the [bugs] come out at night.

last night as i sat in my house i realized it was under attack. around every light bulb was a swarm of 10-15 bugs. there were also various bugs on the floor, many of which i have never seen before. every 5 minutes i was sweeping them out of the house until i realized i was getting no where. as i fell asleep i heard the constant hum of hundreds of little wings flapping. it could only mean one thing...

summer is officially over. sunny, breezy days are no more. back are the hot and humid mornings and heavy storms. soon, i'll begin to wake up early every morning to check the sky and see if i can wash my clothes. walking anywhere will mean being soggy and covered in mud. everything i own (and i mean EVERYTHING: books, underwear, rice, my bed...) will smell like mold. and with winter come all of these bugs. my legs will once again look like a polka-dot mess. (see one of my posts from november to view a foto of such legs.) basically, life will get harder.

the summer was always my favorite season back home and here i love it even more. summer was like being on vacation from life. i forgot what it was really like to live in the tropics last august-december. now, i am begining to remember again. and it makes me miss home. it makes me remember how lucky we are there. only in coming to live in panama did i realize that living in the tropics isn't always like living in paradise. sometimes (if not most of the time), it's like living in a big swamp.

p.s. i still love it.

and here are pictures from the school's 81st anniversary celebration in my town.

the night before, they have a parade and all the kids have "torchas." they're paper lanterns with a candle inside. some start flaming a bit. kids and fire. very safe.

some of the 7th grade girls at the parade.

day of the anniversary. the conjunto folklorico performing.

girls dancing.

tamales the coop made to raise money.

as promised, more pics




mom at the mall








the beach near my house








on the interamerican - 3 watermelon for $1!








getting indiginous tats








a diablo rojo (bus) in panama city

i am a bad blogger.


my last update began the same way this one should, it's been a long time... sorry. blogging was supposed to be a way to communicate with everyone back home without the obnoxious mass emailing, but i guess it's been failing. well, on with the new.

so what's happened in the last month and a half? still working with the youth cooperative. we opened a school store to sell snacks, so that was what i was dedicating a lot of time to. now, i'm still working on that, as well as trying to get their records organized, start an english class, do a project to help artisans sell their work, maybe start a girl scout troop, help plan a business plan seminar, and hang out with the people in my community more often. also, summer is ending and rainy season is beging again. at least it means mangos and nance and pifa and all sorts of other amazing panamanian jungle produce.

another awesome thing that happened was my mom and zoe's visit. it was awesome having them here. having them leave was anything but. :( oh well, valío la pena to spend a week with them. they loved panama and just chilling in my town and meeting people. and the boys in my town loved zoe. hahaha. it was cool to show them around and listen to them comment about things. it reminded me how i felt when i got here. like everything was so differenet. now, i see a parrot or a mud-walled house or a pile of trash burning and am like, eh...okay.

so that's my update. i'll end with what i know you all really want, pictures.
oh, damn. i don't have all my pics with me. so here's a few and i swear the next post will be a foto gallery. really.
also, click on a foto and it'll get bigger.


coolest bug ever.
the boys brought it over. it has neon green lights on it's back.







mango season!
i have three trees in my yard. this pic is a bit old, they're bigger now and almost ready to be devoured.






panamanian baseball game.
herrera v los santos. LS won and rushed the field. (yes, this was a professional game.)







my awesome bf.
okay, maybe the moustache isn't so awesome. but he is. trust me.

it's been a long time...


first off, i want to apologize for the months i have gone without posting a thing. but don't woory, i'm still alive and back to blog for you all. i don't have my camera on me, but i'll hopefully post some pictures soon.

what have i been up to? i've been working in my site and it's been summer, which means that there isn't a huge storm everyday. so you know i'm happy. it's actually gotten really windy and much cooler here for the "summer," something i didn't expect. i even wear a light sweater sometimes. in panama. crazy. i taught english and computer class over the summer, which was fun, but i am not too sad it's over. teaching is draining. the students here are used to the panamanian education system, which requires them to copy info from the board, stay quiet, and keep their ideas to themselves, if they have any. so it was hard to get them to really involve themselves. i also moved into my house, which now feels like home. i've decorated, have pictures of y'all up, have two hammocks (thanks to the best bf ever), and am enjoying cooking my own food. no more white rice. :)

i've also gotten to travel around a bit. february began with a bang. i went to celebrate carnaval in the azuero, the carnaval capital of panama. it was craaaaaaaaaazy. everyone parties in the streets (which are packed) and big water tankers spray people with water. then floats come around with the queens, who dance and wave to the crowds, and each one is followed by a float with a band. the streets are filled with all sorts of people (old, young, city people, campesinos) and everyone yells and dances and has a good time letting all thier sin out before lent begins. basically, the best party ever.

recently, i also traveled to an indigenous site. the people are of the embera tribe and live (more or less) how they have since before the gringos came and took over. they make their money by having tourists come and visit. the women wear just a bright piece of fabric as a skirt and then men use loin cloths. their houses are wood platforms, raised off the ground, with palm thached roofs. some have walls, some don't. the whole things was really surreal. and beautiful. the communities are on the edge of the chagres river in a national park. i will definitely bring everyone who visits to visit. (photos to come. in the meantime, google image search parara puru.)

lastly, last month i hit my 6 month mark of being away from home. i really started to miss everyone and think, "do i really have 21 more months to go?" but, i realized that i live in the tropics, have a wonderful house and community, have awesome friends, and am getting paid to help make a difference in people's lives and really just hang out with and learn from people from another culture. so, life is great. and, my mom and sister are visiting in a month! i couldn't be more excited. oh, and if anyone buys magazines (fashion, celebrity gossip, news, whatever) and can drop off their already read issues at my mom's house before she leaves, i would be forever greatful. FOREVER. i need to stay up to date with which middle age celebrity is having twins next, if barack is going to be our next president, and what trouble lindsay lohan is in now. oh, and if you read any good news articles online, email them to me. whenever i get online i am too rushed too look up news. thanks! i just feel so detached from the states sometimes.

ha'ta luego, pue'.

the house!


okay, to see pics of my new place (and others from my community), click on this link:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267057&l=fc204&id=1203709
(btw, the first swimming hole is right behind my house. sweet. the second swimming hole was a 2 hour walk from my house. not so sweet. but i definitely bonded with the teens from my coop that i went with.)

enjoy!

so here's my life update:


today, moving into my house!!!!!!!!!! i'm so excited. it's really cute. i'll send pics when i take them. broke decorating can be fun. i made curtains and a sofa slip cover out of shower curtains yesterday. and a bedspread out of a tablecloth. ya'll are gonna love it when you visit. ;)

living in the campo story: yesterday i was on the latrine and heard tttssssst. before i knew what was happening i had jumped up, ass out and pee dripping. a 2.5 foot snake was 2 feet from me. i panicked, unsure if was was in danger (it was only green, not coral or patterned) and if i should jump outside ass-out in front of my host family. luckily, i didn't have to detbate what to do because the snake slithered out of the latrine. still, it shook me up.

other campo news: i burned my first trash yesterday. put it in a plastic bag and lit it up. in the states i would be thinking, this is sooooo not environmentally friendly. and smokey the bear would pop out and remind me of forest fires. but in panama you just think, "will the freakin wind please stop blowing black trash smoke at me!"

so i guess that's it for now. i love and miss you all. more to come.

ways panamá will drive you crazy:


- having to wait 40 minutes in a restaurant just to order, while people who arrived after you are already eating

- being squished into a 12 person van (the bus out of my community) with 26 other people who smell of BO and baby oil as "suavamente" blares on the radio and you bang back and forth because the road is in really bad shape

- or, being on a bus full of drunk men and having the tire pop (because the driver may have been drunk too) and waiting on the side of the road at night while they put on a spare

- having to pay 50 cents a minute to call the usa AND another person right here in panamá

- starting your 9 o'clock meeting at 11 o'clock

- having your host family give you an ice cream cone, a popscicle, and a handful of candy, right after they call you fat



oh, and here's my future house!