First couple weeks, a whirlwind

Greetings all! Lots is happening in our lives. Training involves a mashing and thrashing of gears from Spanish to the theory behind sustainable development to how to ward of the dog down the road from Lauren and I's home stay house. Needless to say I am LOVING it! Panama has certainly piqued my interest and I really love the experiences I have had this far. Our host family consists of the ever-smiling Mabel Castro, our host mom, Yelin, our doctor-to-be host brother whom incidentally likes to run and is teaching me how not to get run over en las calles angostas between Santa Rita and El Espino. We have 33 chickens in the back, 15 or so pigs getting fat for market, and a cadre of ducks, roosters, and cute baby pollitos. Our scene changes a lot, but el dia tipico is: wake up at 5.45 and I run with Yelin. He is incredibly patient with my limping Spanish. The run is a great time for me to get my focus for the day. I decided, like a moron, to change over to FiveFingers in Panama so I have been a hurtin' unit. Next, breakfast from Mabel, who should be in charge of dinner at the Apocalypse because she can cook amazing meals. Often, all the teachers and Peace Corps staff eat at Mabel's... NOT a coincidence. After breakfast we head out to language class. I have developed the strategy of walking slow in order to minimize sweating. Let me tell you the minimum sweat amount here in Panama is basically my maximum sweat level in Colorado! Lauren's improvement in Spanish is testament to the teachers here. Yesterday she began speaking full sentences all the sudden, Mabel cheered. My Spanish is like a sinusoid graph , at times I am amazed at what I pull off and other times my tongue feels like a Hummer in my mouth, the kind with the one ton plate on the bottom. Ha. My teacher is named Yisel and she is going to have baby soon, which she plans to name Rafael for her brother. Then lunch. Our community is pretty large, the houses are colorful and open, dogs and chickens and cows hang out around town playing out various melodramas. In the 1970s Santa Rita had no water in the houses, but a road was built in town and water followed thereafter. Everything is green and beautiful so stay tuned for Lauren's pictures. After lunch we have a technical training until 5. For some the content is old hat, but I am enormously interested in most everything said. Lauren travels to another community called Los Mortales for this training because she is an agricultural trainee. I am salud ambiental which equates to clean water and sanitation, more or less. After training we mosey back home and hang with the fam. A veces Mabel's daughter visits with her daughter Alejandra Sofia. I am going to petition Webster to go ahead and change the definition of cute to Alejandra Sofia. Tiene 2 anos y ojos grandes de color tostado oscurro. She runs around the house chasing chicks and playing and making us all go awwwwww nonstop. Lauren and I go to separate technical classes, she travels to Los Mortales with her lovely new friend Kelly and I stay in Santa Rita. We talk development theory, soft skills like how to facilitate change in a community, and practice presenting in Spanish. Lauren digs holes and plants stuff and hangs out with giant tarantulas. Both of us are getting our first taste of using a machete and I, for one, will never turn back. After that, it is dinner and studying Spanish or hanging out with Mabel and company. We have a very luxurious home-stay house and Mabel keeps us well-fed and smiling. The room is awfully hot, but with the fan she lent us, no hay problemas. Happy Mother's Day to our mothers and thanks for reading. See you next time. Love you all!


P.S. I wrote part of this while crossing the Panama Canal and another part in Santa Rita pirating the internet in front of the school!