Site Placement and Tech & Culture Week

It's that time again: Another mind-bending blog entry by Franco. First of all, I would like to apologize to all my loyal readers (mi madre, especially) for the lull that has transpired over the last several weeks. You see I suffer from acute laziness disorder which when coupled with the fact that the nearest internet station is a 30 mins bus ride away mixed in with the fact that I have to sit my buttocks down and actually write something can lead to a nice hiatus between blogs.
Enough gobbly-gook, as it were. Let me dive in because i have 15 mins left on this blasted contraption and much to inform you's guys. First, we had something called site placement. We were all rounded up and sat down inthis nice room with a huge map of Panama. Then we were all called one by one and given a sticky picture of ourselves to (for the lack of a better word) stick on the appropriate place on the map. You see, this was all heart-wrenching because it would be the community we wouldhave to live in for the next two years and everyone was going ape-shit on the inside. For weeks, we were all speculating where we would be placed and "hey, i heard so and so is going there... good, because i sure as hell don't want to" or "nah, he's not going there cos he's got asthma... i heard from so and so that our tech trainer said that dude was going to a warm place near the ocean". shit likethat.... and for weeks. So, it was a relief to finally know where we were all going but at the same time everybody wanted the perfect site. I got the region of the Panama that I wanted. I was born for it. It is in the Herrera Province (wikipedia it). It's pretty much the wild, wild west. I am excited and my buddy, Pete is only a one hour walk from me (that's very close in Peace Corps distances) which is great because this man's skill with a nail and hammer would make bob villa construct the gallows then procede to hang himself.
ok, i am being pressured so we will jump to the next topic: Tech and Culture week. We left our host family in santa clara about two weeks ago. the first week was with our sector (mine is environmental health for all of you bad friends who don't remember) where we went to cerro iglesias in the comarca ngobe - bugle. Jake was sick and had butt and mouth pee the whole time, by the way (like always). Comarca means reservation, if you didn't know already. We stayed with the ngobe's and built compost latrines (which are tough and rewarding) for various families. They helped also. We then educated them on how it works and why it's better then than a pit latrine or shitting in the woods/river. Read my second blog if you don't know why either.
Let me stress that i am very excited to be going to herrera (in the azuero peninsula) for my peace corps service. I could have been in a comarca which would have been nice in its own way but it is definetely not for me. They are introverted and eat boiled bananas andsuch (out of necessity of course) and that weeks was tough but beautiful. Shit, only two mins. ok, then i went to the azuero peninsula with those of us who are going to be placed there for 2 years (5 of us) and it was really nice. it was in the mountains which had fresco weather and great food. the people were really nice and warm. i am excited about my site because it was only a 2 hour walk from where we were. ok, gotta go. will add more late. pictures at some other point.
suerte.

Volunteer Visits and ETs

Peace Corps Panama Group 60 has incurred two fallen soldiers. They have swiftly and effectively ETed as it were (ET stands for early termination). This is when one decides "i´m going home, this awesome 2 year, fully paid gig in paradise is not for me". Now, it is not considered ETing if one leaves due to medical reasons or being kicked out. Medical reasons is known as Med Sep (medical separation) and being kicked out is known as Admin Sep (administratively separated). I feel compelled to spell this out for you. Ok, so the past two weeks have been way different in terms of comparing it to my last blog. I´m fully submersed and totally grooving with my host family and the facilities, etc. Latrines are my friend. Well, at least ours is. I still don´t go in other people´s latrines because the comfort level isn´t there just yet. Yeah, so my host family is really cool. They are way cool and open about things. Some other people got placed in stricter families (of the evangelical nature) and aren´t allowed out past a certain time. Ok, so somehow it´s the 1950´s again because we all have to be in bed by like 10pm. well, de don´t HAVE to but we all wake up at like 0630am so go to bed early. And you can´t really hang out with anyone in private cos the family´s there too. AND all the girls are walked home just to be on the safeside. All, we´re missing is grabbing a few shakes at the peac pit or something. ok, boring blog so far. Let me tell you about my Volunteer visit. I went to visit this duderino in Valle del Risco. The travel itinerary went a little something like this: Hop on a bus for 6 hours then switch up in David which is in the Chirriqui province then take another bus (smaller... more van really) for another 7 hours until i get to smaaall town named Almirante. That´s where my volunteer met up with me. At this point i´m far from Panama City and essentially in the middle of nowhere. That was fun. We get in a pickup and go offroad for like 45 mins up and down mountain sides unti lwe get to Valle Del Risco. This is like an indigenous metropolis. Maybe a thousand of them. They are living in the mountains. No electricity but they have an aqueduct system. Thing is, it works for like 2 hours a day. So I had to bucket shower which was an experience. So, this volunteer built an aqueduct system in the neighboring town. i don´t remember the name but i remember laughing inside. it sounds funny. the indigenous people in valle del risco are sports crazy. not much water, no electricity but they have one hell of a volleyball court and soccer field. the way life should be. anyhow, we hiked and hiked for a while looking to meet up with this man who was going to take us to the "ojo de agua" (water source) that could potentially lend itself to an aqueduct. After hiking for a while in the blistering heat and crossing two rivers (one wide and with pretty serious current) we get to the dude and he´s like "not gonna make it... got a meeting with some corporationg.. peace". so that was a shame cos i wanted to hike more and see pcv things. the next day my volunteer had a meeting panama verde which seems to be some agro group involving kids. they never showed up. that seems to be the biggest obstacle in getting things done in the peace corps. that and trying to convince them that you have their best interest in mind. but overall it was great to get out there and see the way a pcv lives. it could have been much worse. i could have had an experience like jacob wieland (6 foot 8 inches blond norse god from north dakota bachelor´s of science in civil engineering... loves penguins) who had massive diarreah the whole bus ride up to meet his volunteer. he was sweating a lot and didn´t even wait to pay when he got there. just jumped off and ran for the nearest latrine. apparently it was locked when he got there. i don´t know the rest of this story. So on Sunday, most of the volunteers and trainees that were on the far west side of the country got to together at this beach town and went at it. It was a lot of fun. i woke up with waves crashing on me while the sea surreptiously stole all my clothes. I won´t say too much more but i had a great time. Thanks EH volunteers! you´re the greatest. a special thanks to my valle del risco pcv for letting me sleep in his bed and to his girlfriend cos she´s nice and helpful and fun. and also because when i talk about her on my blogs she gives mad props.
hasta la vista,
franco.