Ouch

I wish I had pictures. Its gross but neat. At least, though, its likely to leave a cool scar although the story won't be as exciting as a machete, snake, or flesh eating bacteria incident would have been.

Infections scare me. You never know what they are going to do. For the past 6 months, I have had an infection on my foot that just wouldn't go away with doctor's visits and antibiotic treatment- pretty much because life in the jungle can be a bit dirty. It was getting worse, spreading to the other foot and my leg, and was painful, so the doctor decided to cut out the infection. I have 7 stitches. Stinks that I am out of commission for 2 weeks because I had lots planned. Its the 45th anniversary of Peace Corps in Panama, and many former volunteers are returning to Panama for the celebration as well as the Big Big Boss of all of of the Peace Corps. Some were planning to come to my site, and I was organizing a project for them to work on "for old times sake." We were going to make an Embera medicinal garden as well as a garden/exhibit for all the plants that are used to make our indian handicrafts plus a lovely pathway throughout the community to get to these gardens. Currently, tourists take a walk down a path to visit the school- and when I am teaching there, I feel like we are on display in a zoo as the tourists gather around, oohh and aww and take pictures. So, I like our new idea of a tourist pathway with a destination that shows more culture and leaves the kiddos alone. But, I will have to wait until another week to do this project. Bummer. It will still be fun later (my girlscout troop will be helping), but it would have been a cool project with the former peace corps volunteers.

I recently got a new computer for my community and we are using it for so much- I am teaching the students how to use a computer, but more importantly we are practicing with computer programs that enable the kids to learn their alphabet, to read, count, and do math. Our community Tourism Group is also doing a lot with this computer- such as accounting and marketing projects. The Tour Guides that visit our community get a kick out of Indians using computers. Guess it is a little strange to see a man in a loin cloth calculating payroll on Excel. I found out yesterday, that my proposal for a printer for the community was approved. Now we can print out accounting documents as well as the business cards and handicraft logos/labels we've created on the computer. Yay!

The airconditioning, hot water, matress, and lack of bugs have been nice touches lately in the hotel, but I'm already ready to get back to site. It is comforting to know that medical treatment here is high quality. I feel like I am in good hands and that I have received better treatment here than I did in the states (less wait time and I pay absolutely nothing). I am lucky but feel guilty. They definetely don't receive health treatment like this in my community.

Gross

This is what happens when you leave a bagged loaf of bread on the counter after sunset in the jungle.

Ovens are so last year

You can cook nearly anything on a stove. Calzones, baked pretzels, garlic breadsticks, biscuits, tortillas...maybe even cookies, but I haven't tried that yet. The community has really liked rice crispy treats and spaghetti and meatballs. I love using banana leafs as pot covers, although I haven't quite mastered cooking 5 pounds of rice, which as it turns out was too much food for my guest family of 8. However, instead of a fridge for leftovers, I call the neighborhood kids over to finish off the grub.

Pictures

My camera died, so here are some photos of friends that I have snagged from other peace corps buddies: