It sure has been a minute!

Ok so yes, I know that it has been forever and a day since my last post so I should have a million updates for you, right? Not really, not much time for that but I will do my best...

Lets start with what I have been promising for a while. My house! So I moved into my own house in March. On a Peace Corps frame of reference, I would say my house is pretty nice. I've adjusted to it and am completely comfortable. I have 2 bedrooms, one of which I use for storage and a main area that spans the width of both bedrooms that I use as a kitchen and a general area. We can't forget my porch which is probably where I spend the most time (the hammock is really the only comfortable seat in the entire house). I had a man in my community build me a bed and its great! I bought a full sized matress and college style fridge (it really was no easy feat to get those things to my house much less my actual site) and I live well. I have my own outdoor latrine and I have one faucet in my front yard that will provide water at least every other day for about 30 minutes, sometimes longer if I'm lucky but since the rain is starting I am starting to have water on a daily basis. Hallelujah! I worry about water a lot less now since the rainy season somewhat started. The longest we went without water in the dry season was 4 or 5 days but luckily there is a natural spring nearby where we also get water. I'm also lucky to be an hour and a half from the nearest city that I could always go buy drinking water if the situation was bad enough but luckily that hasn't been the case. I'll stop yapping and let you see for yourself....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_WTghsZKg8

So you may have noticed a quarter of a million kids on my front porch, that wasn't for effect, I really do have kids come hang out and visit all the time. Is it nice sometimes? Yes. Do I get tired of it sometimes? I'll let you answer that one on your own.

Come to think of it, I don't know if I have given you a breakdown of what I actually work on in my community. My community has a Cooperative which in this case is a store (1 of 5 in the area) that last made a little over $90,000 in sales. We sell dry goods (can food, rice, bread, sugar, cooking oil, etc.), we have a super mini pharmacy area, we sell sandals, meats (pork, chicken, fish, beef) and also a hardware section. There have been some major losses in the last couple of years and questionable administration and also a change in the board of directors. I work basically as a consultant to the Board of Directors, the Vigilance Committee, and the Education Committee working with them on basic business skills and making them think about different perspectives they wouldn't have considered otherwise. We have recently purchased a cash register, the manager quit, we've hired a cashier and new manager and the Board of Directors (here in Panama called the Directiva) are taking a more hands on approach to the business. Changes in profit are yet to be seen but we have high hopes for the rest of this year and the years following.

Other than the store, I am still trying to get my environmental group at the school off the ground but have come across different hurdles that I am trying to deal with. At the school in March, I along with 4 other volunteers conducted an HIV/AIDS Prevention presentation for 7th through 12th graders (about 350 kids) and will soon be doing the same in other schools in nearby communities. I am also involved with Peace Corps Panama Gender and Development group serving on the board of 5 members. As a team we are involved in supporting volunteer projects and training volunteers to train Panamanians in life skills, leadership, promoting gender equality and to host an annual GAD (Gender and Devopment) Conference for Panamanian youth all over the country full of activities to promote self esteem and educate them on the above mentioned life skills and leadership (this will happen next March).

Also since my last post, I have gone to the states to see one of my best friends graduate from grad school in Cali (Go Marc!) and to hang around the Bay Area to celebrate the graduation and back home to spend time with the familia.

(above) The girls and I hanging out doing some wine tasting in Napa Valley!

(Above) The familia. Yes, Daisy (15 yrs old) is still kicking it at home.

I also had a visit from my fiance to celebrate my birthday abroad:

(above) We hiked up from my site to see a nice view :)

Sorry to take forever to post. I'll have some more random stuff for you soon!