I AM THE AMERICAN DREAM!

read a 3 year old's shirt that I noticed during church the other night.. ridiculous.. especially after just finishing a book talking about Latin America being the workshop for the US empire. I promise, that no matter what Peace Corps might say about returning volunteers, I will not come home hating America haha.

The mundial EEUU temp tattoo proves my loyalty. I'm coming out to Penonome to watch the games, because the radio announcers here don't do it for me. As much Spanish as I've learned, all I can figure out is the score every once and awhile.. whenever theres a GOOAAAAAAL, when someone gets carded and when the game is over.

I'm pretty excited that my parents are coming out in just over a month now. Most people in site are ready to meet them too. They know that my mom speaks Spanish (Mom.. you should practice b/c they'll want to talk) and that my dad knows nothing, but they're used to white people coming through and not speaking at all.. for example, me last year.

We'll be.. taking a tour through the canal, hanging out in site and going to a baile (haha, that will be fun), Decamerons, Santa Fe, El Valle, San Blas, and whatever else there is to do in Panama city.

Just two weeks after they leave, Maria and Ron are coming out. I promised a bunch of 8th grade girls that I'd bring them a gringo from the states (which I didn't do), but because Ron's coming.. that'll work. Apparently they don't mind he's a chino and are going to raffle him off. Maybe the money can go to the environmental club. We're definitely going to hike Volcan Baru, but besides that I'm not sure what else there is planned. Probably just hanging out in site.

So 1 year mark in site is coming up.. the 3rd of July. Last year I celebrated the 4th at a little girl's birthday party, playing the according and hitting a piñata, but this year most of my group is getting together at the Decamerons for a few days.

Work wise, same old stuff.. I'm a teacher, which is cool.. its always fun and I like most of the kids. I do have a favorite class, but I won't say which.

A town further down the road, Calabazo mentioned that they are interested in stoves built at their school so I'm going to look into that. It got me thinking that I could talk to Trinidad, the town between us about it as well. Because the majority of homes in LB have gas stoves already, I'd like to focus the project on the schools where their only option is a wood stove.. plus they will be using it 5 days a week, whereas the homes may not use theirs as often. We'll see how it all plays out, its just a thought for now.