LOS POSITOS, CHIRIQUI
province will be my site for the next two years! A 15 minute bike ride from the beautiful beach La Barqueta, and an hour away from the mountains and Volcan Baru, I can´t resist to brag that I have the best site in Panama. The Chiriqui province, one of the westernmost provinces on the border of Costa Rica, is known for its beauty and diversity. My work will most likely be distributed between environmental education projects in the nearby town of Guarumal, and a sea turtle conservation project on the beach. Other potential projects include ecotourism development, beach clean-up and work in the nearby mangrove-filled wildlife refuge. I can´t begin to describe the excitement I feel.

The next two weeks I will be training with others placed on coastal sites, back in the town of Canas, Los Santos. The first week will be cultural training, and the second advanced technical training, both conditioned to coastal areas in Panama. The six of us coastal trainees will undoubtably be a tight-knit group by the end of training!

Ah independence! Traveling with a group of 34 gringos can be quite tiring after a couple of weeks. Today we were let loose on the country of Panama in small groups to visit sites around the country. The excitement of an airconditioned bus and chaperone-free travel has left me feeling slightly giddy (as well as the anxiousness of missing my chiva ride to the next city due to an urge to find an internet cafe).

I´m traveling with two others to a town in Los Santos, the southernmost, peninsular province in Panama, and tomorrow morning heading to the Pacific coast on my own to visit a current volunteer in Las Canas. I don´t know if I´ll be able to resist the urge to plunge through the mangove forest into the cool waters of the ocean...

Highlights so far: seeing squirrel monkeys jump through the trees, hiking through the jungle to get ´fertilizer´from the nest of leaf-cutter ants, building an organic garden with my host family, learning sustainable farming techniques, hearing a swarm of African flies buzz over our Spanish class, crossing the Puente de las Americas, coconut ice cream...

Hola! Finally a few minutes at a computer in Chorrera...We have a day in town today for meetings and limited time for shopping, etc. It´s a nice break from the heat, humidity and family in Santa Clara. There are 3 brothers (9, 13, 14) in my family, and their attention (especially from the 9 year old) is constant. It´s tiring to speak Spanish right now, but I´m anticipating a time when I´ll not only be able to understand people in my family and the community, but respond coherently with full sentences! Tech and language training are intense, 4 hour sessions, long, but necessary. So far, an enjoyable yet overwhelming experience!

Panama! After a few days in country, I got my first real 'Panama' experience today during a visit to a rural community a few hours from Panama City. We hiked up Cero Cadaiguana (Zero Iguana face) mountain, where we were treated to a spectacular view of the communities below. The hazy expanse of the Pacific Ocean loomed in the distance. The site gave me a taste of what type of work I may be doing as well, from teaching in a school a few days a week, to reforestation and ecotourism projects. Tomorrow we leave from El Ciudad de Saber and go to our training community. I'll meet my host family for lunch tomorrow! Time to go practicar mi espanol....

Panama is an exciting place for a nature freak such as myself. Spanning two continents and two oceans, the small strip of land is a collision of species diversity. The country boasts the largest diversity of bird species in the world, including the exotic tucan, and the harpy eagle, a magestic bird with a 6-foot wingspan. Personally, I look forward to snorkeling (and hopefully diving) two oceans, separated by only miles of land! Unfortunately, Panama was one of the countries reported to be affected by the most recent Caribbean coral reef die-off, with bleaching affecting 70% of the monitored coral. Nonetheless, my snorkeling gear is a top priority on my packing list.

Looks like I left Florida just in time!

Soon I will evade the telephone number trackers and travel to a place where the #1 item on my shopping list is a machete. The authors of this list were gracious enough to mention that I purchase the machete after arriving in Panama, and not bother trying to find one before leaving the states. Dang, I was hoping I could throw mine into my carry-on at the last minute...

The countdown is on.

May 15-17th: Washington, DC
May 17th-July 28: training in Panama City
July 28, 2006 - July 31, 2008: work in my assigned community (not yet known)

The last couple of weeks were a flurry of events. Moving out of Pensacola, traveling to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, and finally returning home, to spend some time with the parents. Preparations that I should be making, such as packing and reflecting on my task ahead, have been largely postponed so far, as my time is mostly occupied by attempting to make my web site function and researching a new digital camera. I ultimately decided on the Canon A520, and splurged on an underwater casing. Even if I won't be doing much diving or snorkeling in Panama, I figure the case will protect the camera from the extremely humid conditions. Or so I tell myself to justify the purchase of a fun new toy.

I decided to create a blog site to update while in Panama. I was convinced this was the logical thing to do, considering it can be updated from any computer, anywhere in the world. However, I'm more attached to my own web page, which is currently in development. It is my new obsession. The page is by the same title, but contains links to pictures and stories from past travels. I've found the internet to be the most reliable source of storing information so far, as my own techniques have proved quite less resilient (computers crashing, backup CDs getting scratched and ruined...). If you're so inclined to actually read this random assemblage of file storage and respond, I will be more than happy to reply.

Starting a blog site...