20, 21, 22!

wow time is flying! how crazy!

school this week has been really fun, i am getting the hang of everything, all the kids and teachers know me, and i am just fitting in. i still get exhausted by the end of the long day, but with this heat i can´t expect anything else. (heat-- yes. sunny and tan--definitely not.)

anyways, not too much to update on. life is normal and good here. my host family is still the best. and ive been cooking pasta and making some american foods for them, which i love because then i get a good vegetarian meal as well.

oh! so today at school we had costa rican visitors. all of the students and teachers crowded on the basketball court to sit and watch some typical dancing from both countries. the kids themselves did the dancing, and it was so amazing to watch! they had on makeup, and the cultural clothes, like the big skirts and shirts and jewelery--they looked very gorgeous. first the kids from my school here danced some panamanian dances. then the costa ricans (all from ages 5-18 i think) did a bunch of their dancing. even though the countries are so close and seem like they would be similar, they are not at all. the cultures are extremely different. personally, i liked the panama dance better, but of course im still partial to everything costa rican as well. at the end, the panama kids showed the costa ricans how to do their dance. they were so adorable and fun to watch. pictures to be posted soon of course.

this weekend is mid-point break already. all of the volunteers are going to el valle. we leave friday morn and come back sunday night. im expecting some good beach time, as well as some great hikes.

culture time:

19. leftover food is kept in the microwave in order to keep the millions of flies out of it.

20. panama time and panama plans can change at any second. theres no such thing as solid plans here. even school hours change when they want. today, for example, classes were at 7am instead of the usual 1pm.

21. have i mentioned the cold showers yet? warm showers are unheard of. even in my nice host home.

22. school uniforms are the only the formal about the school system. the kids here do not care about discipline, and the screaming, yelling and running in unstoppable. it really depends on the day if my classes will listen to me. i always think i will go home voiceless from classes. i have not seen the kids here make a line yet. it´s just a big crowd of screaming kids all the time. and the teachers dont really do anything about it. except that they have to wear formal uniforms. of course the teachers have their own uniforms as well.