Our new site/ home...

Hey Everyone!

Brian and I have now been in our site now for almost a month! It has been an adjustment, like everything has been in Panama, but we definitely have been adjusting well. Overall, we are happy, healthy and glad to be doing what we´re doing.... a lot of reading! We have begun doing some work in our community, but it is always slow moving for most new volunteers during the first few months, which allows for a lot of reading time. I think Brian as already read something like 10 books in only the last four weeks!!

A little about our living situation: We live in a good size room that is attached to our counterpart's family's house. The former volunteer lived in the same room for a year. Usually one stays with a family for 3 months and then moves out on their own, but they invited her to stay longer, which she did and which we also hope to do. Our room is big enough for a full size bed, a table, three shelves and a little cooking area. We also have two windows and our own entrance. We have our privacy and I have been busy trying my best to create a cosy home for Brian and I. Trying to find a balance between creating a relatively comfortable home for us while not being too ostentatious can be a challenge, however, as appointments that we consider basic and essential for our sanity are still often out of reach for the majority of our community.

Our counterpart, Felix Montero and his family are better than we could have hoped for. Felix is super-motivated and way ahead of his community. He does it all including; maintaining his diversified organic vegetable/fruit garden, his tilapia (fresh-water fish) farm, building a house for his neighbor ( as well as other things for people in the community), acting as president for the parent committee at the school (kind of like a PTA), helping with the aquaduct committee (which maintains the system), latrine committee (which wil have more work to do once we help to build them), and a number of other things. Lately he has been requesting for us to give talks about AIDS and HIV, which is almost unheard of for someone in an indigenous community to take such a great interest in. Therefore, Brian and I have set up a two day seminar on HIV and AIDS for both young adults and adults for next week in celebration of world HIV/AIDS awareness day. Felix is an amazing person with lots of energy who I know will keep Brian and I on our toes. We also recently hosted a presentation by the Panamanian Ministry of Health in our community regarding basic nutrition, which went really well even after an unanticipated 2 hr delay!

Hi wife Angela and two kids, Felix Jr. (10) and Nata (19) are also wonderful. They have been hospitable and respectful above and beyond our expectations. Each day they make us three meals for which we are very thankful. The food is simple and usualy fried, but tasty. We also have one of the only latrines in the community near our house and have a cement area for taking bucket showers (with plastic-tarp walls, which makes bathing in breezy conditions rather interesting!). The family also has two dogs, a horse and many chickens, roosters and ducks.

Our community sits on a ridge in the mountains surrounded by other small communities above us and below. We live right off the dirt road which makes getting to and from our site pretty easy. We usualy have the option of taking a chiva (small truck) up and down the moutain (about 1 hr.) or walking (1 1/2hrs.). We are surrounded by lush trees with amazing views. We have one school in our community with an uncounted number of kids in grades k-8. The teachers are mostly latino and who commute in from towns outside of the area. They are very friendly and great to have around. We have already been invited to eat at a teacher's house for Christmas. In addition to the teachers most people in our indigenous Ngobe community are also very friendly, while are usually very shy at first.

So far, we have yet to have very many problems with unwanted critters. We do have these little gnats that come out during dusk which will eat you alive before you even notice. Thankfully, they don´t itch too much (unlike thier unbelievably evil cousin, the chigger) and if you don´t scratch thier bites go away within a day or two. Other than the nightly moths, roaches, and occasional palm-sized spider, we can´t really complain. However.....

The other morning Brian woke me up around 4:30am saying he though there was a bat in our mosquito netting (which we seal ourselves in during the night). I was half asleep and told him to go back to sleep. He kept saying he thought one was in our net and I kept telling him he must have been dreaming. Finally after his persitance I picked my head up to look up and as soon as I did a bat came charging at my face! We both dove under the sheet as Brian shouted, "lets hide!!" I began cracking up so hard and we both giggled like little kids under the sheet trying to figure out what to do. I finally slid out and we were able to get the bat out with a broom. I still laugh when I think about it and can hear him saying "let´s hide". (side-note: Brian swears the bat had a wing-span the size of an eagle)

Brian and I also had our first overnight guest on Monday. Another volunteer (Casey) from our group walked a few hrs from his site to come to our first health presentation. We then showed him around the area and roasted marshmallows and made smores on our propane stove. Ahhh the simple pleasures in life!

The next day we made our journey together as we travelled to an amazing town named Cerra Punta. It´s close to the Costa Rican boarder and at a higher elevation than Denver. There about 120 Peace Corps volunteers met at a local cabin/lodge resort to celebrate Thanksgiving. The town was misty in the mornings and evenings while sunny during the day, but always a little nippy. I took my first hot bath in months, which was like a slice of heaven. We went on a beautiful guided hike though a tropical forest over bridges and streams and past jungle foilage of every kind. The hillsides were covered in rich agriculture and flowers, and it seemed that strawberries were the local crop of choice. The only bummer was that we didn´t get to eat until about 8:30 at night because the cooks (PC volunteers) ran so far behind (we were scheduled to start at 3:00-ish. In addition, aswe we are the newest volunteer group we were forced to eat last, not leaving much of a variety of food left. But overall we ate well and had a very nice time.

Yesterday on the way back to our site, we arrived in our provincial capitol named David. David is a rather uninteresting city that supports many of the sterotypes associated with chaotic, dirty Latin American cities. Regardless, we spent the night so we could buy a few things and update the blog and will be returning to our site today.

We hope all is well with everyone, and hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Brian and I are both very thankful for the blessing of having you all as our family and friends, and we look forward to future Thanksgivings in your company.