I thought I'd share a little about what last week was like for me since it's somewhat representative of the Peace Corps experience.
It's December, which means copious amounts of rain. It also means I read two and a half books the past couple of weeks in site. Atlas Shrugged and The Path Between Two Seas are great by the by. But this past week wasn't just about reading in my hammock in sweat pants with cinnamon tea with a touch of honey and powdered milk.
I also went up to Altomono to discuss potential work on their aqueduct. I've had a bunch of fruitless meetings and this wasn't really an exception. But there are a few people that really want to work so I keep finding myself in Altomono. Plus a 3-hour hike through the rain forest and scenic vistas isn't a bad way to spend the day.
I collected money with the water committees in Solaite and Quebrada Grande. Attendance left something to be desired, but it's a process. Poco a poco.
I held a water committee training with Gualaca. They learned how to use receipts and manage community funds. I was supposed to collect money with them last week, so I crossed the river only to find the whole community was at a funeral. I rescheduled for a few days later. Then it started to rain and rain and rain. The river rose and I couldn't make the new date because the river had risen and crossing would have been dangerous.
We started building a new house for the administrator for the Red, essentially Panama's welfare system. Unfortunately, the house is about 25 feet from my own. No one bothered to ask me about it and I don't know if I'm really allowed to complain. Instead, I woke up to the sound of the machete outside my house. Shhht... Shhht... Shhht... They were clearing the grass where we would bury the posts for the house. I know it will mean people trampling through the flowers in my yard while they visit the administrator (based on past experience with crowds). But there wasn't much I could do. I sucked it up and helped. One thing about my time here is it's given me a better sense of humor. I just laugh at these things now. It's much less effort to just go with the flow.
The kids came over as they do everyday. Reading books. Making bracelets. Coloring. Talking about what animals live in Africa and Asia. Making bets on whether it will rain in the next two hours. Those are the major activities with the kids.
I left through Kwite as I always do, although this time it was without Jon. He had already left to visit his family for the holidays. So I hung out with his counterpart, Paulino, and his family. I ate dinner with them and spent the late night explaining to Paulino and a few others about inflation. This naturally turned into an explanation of the solar system, what stars and planets were, how we orbit around the sun, how the moon orbits around us, eclipses, seasons, gravity, sending a man to the moon (news to Paulino), Mars rovers. Needless to say it was quite a night. I have to say it was also one of my favorite Peace Corps experiences. To see the faces light up as questions were answered and pieces falling into place was extremely rewarding.
So that's a typical week. A little bit of everything with periods of nothing sprinkled throughout.
