Panama es muy muy bueno

Hey everyone,
I finnally got to an internet cafe. I think that this is the best way for me to get in contact with everyone. Hopefully I should be able to check this about once a week.
I´m doing great. I´m at my training site in Santa Clara. Its a suburb of Panama (about an hour out) the family I´m staying with is very nice. I live in a 3 room house made of concrete block walls and no paint. My parents Jeronimo and Dilsa are both grandparents and very talkative, the father speaks slow and is very patient with my lack of Spanish and poor proneunciation, he also knows a few words in Engish so its very helpful. I have my own room with a desk and and a bed. My bed is has a thin mattress and Spongebob sheets, but he´s BLACK! I think is must be a factory defect of something. I also have my Mosquito net up to protect from Malaria and Dengue fever.
The house has no indoor plumbing only a sink outside used for just about everything from filling up pòts for cooking to washing clothes. The latrine is disgusting. It is just about completly full and I despise going in there. My father has dug out a new one (its like a 20ft hole) and is waiting to purchase the concrete supplies. I told him I would help mix this concrete up. He said he doesn´t know much about it, but the Peace Corps gave us a whole bunch of concrete info that I showed him and he was thrilled. Lastly, the entire time I have been here the elecricity has been broken. This is good and bad. It sucks cause it gets dark at 6 and then its dark, its good because there is not much else to do but talk. Alot of my friends say that their families don´t talk abd only watch TV.

Every day for I wake up around 7:00 shower in the outdoor shower, and go to Spanish class at another house. I´m in the Intermediate medium level and have 2 other people in my class. Class meets for 4 hours. The community has an amazing income disparity because the house I have classes in has a washer and dryer indoor plumbing a bathroom, a big TV and 2 cars. My Spanish has definitly been progressing but Í don´t really attribute that much to the class, its more that i just have to speak all the time.
In the afternoon I have a Tecnical class for 4 more hours. I really like this class, we meet a little out of town under a Ranchero, which is a house with Palm fronds for a roof. This class is tought by a girl names Tess who has served in Panama for 3 years. There is also almost always a current volunteer in Environmental health there to help. We have toured a nearby gravity fed water system, met with a water comittee, and had several engineering demonstrations with tubes called the maquaduct. Yesterday we built an organic garden, and learned how to sharpen and use a machete. Aparently everyone gets very familiar with the machete as you use if for everything in the field.
Outside of classes, I bought a guitar for $40 and I play to my families delight. I don´t go out on weekdays, but on the weekend and thursday night, we go to a bar which is owned by the family of one of my amigos. They have free billards and several kinds of 50 cent beers. I missed out on the soccer game because my family is very religous. I went to church for 3 hours on tuesday and 2 more today. They are a type of evangelical. Besides that everyone here is really cool, the people are much more diverse than I expected. There are people from California, to my boy Jake who´s a frat boy from Washington state, to my buddy Colin who is has a small world but a great guy. I´m the only person from New England.

Lastly I don´t know when I´ll be able to post pictures because I don´t have the chord for my camera and apparently they don´t sell that type in Panama. Yáll can get in touch with me if you write me and email.

If you want to mail me something

I'll be trying to read emails and respond when I have time. I'm not sure how much internet access I will have so we shall see. I also would like regular snail mail, with pictures newspaper clippings, stickers, or some homeade art to hang up.

Some notes on sending me mail. It can take from ten days to well over a month for mail coming from Panama to the US, it is also probability similar reverse. Some advice if you’re interested in mailing me.

-Put post cards in envelopes or they may end up on the wall of a local post office.
-Number your letters you send me that way I'll know if one was misplaced.
-If you want to send me a package, please do not send anything of high value because there is no guarantee it will arrive. Packages should be sent in padded enveloped because they are opened and taxed less.

For the next three months when I'm at training I can be reached at:

(by fedex, UPS, etc.)

Peace Corps/Panamá American Embassy

Edif. 95, Ave. Vicente Bonilla

Ciudad del Saber, Clayton

Corregimiento de Ancón

Ciudad de Panamá

República de Panamá

Tel: 507.317.0038 Fax: 507.317.0809

Atentamente: Your Name

(by regular mail)

Your name

Cuerpo de Paz/Panamá

Apartado postal 0834-02788

Panamá, República de Panamá

Final Good Bye

So I'm flying out on my flight booked and paid for by the government, tomorrow morning. I'll be in Washington D.C. for two days at the Staging event where I will learn the basics about the Peace Corps. Then I will depart for my 3 months of training outside of Panama City.

I'm still figuring out this whole blog thing. I heard there was a way to send out an email when I update. If anyone knows how to do this let me know. It seems kinda confusing right now.

I wanted to thank everyone for so many well wishes. I really has amazed me how much people have done, from good-bye calls, to the executive theme final throwdown, to all aunts uncles and little cousins all saying blessing for me at the Cape this past weekend. I hope to hear from you guys in one form or another, and have brought many pictures to remember everyone.

Welcome to my first ever blog. Obviously it will be about my service in Panama with the Peace Corps. I decided to to a blog because it will take less time to get the word out. I think uploading huge mass emails could take quite some time on a dial up modem