Eco-Fair!

Okay, so sorry that last posting-email was a bit of a teast. I was at an internet cafe where I had to prepay. (Aka, they kick you off after your time is up.) I promise I´ll fill in the details eventually...

On Tuesday we started in earnest to plan our Eco-fair for the school. After two weeks of being out of the community, we weren´t even sure if it was still goign to go through. (Oh yeah, and Carlos put me in charge of the fair too!) What a nice surprise! hehe We also had to give our community diagnostic presentation on Friday and were informed that we´d be in the city on Thursday (instead of working on any of it). Oye! I also started Ngabere classes on Tuesday which on top of everything else was stressing me out.

Even though the language class and teacher were awesome, I couldn´t rationalize sticking with it and maintaining my sanity. I did pick up some of the pronunciation and a few key phrases. (Ti ta koin! I am good. etc) I´ll be getting the manual to self study in site and talk to the Ngabe in my site. So on Wednesday I told my teacher that I was too busy to go to class. Instead I went with two of the other girls to interview the Representante on the water situation in town for our presentation, make a poster for that, write out my lesson plan for my activity for the fair, draw up a poster for the fair, and todo! Then we chilled at the chorro which was much needed!

Thurday we made it in to the city for an environmental fair. I picked up lots of posters to decorate my house as well as networked with some of the agency personel. And then of course we had lots more planning of the next day´s activities.

Friday morning I used the keys I got the day before to open up the Casa Comunal for everyone to start setting up our fair. Kids arrived later, rotated through our stations (with the aid of schedules and maps directing them), played games, and learned about soil, water, trees, and animals. It went really well, especially considering we only had three days to plan it! Most of the activities came out of my Project WET, WILD, and Learning Tree books or adapted from them. I´m so glad I brought them all!

Later on Friday we presented all the information we had gathered about the community to the residents and our teachers. We found that the biggest problem there was water, and took the town through an analysis of the problem leading to a recommendation of starting a water committee to have more of a voice and education about the issue. They really got behind it which was great to see. Afterward, we all felt like we had completed finals week with our main projects done for the moment.

That night we went into the next town over for a baile. One of the two best Typico bands in Panama was playing (something Negros). They came on at midnight and I stayed for a couple dances after that. The thing with typico and it seems most music here are that the songs are sooooo long. My host dad kept introducing me to others to dance with which is pretty awkward to dance with a random guy (for example a drunk old man with many missing teeth) for at least fifteen minutes while bumping into others in a crowded room... You get the picture. The music was good, but I have not yet heard enough to judge just how good. My host dad woke me up at 4:50am when he got home calling out to anyone and everyone in our house and knocking on my window. I got our of my mosquito net, unlocked the door to my room, and by the time I got to the family room, he finally figured out that the front door was unlocked! Oye! I love him though, but I sure was missing my sleep!

We got up bright and early this morning to come to Chorrera to learn about all the poisonous plants and animals here. Hmmm, I think it may have been more helpful to learn about them before we got our bites and rashes. lol Next week we are headed to our communities for site visits. I can´t wait to get to know some of the people I´ll be living with and working with for the next two years!