Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A new one

I have been derelict in my blogging duties lately. I am just going to give this entry a little spontaneous prose delivery because there are a lot of things to write about and I do not have pictures to back me up. Since last time I have, in no particular order, practiced espanol (a given), worked on the finca, encountered the very venomous viper equis or fer de lance, took part in holding a pig down while he was castrated, dove successfully for lobster, dove unsuccessfully for lobster, lost my camera, found my camera, visited Portobelo, visited Panama, read some books, started construction on my casa (kind of), came up with some project ideas (maybe), became more familiar with my community and fished and ate some fish and ate a lot of rice. By a lot I mean that parts of China are now barren because of me and my host family´s rice consumption. Speaking of rice, I watched my neighbor take the dried, harvested rice and use a pilon (a huge pestil and mortar made of wood) to clean the rice down to its white grain. No, my neighbor´s name is not Uncle Ben.
My first excuse for not keeping up with the blog (other than the fact I have to travel 2+ hours for internet) was I thought my camera was lost/stolen however it was just misplaced in my APCD´s office. I have since tried to post pictures but internet service is sketchy at best here, but coming soon: the organic garden, fishing pics, including one of the 18 pound snook Jose caught last night and I deep fried Southern style, no grits, though, so it was not quite complete. Pictures of Portobelo, and hopefully pictures of constructing my house, which was delayed this weekend because the guy with the saw was too drunk to cut me some beams.
I have read some books, some good books. I have not been avoiding assimilating into the culture, however because of rain or cancelled meetings or whatever, some days I have nothing to do but sit in a hammock and read a book and yes hammocks and books go together like chocolate and peanut butter, delicious. I am going to give a short list of what I liked, because I like the existential aspect of you reading about what I am reading. The Art of Racing in the Rain, great book about loving a dog and racing Ferraris and fighting for your integrity. The Magus, this book blew my mind, I can´t describe it. All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy is a genius of American literature ´nuff said. East of Eden, ditto for John Steinbeck but I think that is understood. Coronado by Dennis Lehane, I am giving props to a fellow Eckerd College alum, but he really shows his range with short stories and a play. I read the Alchemist entirely in Spanish, that was a challenge but a good one. I´m trying to read more in Spanish, right now I´m struggling through Old Man and the Sea. And yes I know the titles should be underlined but blogger does not have that text option, as for the other errors of grammar and syntax, it´s spontaneous prose, c´mon.
I have been diving (thanks to mom and dad for sending masks). This has enabled me to see the marine environment better and the reefs are in trouble here. There is some good diving but most of the time I am just imagining what the reefs must have looked like twenty years ago. However, the silver lining is that a non-profit org. is doing some miraculous work with reef restoration and they want to partner and train Peace Corps volunteers. I think my community would be perfect for this, but I´ll keep everyone posted on how it develops. Other project news: I am going to work on a nature trail with the school and I am helping ANAM with the Beach Clean-up day on 26 Sept.
That´s all the rambling I have in me for now. I´ll try to have pictures soon. PEACE.

3 comments:

  1. You forgot the part about your special visitor. Just a small detail, no big deal...
    ;)

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  2. please dont post pics of the pig castration. are there any books you would like us to send? im glad you'll finally be able to utilize your nature trail experience from the Okeeheelee Nature Center :)

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  3. Miss you! Thanks for updating, and the book recos :)

    Best,
    Suzanne

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