So I had a birthday a few days ago, and it was mostly a quiet affair. However, my host family did kill a turkey in my honor, put a table cloth on the table, and we had a little feast of pega barba and pavo de patio. This year also marks the first time in the 11 years that we've known each other Jim and I haven't had some sort of joint celebration. However, given the imminent arrival of Jim Jr. and the demands of grad school I suspect he also had a quiet birthday. Oh well, maybe we're just growing old.
Alright, on to the update. Alot has been going on here the last month or so. We kicked off the month with our regional meeting which allowed me to finally meet all the other volunteers in Coclé and Panamá Oesté. Meeting all the other volunteers allowed me to finally stop wondering if every gringo I saw walking down the street in Penonomé was another volunteer.
After a brief hiatus, Group 62 (that's my group) got together just 30 minutes from Penonomé for our IST conference. This was the first time I had seen most of the group since I headed to my site back in October. As a whole, changes in the group can be described as less weight and more hair. Everyone in the group seems to have lost at least 10 pounds (some of us closer to 30,) and grown more hair either on the head or the face (ladies excluded.) Aside from those physical changes, everyone was pretty much their jolly old selves and seemed to be enjoying their sites.
After IST, I returned briefly to my site before heading out to experience Carnival. Penonomé hosts Panamá's 3rd largest Carnival and I spent 4 days experiencing it in it's entirety.
That's the summary so keep your eyes posted here for the pics.
No comments:
Post a Comment