THE GOOD NEWS is that I am way back on my feet and much, much happier. My schedule has been amazingly full for the past couple of months, with HIV/AIDS charlas, vigils and seminars, trying to get MINSA to fund the latrine project (an ongoing struggle since January), hanging out with Jorge, regional meetings, and chilling in site, which honestly, is pretty awesome. There was a brief period where I thought that I was going to be moving into a new house that had TWO indoor bathrooms and solar paneling that allowed for 24/7 electricity, but that dream has fallen through. I have, however, managed to make it to the seventh season of the West Wing with the two hours of electricity I am permitted per night.
Two other exciting news events: we finally got some semblence of cell phone service. The public telephone in my site finally gave in around the same time that cell phone signal sprung up on a nearby hill. This is fine with me, as I wasn't so keen on making phone calls while surrounded by about twelve creepshow people who felt the need to gather at the payphone every night and stare at people making outgoing calls. Also, cell phone services allows me to call the United States 0and talk for as long as I want without someone inevitably showing up (whether it's at six am or eleven pm) to stare at me as if I'm committing some crime by talking to my mother for more than ten minutes. I swear to God, I hate public phones. So if you want to give me a call while I'm in site, and most likely have to leave a message, hit me up at 01150766066362, or when I'm out of site at 01150767357373.
The other exciting thing is this guy bought a finca, or a farm, in Quebrada Cali, and he happens to be a political figure whose job it is to sign contracts for projects like electricity. The electrical company presented him with a contract to put in electricity up to Loma Bonita, a community still about 20km away from us, but he's refusing to sign it unless they put in lights all the way to Quebrada Cali. That means that I MAY be looking at the possibility of refrigeration (WHICH MEANS YOGURT AND CHEESE AND MILK THAT ISN'T POWDER) in the near future, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
So besides dreaming about dairy products, I'll bet you're all wondering what is planned for the next couple of weeks. Well. This upcoming week we volunteers in the Darien are throwing a big camp for kids in our community to educate about HIV/AIDS, communication, Anatomy and Physiology, etc. etc. Our goal is that the kids will be able to go back to the communities and talk to their peers about these things, because let's face it, a fourteen year old Panamanian kid is probably going to go to his best friend when he's ready to have sex as opposed to coming to talk it out with the weird tall gringa who lives down the street.
Additionally, I'm going to be giving a charla on water purification methods in a couple of weeks, in hopes that my community members might be inspired to start boiling their water, or chlorinating their water, or really doing anything to their water to attempt to make it a little safer to drink.
The amazing, beautiful, hilarious SHANNON DIEGEL is also coming down on the fourth of August to make my life terrific for eight days, and I cannot wait. I have no idea what we are going to do, but it is going to be amazing, and I hope this all inspires you to buy plane tickets. $350 dollars round trip, Detroit to Panama City! www.spiritair.com. DO IT.
Speaking of Spirit Air, Jorge and I are officially the proud owners of airline tickets taking us to Detroit, Michigan on December 16th, and then back to Panama City on January 6th. We will also be in Chicago from December 27th to January 3rd. I expect there to be parties welcoming our arrival.
Finally, I am going to leave you with some pictures. Also, I realize these posts are pretty much just "What am I doing with my life right now" writings, which get monotonous and boring, so I am going to try to actually start writing reflections on Panama to put up here when I can. Look forward to my literary wisdom.
The hospital room!
The Canal!
Flying down a mountain road in the back up a pickup truck at 50mph!
Panamanian Chinese FOod! (Four meat soup. We could not identify even one of the meats.)
Discoteca!
Jorge and I being fabulous AT the discoteca!
Sex Ed Charlas! (In Quebrada Cali, if you are 11 years old, you think that anyone -- man, woman, or child -- can get a period, and that you can absolutely NOT bathe during that time. We set them straight.)
My host-grandmother getting chased by a pig!
In the next update: philosophizing, introspection, and a tour of my rancho!
(if none of these photos work, either click on them or go to http://picasaweb.google.com/grammaticool. I am too lazy to fix them at the moment.)
