Pictures from Isla Leones/xmas

getting coconuts

midnight fireworks (tried to save some for the 2nd night.. but who were we kidding)

we were in hammocks for.. the majority of the time

I wrote up a post on a piece of paper..

and then I didn't bring it.

I'll type that up next time i get the chance but heres the short of it.

Merry christmas, I'm meeting up with some people on Isla Leones.. another volunteer's site. Lobster dinner and fireworks, I'm bringing alone an arbolito that Brianna left behind.

uhm.. my latrine is full of mosquitos and flies, so going back to the bucket looks pretty good. I have some kinda fungus on a few of my toes (a personal diagnosis).. a cream I'm using seems like its working. I'm probably getting a dog next month, his names Nacho.. sticking to the food theme.

I'll get the real blog posted sometime soon with an update from christmas/new years. Heres some pictures.

the posada.. singing at the door

maria y jose

swim up bar, oh ya i met up with some people at an all inclusive resort nearby. ya i live near an all inclusive resort lol

harvesting arroz

nacho is in the middle

lots of rice

Mother's Day and bingo

So this is how my mother's day started.. around 8AM i was doing my laundry when a mute man walks by my house and signs me to go drinking with them (i didn't, i did my laundry). Eventually i make it over to a host family for lunch, but they had already eaten. it was perfectly panamanian and awkward haha. they stood around talking but forced me to sit and eat. the funniest part was when they cut me open a coconut to drink and had the little girl stand next to me and just hold it for me while i ate. after a few minutes i just put it on the ground. mother's day is december 8th here.. the same day as the imaculada concepcion so there was a huge procession through a nearby town.

christmas seasons gonna be a lot of fun. well, yes i have friends coming in and will be missing a lot of it but thats ok ;). this time of year there is tons of guandu (pigeon pea). arroz and guandu is a traditional christmas and new years food. the 16th, different sectors around gather together and walk to the church where they give out snacks.. they do that every night til christmas eve, when they do the play. they want me to act in it but im pretty sure im gonna pass haha. then theres christmas which is more low key, just family time. i dont think there is anything else but january 6th, big party for the kids on 3 kings day (not sure what thats actually called).

on a related note, happy hannukah

alright, so where am i now? i met up with allison and a friend of hers at the decamerons.. a little beachside resort, more like a giant all inclusive beachside resort which was a lot of fun and then came out to the city to pick up becky ron and holly. plans are.. isla taboga, checking out the canal, maybe catch a baile in penonome (its patronales), spend some time in LB, rivers and waterfalls, and getting to the beach at some point.

as far as work goes.. ill be starting up the all ages english class after christmas.. im getting things going on the stove project, and i want to start mapping out the trails were going to make so we can figure out what signs we want to post.

has anyone read guns, germs and steel? its interesting but holy crap it is hard to read, i cant go more than a few pages at a time, lucky for me ive got another year and half or so :p. oh.. and the reason i put bingo in the title, is cuz ive been playing a lot of it.

gathering leaves for composting

stoves were going to replace

english bingo