so here goes another update:
friday morning i left for el valle with the rest of the volunteers. the trip was about 4 hours long with three bus switches. but the timing worked out pretty well, and we had no problem making the transfers. when we got to the valley, of course it was pouring like crazy, and so we had nothing to do besides hang out at the hotel. luckily, it was pretty nice (with hammocks everywhere, of course). we played some cards and eventually got dinner. it´s not exactly a huge touristy place, but definitely more so than what i have seen so far around panama. we definitely ran into a good number of english speakers. and the hostel cost 18 a night, and that is definitely more than a hostel should cost in panama. so anyways, we were hanging out, but as usual, i was very very tired, and so a bunch of us decided to just sleeeeeep. which i did.
saturday was THE day. we woke up around 7 to go hiking. the hike is called ¨la india dormida¨or ¨the sleeping indian¨because the topof the mountain is shaped like an indian sleeping, apparently. i didnt get that picture so well, but oh well. the hike was pretty intense, i definitely got a good workout. unfortunately when we got to the top it was covered in clouds. and so even though it was cool to be in the clouds, i couldnt see anything around me, and therefore no super cool view. but i got some other good views when i was just below the clouds, so no worries. on the way down we found a waterfall in the middle of the mountain. it was amazing! there was a pool at the bottom of it, and so we all found a way (which was definitely not easy) to go swimming. definitely the top moment of the weekend. i just love these natural waterfalls. yes, the water was cold, but man did it feel good after the hike. pictures of all this to be posted of course. we got back to the hotel from the hike around 12pm. ate some quick lunch, and left for the beach right away. this beach spot was picked out by our in country coordinator lorena (basically the founder of the program) and to say the least, she is RICH. so, just imagine the picture perfect beach and pool. this is where we went. it was verrryyyy luxurious, and definitely SO fun. i finally got some color on my skin! we relaxed in the ocean for the rest of the afternoon. amazingly, it didnt rain! (which is a first for panama). we headed back to the hotel around 6pm, went to dinner, then went with lorena to one of her friend´s house, and hung out there. gooooood day.
woke up early this morning to go to the market. i got two necklaces, which i bargained for and was very proud of. there were all types of art there, as well as fruit and vegetables, and met some cool people just talking about the art and such. then we got on a bus back, and three buses later, im here at the internet cafe. i havent been back to the house yet, but ill be there soon--which im excited about because i miss my host family!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
day 23.
taught at the kindergarden this morning. about to start teaching here at the elementary school. then gonna make some burritos for my family for dinner. tomorrow i am off to el valle del anton with the other volunteers!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
day 22 again...the university experience.
another post for today while i have a computer.
right now i am at the university, with one of my host cousins. i came to help teach some of the classes here, and it is a funny experience, to say the least. the class forgot that they had an exam, and so for the first hour i had nothing to do. but i went down to another english class, just to see if i could help out, and it turns out that there was already someone from alabama teaching the class! he was so funny. turns out he is here with another organization that teaches english teachers here different teaching techniques (which is great because they really do need it) and he was just filling in for a professor tonight. we talked for a while, he was pretty cool, but spent 2 years as a missionary in argentina. but he had great teaching techniques. if i were teaching older students like he does then he could have definitely helped me out. however, i am sooo happy to have younger students, to say the least.
i went back to my friends english class, and they were finishing up their test. the teacher could not find the tape recording with the english voices, so good thing i was there! she had me read these passages outloud for the class, acting as a tape. i felt so horrible, making these students who are like 2 years older than me learn this language from me! i didnt want to give them a test on the first day. so i spoke clear and slow. they said it was great :) yay. halfway through my reading, someones cell phone went off. and she answered it! and talked while she was taking the test! the tecaher just laughed. i definitely did too. i explained that i would probably get kicked out of the class for something like that. definitely just a tad different here.
later, we all just sat around and i talked about the US. they asked me how much college costs... and their reactions were priceless. they work hard to pay the 27 dollars it costs here. (and that 27 includes books for sure). so we talked about money for a while, making me feel very guilty. i think i tried explaining the exchange rate like every 2 minutes! i was very relieved when the topic changed to snow and weather. definitely better conversation.
anyways, we walked around town for about 20 minutes, got a cheese empanada (which was SO delicious and i want another) and a batido (which is basically a smoothie), and now i am sitting with my host cousin in her next class, which happens to be a photoshop class. they have a test today, so theyre all busy trying to create newspaper images (i wish they would just use indesign... i think my dad should teach this class. all the students are so confused, and im sure i would be too with this teacher). but either way, i get more free internet time, thus this whole new blog entry for the last few hours of my life.
also, as another sidenote, on the way here i was tlaking with one of the students, and just asking him about life as a student here. he said there is no homework, and ifthere is there is no reason to actually do it. and the classes are not necessary because everyone can pass extremely easily. i would put that in quotes if i did not translate it from spanish. he knows zero english and will pass with flags flying. should i come here for university??? (dont worry, i wont)
right now i am at the university, with one of my host cousins. i came to help teach some of the classes here, and it is a funny experience, to say the least. the class forgot that they had an exam, and so for the first hour i had nothing to do. but i went down to another english class, just to see if i could help out, and it turns out that there was already someone from alabama teaching the class! he was so funny. turns out he is here with another organization that teaches english teachers here different teaching techniques (which is great because they really do need it) and he was just filling in for a professor tonight. we talked for a while, he was pretty cool, but spent 2 years as a missionary in argentina. but he had great teaching techniques. if i were teaching older students like he does then he could have definitely helped me out. however, i am sooo happy to have younger students, to say the least.
i went back to my friends english class, and they were finishing up their test. the teacher could not find the tape recording with the english voices, so good thing i was there! she had me read these passages outloud for the class, acting as a tape. i felt so horrible, making these students who are like 2 years older than me learn this language from me! i didnt want to give them a test on the first day. so i spoke clear and slow. they said it was great :) yay. halfway through my reading, someones cell phone went off. and she answered it! and talked while she was taking the test! the tecaher just laughed. i definitely did too. i explained that i would probably get kicked out of the class for something like that. definitely just a tad different here.
later, we all just sat around and i talked about the US. they asked me how much college costs... and their reactions were priceless. they work hard to pay the 27 dollars it costs here. (and that 27 includes books for sure). so we talked about money for a while, making me feel very guilty. i think i tried explaining the exchange rate like every 2 minutes! i was very relieved when the topic changed to snow and weather. definitely better conversation.
anyways, we walked around town for about 20 minutes, got a cheese empanada (which was SO delicious and i want another) and a batido (which is basically a smoothie), and now i am sitting with my host cousin in her next class, which happens to be a photoshop class. they have a test today, so theyre all busy trying to create newspaper images (i wish they would just use indesign... i think my dad should teach this class. all the students are so confused, and im sure i would be too with this teacher). but either way, i get more free internet time, thus this whole new blog entry for the last few hours of my life.
also, as another sidenote, on the way here i was tlaking with one of the students, and just asking him about life as a student here. he said there is no homework, and ifthere is there is no reason to actually do it. and the classes are not necessary because everyone can pass extremely easily. i would put that in quotes if i did not translate it from spanish. he knows zero english and will pass with flags flying. should i come here for university??? (dont worry, i wont)
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.
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.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
days eighteen and ninteen.
long update:
1. friday night turned out to be fun. one of the family´s cousins came over as a surprise visit for two reasons. 1, because she wants me to come to her school as well. she´s in high school, so it´ll be for older kids--and just once or twice, not constantly. 2, because she wanted me to go to a parade with her. so we went. and the parade? only one float that circled the central park about twenty times. i found that very hilarious. but that was my fourth of july parade even tho it was not the fourth and there was only one float and again the kindergarden girls had too much make up on. but there were fireworks as well! and those were fun and made me nostolgic for the fourth, even tho it didnt matter to me too much that i missed the holiday.
2. saturday morning i woke up early and went over to another volunteer´s house to help her with her fourth of july celebration for her town. we made water balloons and had a toss, played with a beach ball, played red rover, and then gave the kids chalk and told them to paint things from the US. (ive learned to be very careful not to say ámerican things´over here because they are american as well. we are north american, or from the US**) the kids in this town absolutely loved the water balloons. we even had prizes, like playdoh, stickers, and candy for them. afterwards, we made staple food from the US--none other than peanut butter and jelly. they loved it, and i definitely loved it as well.
3. after this celebration we took a bus into chitre, the large town about 45 minutes away from where i live. we stayed the night at my host-cousins house. seriously, the people here just take us in and love having us. i say this because my 3 other friends were going to stay at a hotel and instead the family made them stay with them, even tho they have hardly any money and not enough space. they did not want us in a hotel. 7 of us squeezed onto three single beds. it was tight, but i was tired and slept. the cousins had taken us all over town. we went shopping everywhere, even at an american resale store where i found super cute american eagle jeans for three dollars, and i bought them just because i do need more jeans to wear now. we got some ice cream, then went to the supermarket to get some food to cook. went to their house, cooked, and then got ready to go out. i hadnt worn makeup in the last three weeks, and so it was nice to put on and feel decent once again. then we went out dancing and to a bar slash casino. it was a very nice bar--definitely even nice for US standards, and therefore expensive even for us. the volunteers have realized that people do not want to show us their normal outtings, they want to show us what they think we like. (i personally would have loved a local bar). but the girls introduced us to their friends, and everyone is just so nice, that of course i had fun anyways.
4. came home this morning. the other volunteers saw a mcdonalds on the way home and just had to stop and eat some. how disgusting. even tho i really hate panamanian food, i didnt want to ruin this cultural experience with mcdonalds. but i guess these volunteers are in smaller towns with nothing to do or eat, and barely any electricity or running water. i have all of this, so i am not as stuck in rural panama. so i sat while they ate mcdonalds. they really enjoyed it to say the least. and i had air conditioning for a while, and that was nice. then we just got back on the bus, and now im home from the weekend. its nice catching up with my family. my host mom made my basked mostaccoli dish that i had made for them, so that was super nice of her. im exhausted, and just gonna read and watch some tv. ive already finished two of my three books, so im trying to pace myself. i definitely did not realize i would have so much free time! but school finally starts again tomorrow after this long break i have had. i have a four day week, and then leave friday to go to El Valle--all of the volunteers are meeting there for mid-point break.
-----
more cultural fun:
16. the women here wear their hair in huge curlers as a style. im serious. they think that it is very stylish to roll their hair up in the curlers, but never actually take them out. ill try to get a picture of someone on the streets, because it is very common, and very hilarious to me. i still have not gotten used to it. i keep thinking that they are not done with their hair.
17. the water just goes on and off whenever the town wants. in the last three or four days, i have gone about half the time without running water. i take showers whenever it is on, to say the least.
18. panamanians do what they want, when they want to. for example, if i am sleeping in my room, but they want something from the room, they just go get it. they don´t think this is rude. they do not care if i am in their way, or if i want to cook while they are cooking--just do it. everyone makes room for everyone else. this kinda drives me nuts, actually. but im trying to get used to it. (for example--the very loud jesus music very early in the morning, waking me up... oh well)
1. friday night turned out to be fun. one of the family´s cousins came over as a surprise visit for two reasons. 1, because she wants me to come to her school as well. she´s in high school, so it´ll be for older kids--and just once or twice, not constantly. 2, because she wanted me to go to a parade with her. so we went. and the parade? only one float that circled the central park about twenty times. i found that very hilarious. but that was my fourth of july parade even tho it was not the fourth and there was only one float and again the kindergarden girls had too much make up on. but there were fireworks as well! and those were fun and made me nostolgic for the fourth, even tho it didnt matter to me too much that i missed the holiday.
2. saturday morning i woke up early and went over to another volunteer´s house to help her with her fourth of july celebration for her town. we made water balloons and had a toss, played with a beach ball, played red rover, and then gave the kids chalk and told them to paint things from the US. (ive learned to be very careful not to say ámerican things´over here because they are american as well. we are north american, or from the US**) the kids in this town absolutely loved the water balloons. we even had prizes, like playdoh, stickers, and candy for them. afterwards, we made staple food from the US--none other than peanut butter and jelly. they loved it, and i definitely loved it as well.
3. after this celebration we took a bus into chitre, the large town about 45 minutes away from where i live. we stayed the night at my host-cousins house. seriously, the people here just take us in and love having us. i say this because my 3 other friends were going to stay at a hotel and instead the family made them stay with them, even tho they have hardly any money and not enough space. they did not want us in a hotel. 7 of us squeezed onto three single beds. it was tight, but i was tired and slept. the cousins had taken us all over town. we went shopping everywhere, even at an american resale store where i found super cute american eagle jeans for three dollars, and i bought them just because i do need more jeans to wear now. we got some ice cream, then went to the supermarket to get some food to cook. went to their house, cooked, and then got ready to go out. i hadnt worn makeup in the last three weeks, and so it was nice to put on and feel decent once again. then we went out dancing and to a bar slash casino. it was a very nice bar--definitely even nice for US standards, and therefore expensive even for us. the volunteers have realized that people do not want to show us their normal outtings, they want to show us what they think we like. (i personally would have loved a local bar). but the girls introduced us to their friends, and everyone is just so nice, that of course i had fun anyways.
4. came home this morning. the other volunteers saw a mcdonalds on the way home and just had to stop and eat some. how disgusting. even tho i really hate panamanian food, i didnt want to ruin this cultural experience with mcdonalds. but i guess these volunteers are in smaller towns with nothing to do or eat, and barely any electricity or running water. i have all of this, so i am not as stuck in rural panama. so i sat while they ate mcdonalds. they really enjoyed it to say the least. and i had air conditioning for a while, and that was nice. then we just got back on the bus, and now im home from the weekend. its nice catching up with my family. my host mom made my basked mostaccoli dish that i had made for them, so that was super nice of her. im exhausted, and just gonna read and watch some tv. ive already finished two of my three books, so im trying to pace myself. i definitely did not realize i would have so much free time! but school finally starts again tomorrow after this long break i have had. i have a four day week, and then leave friday to go to El Valle--all of the volunteers are meeting there for mid-point break.
-----
more cultural fun:
16. the women here wear their hair in huge curlers as a style. im serious. they think that it is very stylish to roll their hair up in the curlers, but never actually take them out. ill try to get a picture of someone on the streets, because it is very common, and very hilarious to me. i still have not gotten used to it. i keep thinking that they are not done with their hair.
17. the water just goes on and off whenever the town wants. in the last three or four days, i have gone about half the time without running water. i take showers whenever it is on, to say the least.
18. panamanians do what they want, when they want to. for example, if i am sleeping in my room, but they want something from the room, they just go get it. they don´t think this is rude. they do not care if i am in their way, or if i want to cook while they are cooking--just do it. everyone makes room for everyone else. this kinda drives me nuts, actually. but im trying to get used to it. (for example--the very loud jesus music very early in the morning, waking me up... oh well)
Friday, July 3, 2009
seventeen.
today was a pretty relaxed day... woke up and taught at the kindergarden. the new teacher there is a lot better than the other. she definitely knows more english, although she is definitely still learning. perhaps it was a lot easiertoday than normal because there were only about 5 kids in each class! how crazy! i asked why no one was there, and the teachers said it was because of the rain... but it rains here every single day so i do not understand. i guess they just didnt have to go to school today for some reason. we just played some color games, and reviewed head, shoulders, knees and toes. those kiddies are just too cute.
after school i took my host sibs and met up with the two other volunteers at the pool. it was nice to hang out with them but also take my hermanos somewhere, since there is never anything for them to do when they are not in school. we just got back from the pool, and i can tell theyre exhausted, so that makes me feel good that they ha da good day apart from their norm.
came home to surprise mcdonalds dinner once again. chicken salad minus the chicken for me. the kids just love it though.
i was going to go help my friend in her fourth of july celebration for the kids of her town tomorrow. but my host family asked if i would go with them to the farm again because they want to show me the island that is nearby. of course i couldnt say no. so im doing a day trip tomorrow. not sure what to expect, but the word island doesnt exactly have a bad conotation, so im excited.
hope u all have a good fourth-- ill be celebrating it panama style (therefore, not.)
after school i took my host sibs and met up with the two other volunteers at the pool. it was nice to hang out with them but also take my hermanos somewhere, since there is never anything for them to do when they are not in school. we just got back from the pool, and i can tell theyre exhausted, so that makes me feel good that they ha da good day apart from their norm.
came home to surprise mcdonalds dinner once again. chicken salad minus the chicken for me. the kids just love it though.
i was going to go help my friend in her fourth of july celebration for the kids of her town tomorrow. but my host family asked if i would go with them to the farm again because they want to show me the island that is nearby. of course i couldnt say no. so im doing a day trip tomorrow. not sure what to expect, but the word island doesnt exactly have a bad conotation, so im excited.
hope u all have a good fourth-- ill be celebrating it panama style (therefore, not.)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
days 15 and 16.
hey all, im here in an internet cafe... ready for another update? this is a long one...
tuesday night was a lot of fun. i think i have mentioned that my host dad´s dad (or my host grandpa i should say) and his wife are famous panamanian singers. they sing typical cultural music and are pretty well known throughout the area. and on tuesday night they hosted a dance. i drove with them (yes, definitely VIP treatment) in their van to the show, and then we went to some house t o eat dinner beforehand. when they started singing, eve ryone (about 500 people were there i would say), got up and moved their chairs to the side, moved all the tables out of the way, and started dancing with their partners. it was like clockwork and very cool to see. i danced to only a couple songs (the ones withou t a partner of course, seeing as i went with one of my girl friends) and made a fool of myself. it was a lot of fun tho. my friend kathleen and i ended up staying the night, or rather only a couple of hours (because we got home around 3am... and we were the first ones to leave) over at the cousins´house. they were super awesome and one of the girls even know english. the music is actually really good. they gave me a cd, so ill share when i get home of course. we´ll meet up with those cousins again for sure. they want me to go to their english classes at the university.
left their house early in order to start our venture to pedasi, a cute beach town thats about an hour and a half from where i am living. we got there, after quite a few funny wrong turns. and of course once we get tehre the rain would not let up. so we spent some time in the hammocks under a covering just hanging out. there were 6 of us who went, and it was still nice to see the town, but im still craving a sunny beach day!
the bus rides are always an experience, too. the system is called the ´chiva´ buses, and each bus seems privately owned. the driver decides how much it will cost, so we always have to be careful to not get ripped off considering when 6 americans are traving together, we a re easy targets. when the bus dropped us off here in las tablas there was an unusal amount of activity and things going on. i realized it was a parade. my host family came to join me and we sat and watched the parade together. apparently there are random parades that happen quite frequently in las tablas. ill jsut consider this one my fourth of july celebration i suppose, even though it was some sort of beauty pagant. these kindergarden girls were all made up, with make up and hair updos and stuff. personally i thought it was pretty scary but i guess t hey were still cute in some way. they are the new princesses of the town now anyhow.
when i finally got home i was just so pooped, i basically ate some dinner and went to bed around 8... not that thats too early for me now. seriosuly, the typical panamanian bedtime is around 9. its ridiculous.
anyways, i dont have school again til monday. i found this out on tues, when they suddenly decided to cancel classes. wednesday was a national holiday for the new president´s inauguration. but thurs and fri are off due to ´school construction.´they figured it was too messy for the kids to come, so they just dont need to. i really wanted to travel during this time but all the other volunteers are teaching still, and its really hard to take off days so early in the trip, so i understand. its just a shame though.
so today i cooked lunch for my host family. i was super proud of myself, considering i dont even know how to cook in the states. but i went to the supermarket this morning, found some pasta, sauce and a lot of vegetables and made a baked mostaccoli with peppers and a good salad! the oven was a little hard to use, and tehre was not a lot of pots available to me, but i made it work. the kids were a little creeped out by it i think. the boy ate all of his pasta but the girl wouldnt even try it! but the parents liked it, and i enjoyed having some non fried food, and thats all that matters! and i even have leftovers for dinner too. i think it tasted pretty darn good if i do say so myself.
so thats about it. hopefully therell be some more fun things on the way in these days off.
you all should send me an email or message about your lives!! i dont wanna be missing out on everythinggg!!!
chao!
tuesday night was a lot of fun. i think i have mentioned that my host dad´s dad (or my host grandpa i should say) and his wife are famous panamanian singers. they sing typical cultural music and are pretty well known throughout the area. and on tuesday night they hosted a dance. i drove with them (yes, definitely VIP treatment) in their van to the show, and then we went to some house t o eat dinner beforehand. when they started singing, eve ryone (about 500 people were there i would say), got up and moved their chairs to the side, moved all the tables out of the way, and started dancing with their partners. it was like clockwork and very cool to see. i danced to only a couple songs (the ones withou t a partner of course, seeing as i went with one of my girl friends) and made a fool of myself. it was a lot of fun tho. my friend kathleen and i ended up staying the night, or rather only a couple of hours (because we got home around 3am... and we were the first ones to leave) over at the cousins´house. they were super awesome and one of the girls even know english. the music is actually really good. they gave me a cd, so ill share when i get home of course. we´ll meet up with those cousins again for sure. they want me to go to their english classes at the university.
left their house early in order to start our venture to pedasi, a cute beach town thats about an hour and a half from where i am living. we got there, after quite a few funny wrong turns. and of course once we get tehre the rain would not let up. so we spent some time in the hammocks under a covering just hanging out. there were 6 of us who went, and it was still nice to see the town, but im still craving a sunny beach day!
the bus rides are always an experience, too. the system is called the ´chiva´ buses, and each bus seems privately owned. the driver decides how much it will cost, so we always have to be careful to not get ripped off considering when 6 americans are traving together, we a re easy targets. when the bus dropped us off here in las tablas there was an unusal amount of activity and things going on. i realized it was a parade. my host family came to join me and we sat and watched the parade together. apparently there are random parades that happen quite frequently in las tablas. ill jsut consider this one my fourth of july celebration i suppose, even though it was some sort of beauty pagant. these kindergarden girls were all made up, with make up and hair updos and stuff. personally i thought it was pretty scary but i guess t hey were still cute in some way. they are the new princesses of the town now anyhow.
when i finally got home i was just so pooped, i basically ate some dinner and went to bed around 8... not that thats too early for me now. seriosuly, the typical panamanian bedtime is around 9. its ridiculous.
anyways, i dont have school again til monday. i found this out on tues, when they suddenly decided to cancel classes. wednesday was a national holiday for the new president´s inauguration. but thurs and fri are off due to ´school construction.´they figured it was too messy for the kids to come, so they just dont need to. i really wanted to travel during this time but all the other volunteers are teaching still, and its really hard to take off days so early in the trip, so i understand. its just a shame though.
so today i cooked lunch for my host family. i was super proud of myself, considering i dont even know how to cook in the states. but i went to the supermarket this morning, found some pasta, sauce and a lot of vegetables and made a baked mostaccoli with peppers and a good salad! the oven was a little hard to use, and tehre was not a lot of pots available to me, but i made it work. the kids were a little creeped out by it i think. the boy ate all of his pasta but the girl wouldnt even try it! but the parents liked it, and i enjoyed having some non fried food, and thats all that matters! and i even have leftovers for dinner too. i think it tasted pretty darn good if i do say so myself.
so thats about it. hopefully therell be some more fun things on the way in these days off.
you all should send me an email or message about your lives!! i dont wanna be missing out on everythinggg!!!
chao!
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