freedom has never felt so good. I realize now, after living with a host family for nearly 6 months that personal space was something I definitely use to take for granted. It is also something not always understood by other cultures. They ask me “ Why would you want to live alone Meti?” and “Who is going to keep you warm at night? Don’t you get cold at night?” oh and my personal favorite… “What are you going to do when the Brujas (witches) come out at night?” While I have yet to encounter any brujas knocking at my door… I have definitely already faced some challenges!

• My first Solo scorpion encounter : I knew that it was bound to happen.. they are everywhere. But I have managed avoiding a one-on-one encounter until now…. He was a little guy (which I am told is worse) I found him early in the morning underneath ha book that was sitting on my kitchen table. Half asleep, it took me a few seconds to realize the time has finally arrived for me to face, honestly, one of the biggest fears I had about living alone; the scorpions... and of course the bird eating tarantula that has scared me for life…. Notice how I speak of it as if there is only one…In my mind there is, and I left it back in our training site! (refer to September blogs for more detail if you have no idea what I am refering to)
  Anyways, both the scorpion and I sat there motionless for what could have easily been 5 minutes. The only thing I moved was my eyes…. Anxiously searching for something hard to smash it with. Like the good Ngobe that I am becoming, my Machete was close by. As I reached for it, he began to move. He stopped when I returned with my nearly 2 foot long knife (I don’t know what I was thinking). There was another long pause as we both tried to plan our next move. Then I raised my machete high up over my head (which was completely unnecessary, and totally against what I learned in my machete safely training, but that is what my adrenaline was telling me to do) and swong straight down, in an action that should have ended in me saying “high-ya.” Apparently, scorpions are not stupid… all he had to do was take one step either way...which he did. Now, my Machete was wedged ¼ inch deep in my kitchen table which gave the little guy plenty of time to scurry off to a new hiding place. The scorpion won that time, but there have been 3 more incidents since this first one, and those were not so lucky….. I am learning =)
  
  
• My first time burning my trash: Ever since I arrived in panama and found out the only way to dispose of the trash was to burn it, yourself, I was not looking forward to this day.
  

After I had had a few days to get situated, I decided it was time to do something about the loads of trash surrounding my house. So I spent 3 plus hours picking it all up… one cute little boy offered to help me. Together we filled my 5 gallon bucket, more than 10 times!! As I was picking up the trash, I was remembering the Beach Clean Ups that we often did for “Wheelchair Foundation” in college. We would be out on Pismo or Avila Beach roaming for hours and could hardly even find a cigarette bud in the sand. This is a big cultural difference! The Panamanians in general think that Americans are crazy that they would get up and walk clear across a park or beach to throw a little piece of plastic in a bin when you can just drop it right where you are and eventually it will blow away (out of site out of mind).
Well in Buena Esperanza, it seemed as through all that trash had blown directly into my surrounding area. Eventually, I plan on attacking the problem of trash in my community with some education and possibly the making of community trash cans…but I think I made a BIG statement when I burnt everything that we picked up. My “gringo” neighbors across the bay told me it looked like the village was burning down. Here is a photo of all the smoke…. I was so nervous to burn my trash for the first time, I probably should have started with a smaller pile =) I am also learning what can and can’t be burnt and this is helping me becoming a smarter consumer, especially in regards to the packaging that my food comes in…. I have also started a composting bin, so anything that can be composted (and the chickens or starving dogs won’t try to eat) I am in huge favor of!

• My First Meal: Oh, I have got a lot to learn about how to cooking out here. All I can say is after 2 years, I am going to be the best “Camping cook” ever! There are many things I have to think about. The first one being the fact that I lack refrigeration. So, when I go grocery shopping all of the fruits and vegetables that I buy will need to be consumed within the next few days. So when I get back from the island my meals are wonderful for the first few days, and then they dwindle down until I am simply eating plain lentils. Also, I am only cooking for one person, so if I make too much of something, and there is no way to keep it, it will go to waste. Oh and don’t even get me started on the ants… oh the ants!!! If you turn your back on your food for less than 5 min, by the time you return these little bitty ants will have already taken it over. They come from only god knows where. You will be absolutely certain that they are no where insight and then as soon as you become distracted they attack your food! So, when I eat dinner when it is dark out I make sure to continuously examine my food with a flashlight, to insure I am not getting any extra unwanted protein.
  Anyway, the point of this is that I was so overwhelmed by all the conditions regarding cooking for myself that for my first meal in my house I resorted to the boiling of hot water for a nice cup of tea, and a Luna Bar from the states, (thanks mom).
  I am getting better though! And I have even started my herb garden with some fresh Basil and Cilantro that are doing magnificently. I am also planning on having a vegetable garden as well as my own mini Finca (farm) with some banana trees, which are already planted, and possibly some Yuka, beans, plantains and whatever else my community gives me to plant =)

• My First Rainstorm: Oh this was a fun one! We got a huge storm about a week after I moved in to my house. It last 2 days straight! Hard, very hard, winds and constant downpour of rain. Needless to say, I found all the leaks in my roof. Also, my walls have ¼-1/2 inch gaps between the boards so when the wind blew, the rain would come in from there as well….So now my walls have old plastic shower curtains stapled up and I put up two large tarps between where my walls ended and my roof starts (eventually we will put wood there). Basically it was raining inside…I think you get the idea. But the constant sound of the rain pounding on the Zinc roof and the tarps blowing in the wind for 2 days straight, was just enough to make me start going crazy! I was walking around my house with earplugs in. And I couldn’t really go outside, for the fear that a coconut or large branch would fall on me.
  


• Some Other Randomness Regarding Living in my New Home:
  

1.) My new neighbors taught me how to make a hammock! I told them I wanted to make a really small one, of course they thought it was because I was expecting a baby, but I explained that I wanted to put it in my kitchen to keep my veggies in. Here is a picture of me working on it!

2.) I was pretty much gifted a new, very elaborate, mosquito net for my enormous bed! It is the type of net that little girls dream about having. Obviously it doesn’t really go with the decor of the shack, but it has proven to be my pride and joy. It is a very fine net so it keeps everything out, and I can read peacefully by candlelight, without being swarmed by insects. And I wake up each morning feeling like a little Ngobe Indian Princess… Princess Meti, haha.

3.) There are holes in my floor. Between each board there is about an ¼ inch gap that runs the full length of y house. Also scattered randomly are other random holes between 2-4 inch in diameter. These holes make it really easy to sweep, all you have to do is push everything towards a crack. On the other hand… Each time I accidently drop something I hold my breath that it doesn’t fall all the way through and underneath my house. I have already lost a lot of pens and pencils that way. I guess I will learn to be a little less clumsy =)

4.) The Bucket showering still continues…. However, now that I have discovered the heating of water, I have a whole new appreciation for my bucket bathing, and actually find myself looking forward to it…. Now it I could only remember to wash my right arm =)

I know I will get better at this whole…”living alone in an Indian village” thing. But as many challenges that I may face the plusses definitely outweigh the minuses. I feel so fortunate that each day I get to wake up to the sound of the Howler Monkeys, do yoga to the sunrise with a beautiful view of the bay, and then I can heat up some water and have a nice big cup of Green Tea (Dragon Pearl of course) … I couldn’t think of any better way to start a day!!!_______________________________
On another note:

There are 3 things that I am going to try to make “regulars” on each blog post from now on:

First, one of my “Gringo” neighbors tracks the average rainfall that we get each month. For the year of 2009 we got 159.1 inches of rain in Dolphin Bay!!!! So each month I will let you know what we got. Remember that if there is no rain, there is no water! We are fully dependent on the rain. Fortunately, the Bocas region historically has proven to provide plenty of the life sustaining substance!

Secound, with each blog post I want to add a “Ngobes say the darndest things” section . I continuously find myself shaking my head and giggling to myself, wishing there was someone here to laugh with me. So know I will write it down and share with you =)
Example:
This really could have happened to any Spanish speaking person trying to speak English not jsut a Ngobe…. My second host dad (the teacher) came to check up on me in my new house and he was trying to speak English to me. Now in Spanish Molestar means “to bother.” So he was trying to ask “has anyone bothered you?” But instead he said “has anyone molested you?” I smiled and politely replied “no, no one has molested me.” to which he replies….” Not yet.” haha
I am sure I have had PLENTY of these moments when I practice my Spanish.

Ok, the third thing I want to share with you in each Blog post I will call “Uncle Tim’s words to the not so wise.”
When we were going through some of my uncles things back in November, I grabbed a stack of his books to bring back with me to Panama, knowing that I would have plenty of time to read. When I got back and started looking through them, I found a very thin hand written journal mixed in with the stack of books. The notes on the inside were scribbled in what unmistakably was my Uncle’s writing. The date on the inside cover reads 8/25/92, and the notes, I believe are from either a class that he took or an achievement seminar he attended. So I am not sure if the ideas written are from my Uncle directly… most likely they are from the presenter. But he found the ideas important enough to write down and to keep close by for all these years.
Many of you have told me how inspirational the last e-mail I received from my uncle was, and I agree, so I figured instead of just keeping this speacial journal to myself, I would share his thoughts, little by little, with you.

This is the first thing written:
“Formula for success = ½ dozen things make 80% of the difference- look for the few things that make the most difference, then spend most of your time on the few things, the basics and Fundamentals! Remember that TIME is more valuable than money.”

My Uncle was a very smart man, and we can all learn alot from what is in this journal! I look forward to sharing it with you!
__________________________________
Lastly, here are some pictures that I have finally been able to upload.

This first link are some random pictures of the Kids around B.E

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

This link are more pictures of my house.... you can start to see some progress!!!

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

This link are some more pictures from my New Years eve adventure.

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

And finally, this link are just some other randoms from around my site.

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


I hope I didn´t overwhelm you all.....Enjoy!!!!

Until next time,
Meti

The One with a New Year

Well hello. It has been awhile since my last real update. I had that semi-depressing post about what I missed about Christmas, but other than that it has been nearly a month since “The One about the Hotdog.” Oh, lost has been going on, so let’s get into it….

• · I am getting better with my Cayuco. When I first got it nearly 2 months ago I thought that there was absolutely no way I would be able to learn how to manage it. However, “Poco a Poco”… little by little, just like everything else, I am learning. It also seems I have become a bit of a tourist attraction… Here is a picture that was e-mailed to me from a tourist visiting my neighbors for the chocolate tour.

I started by going out in the morning when the bay is calm. Now, I can manage with a little wind and some wakes from the motorized boats. I have learned that when the waves are bigger, I need to sit further back in the boat, and it is necessary to keep some sort of cup close by to scoop out water. I am still trying to master the “J” or “C” stroke. My community tells me that they can tell it is me out in the bay because I am the only one why has to switch sides with the paddled to stay in a straight line. Maybe after my 2 years I will be able to stand up and paddle the way the little boys can do…. I am not pushing it though =)

Unfortunately, my confidence in my Cayucoing skills diminished a bit after an incident a few weeks ago. I had paddled over to one of my “Gringo” neighbor’s houses with my regional leader Jim. Jim ended up getting a ride out, back to mainland so I was left with the Cayuco (which was slightly larger than my own) to get back to the community. Of course the wind picked up in the afternoon, like it always does and when I tried to leave I was just blown like a leaf into the maingroves. After detangling myself, it became obvious that the wind was not going to let me go anywhere. There was a little voice in my head (probably my moms) telling me to stop trying to fight it and ask for help. So my neighbor gratefully volunteered to drive be back in her dingy and we asked one of my community members, who was working there, if he could take the Cayuco back for me. of course it was no problem for him, and I had to suck up my pride and follow in a motorized dingy all the way to the other side of the community. Anyone who was paying attention to the water (and when they hear a motor, they all look) saw me pas by. Oh and trust me, I heard about it later. They all say “Aw Meti, we saw you had to be rescued by a gringo” and then they laugh really hard. At least I can keep them entertained.

• Ok. To explain the housing situation; In the beginning I was told we were going to have to build a house for me. But, after spending some time in the community I started inquiring about certain houses that no one was living in. VERY long story short …because some families don’t get along I had to be careful where I decided to live in order to stay neutral. Turns out, my community, with the support of the “gringo” neighbors, built a house a few years ago for the teachers to live in. However, the teachers have since “married” within the community and thus have other places to live. So this worked out perfect for me because it is an impartial place and I will be paying rent to the community at large to help fund whatever projects we may be working on. Speaking of rent… let’s just say that by the time my 2 years are up, I will not have paid half of what I paid for 1 months rent during college… my rent is $20 a month.

So part of the deal for me renting this house was that Padres De Famila (like PTA) would help me build some things. So when I returned from Christmas I was pleasantly surprised to see I had a new kitchen table, bed, and shelves! However, the only tool they have to work with is a machete to everything is a little…off. But I still appreciate their work very much! On the other hand, I had made it very clear numerous times that I wanted a small bed, just big enough for one person. That way I could buy a small/cheaper mattress and the mosquito net that Peace Corps gave me will fit. Of course I returned to find a bed literally big enough to sleep 5 people! They told me “Meti… you never know when might need someone to keep you warm at night.” Just another non-distinct hint that they hope I “hook up” with someone in the community. It is just a good thing I don’t have blond hair and blue eyes or else I would seriously have a problem. Also, the whole idea of anyone (let alone a woman) living alone is so incredibly far-fetched to them.

Before I could start moving anything in, I needed to clean the walls. I got two little kids from my first host family (because we all know that they have kids to spare) to help me. It started out with just some spot cleaning: where there was dirt, scrub it off with soapy water. Then it turned into “let’s just clean the whole wall,” and because it was so dirty it escalated to scrubbing the floors as well. Now, picturing 2 little Indian children down on their hands and knees scrubbing the floor (for free) may seem like child labor, but I can tell you that I lived with these kids for over a month and I have never seen them having so much fun. Especially when we would break from scrubbing to have an all out water fight in the middle of the house. It ended with then ganging up on me and dumping a huge bucket of dirty soapy water on my head while I was standing in the middle of my soon to be room….they definitely won the fight. Always good to mix some work with fun right?

Here are a few pictures of the house. I will add more as it changes… I have big plans!!

• I met a guy (gringo-ish) on Bocas Island who was born and raised with the Indians long before any other gringos were in the area (his parents where missionaries from the states). Very interesting person! You could easily write a book or screen play on his life. Anyway, he offered to take me and another PC volunteer around the island during New Years eve day. It was quite an adventure to say the least. Once you get off that main road where all the tourist are your hardly on anything that even resembles a road anymore. We were Four wheeling through mud 3 feet deep, driving through waves, flooring it through flooded zones that the locals call “sand-pits” and barley serviving bridges that had only inches of error space on either side. My ½ gringo ½ Indian friend drove it with ease and confidence, it was nothing new to him. The waves that day were huge! Probably some of the biggest I have ever seen... well, at least in the Caribbean. When I went walking on the beach, I could feel the ground shake with each wave that crashed. Of course our guide could not pass up this opportunity to surf. So we watched while he went out with all the “Richie Richie” Boggie Boarders from Panama city and showed them how to really ride a wave.

New years eve night proved to be just as exciting. I had dinner with an extremely random collection of my friends: there was some PC volunteers (all of us from different states), a friend of mine from Germany, another from Australia, 2 from Canada and then my gringo-ish friend. The conversation was never dull! After dinner we went out and did some dancing, watched fireworks, and I rung in the New Year with great company on a dock overlooking the still waters, with a perfect view of the full moon!

• I returned to Buena Esperanza the next morning to find lots of hung over Indians!When it comes to drinking, the Native Americans and the Ngobe Indians don’t differ much.I think It may be something in the genes of an Indian, someone should research thatI think it would be interesting to know…. Anyway, the one main difference is that my Indians can’t afford alcohol all the time, so Christmas and New Years, you better watch out!Anyway, there were remnants all over the community that reminded me why I didn’t want to be in site the night before.

Here is one picture of what use to be a bamboo structure with a thatched roof….

I think I arrived too late in the morning to see any people tied to trees, but that is what they do with someone when they get out of hand…seriously.

• English classes are rolling still rolling!It has gotten to the point I actually feel like they are learning and studying… some definitely more than others.I still have a class size of more than 30 people! The other day I took the opportunity of having their undivided attention to explain how in “gringo culture” it is very important to be polite.

Ngobe fact: there are no words for “please” and “thank you” in their language.

So I taught them how to say please, thank you, excuse me etc… Part of my job as a PC volunteer is to share cultures and being polite (I think) is a big part of it. I say please and thank you constantly, I am sure they think I am crazy. And with the kids, whenever I give them something or do something for them I ask “what do you say?” at first I got a bunch of blank stares but now they are learning… with the “Gringa” you have to say please and thank you!

• Personally, I think that the sound of children laughing is one of the best sounds in the world.A few days ago I heard a group of kids laughing and playing off in the distance, so I grabbed my camera and went to check it out.I found them at the top of a muddy hill using a few old splintery pieces of wood to sit on and sled down.Coming from the mountains I guess I have always thought sledding was just for snow… it definitely isn’t.

Well, that is about all I have time for now. I plan on doing another post within the next week or so with all my adventures of moving into my own house.

I also have a ton more pictures but the computer wouldn't let me upload them all... So there is lots to look forward to!!!


Hope all is well in your lives.
Paz,
Miche,Meti, Michelle

P.S I decided that my New Years resolution is going to be to Volunteer more... haha just kidding