Hola familia y amigos!!!

Blog Notes for Friday May 11th:

Hola familia y amigos!!! It has been one week and some change since I landed in Panama, and yea, it has been a change! I'm not even sure where to start. I guess to highlight the last week I should say:

-I have a fantastic host family. My host dad is an art teacher at the nearby school, my host mom is a fabulous cook and easy to talk to...sorta...(it is in another language) and my host little brother's name is Natan, just like another little brother I know. (He also NEVER eats his food, is obsessed with Batman, Lion King, and Scooby Doo)

-I am very lucky when it comes to my living situation. I have my own room and we have indoor plumbing, most of the time. At night there is often not water in the toma anymore so that is when we have to break out the bucket shower. Yea, bucket showers, that's a thing. Also, there are always two taps on sinks which i think is silly because we have cold water, and cold water. While cold showers feel nice in 90 degree weather with 300% humidity, it still takes my breath away every time before I get used to it.

-Sunburns, bug bites, and blisters happened. Nothing serious, and most of you are imagining me fried to a crisp, but it's not bad at all. It's like...my version of a tan. Scrubbing mud out of blisters on your feet sucks, and I cut my fingernails down as short as I can because try as I might, I can't stop scratching my bug bites. I woke up one morning with bruises where I had scratched so hard in my sleep.

-Malaria medicine started Weds night, they are 2 big unfortunate tasting pills we take once a week, and have the fun side affect of affecting your dreams. No really. I didn't really believe it until I woke up this morning. Truly bizarre, not only the details of the dream but that I remember every single moment. I have crazy dreams a lot, but rarely remember them for very long. It has been all day and I think I can still give a complete play by play if asked. My host mom was really glad that I didn't scream in my sleep like her last volunteer did because of them. Eeks!

-I am doing really well in my Spanish class and I enjoy it a lot. We are going to start an advanced project next week where we do something like a community analysis that involved interviewing community members I think. Yay for real life Spanish practice! However, our LCF is pushing us very hard to improve, and its not easy. Going that last 10% on a skill takes the most effort in anything, and this is no exception. Especially since we don't have a lot of free time to just learn Spanish words either. Speaking with my familia helps a lot, and we have a lot of interesting convos about Panama vs. US culture.

-We had some real life Panamanian practice Wednesday morning when we had to catch a chiva (literally a truck with a covered truck bed and benches in the back that they squish more people into than physics says is possible) We took that to the aspino (highway) then caught a bus to La Chorrera (a small city) to complete a basic scavenger hunt. We had to find the PC hospital, a hotel, and had a list of questions we had to get answered by random Panamanians on the street or in a shop. My group had a lot of trouble getting a chiva out of town and waited for a long time to get our connecting bus and was the last to make it to La Chorrera, but we were the first to return to Santa Rita! We got fruit as a prize for being first.

-Watch the scene from Forrest Gump about the different types of rain, and then get back to me. That's basically here, but it doesn’t rain all the time. Just at some point every day. But it is hot and sunny up until the rain, and then nice during the rain, and if you are lucky, it stays nice for the rest of the day. Otherwise it goes back to being hot and sunny. And I'm told that despite all of the rain, I have not even seen a real rainstorm yet. That will be interesting!

-There are in fact crocodiles. One of my fellow volunteers was running by the river yesterday and watched some locals pull a 3' croc out of the water and drag him along back to town on a leash. On a smaller scale, I have lizards that hang out on the walls in la casa de mis padres. I like them, because they eat bugs. And look cool. Also, in Spanish lizards are 'lagartijas' for my friends who were curious.

-The ninja phenomenon has spread! I love that game, and we have had some pretty epic games thus far, one in which I almost threw myself down a 6' ledge trying to defend myself. Whoops. That would have been an awesome phone call to the PCMO. (PC medical officer)

-I'm the loud one. I volunteer to go first. I feel like a mixture of Trent, J Gams and Kelsey. Lots of participation, a little (lot) OCD, lots of enthusiasm, big and loud and a little awkward at times, and sometimes I have no idea what is going on but play along anyway. To the 3 of you, I only mean that in the best ways. Thanks for rubbing off on me, I guess? No really. If I survive this entire adventure, it is going to because of my acting skills. (Jason is totally saying 'I told you so' right now)

That's a lot. There's more, but I don't want to overwhelm you. I'm really getting my footing here in Panama and am enjoying it a lot. If you were thinking about sending me something, PLEASE send me letters and photos rights now (I need to more to show my family) but hold off on things I need to keep or carry around until after I get to my site, I already have far too much stuff. But notes and letters are always welcome. I have a batch of postcards ready to go as soon as I have time to figure out how to send a letter. It took me a week to figure out how to use a pay phone, so don't get your hopes up.

I love you guys, I miss you tons, and I hope you are enjoying your part of this adventure with me!