USA, USA, USA!!!!!!

In sports news, the US won and advanced in the World Cup. Thank you to, Raul, the director of training for allowing us the opportunity to watch. I haven't had a World Cup entry yet. Here it is: congrats to Sam's Army and their ballsy performances. I have been critical of Bob Bradley and Landon Donavan, but they proved me wrong today. Shout out to A. Ma who is there watching. I'm jealous but I hope you are having the time of your life. Be safe. Right now, Uruguay and Argentina look real strong to me. Diego Forlan has been my player of the tournament so far. I've been watching what I can. Brazil, Argentina and Spain are hands down the most popular teams here in Panama. However, Spain lost some street cred when they lost to the Swiss. They should still advance though. That's all sports fans. Back to reality...
It has been an emotional week here, everyone is getting back from their site visits with stories to share. We lost our first aspirante, but Mark, best wishes to you man. Hope you find what you are looking for. Some are shocked and awed by their sites. But I feel really lucky.
Last week, after our site entry conference, we left for our sites. I was happy to meet my counterpart, Jose, before I went to Colon. Jose is an amazing character. He is constantly laughing and joking, but when he told me what his plans for the community were I knew he was legit. I accompanied him to his house and met his wife and the rest of his brood. His wife has an outsized personality to match Jose and a wonderful philosophy on life. She told me I was one of her kids now and if anyone messes with me they'll see how brava (English trans. ANGRRRRY) she can get. Look out Colon! Maribel don't play. The rest of the visit was an introduction to people and projects. I saw the youth group working on beach clean-up and prepping for mangrove reforestation. I worked with the agro-ambiental group. We started the vivero, which is essentially a tree nursery, gringos. I was really excited to do it because a. it was my first day there and we got work cracking right away and b. I can watch it grow from start to finish. I met school teachers and directors. And I am comfortable knowing it will be my home and work for the next two years. It is not the idyllic beach side community I pictured. It is a little 'hood fo' sho'. But Jose and is counterparts are on the brink of changing their community and their environment. I am the first Peace Corps volunteer there but they are overjoyed to have me. Not because of my wit and charm,surprisingly, but I think because having a development worker there gives their effort legitimacy. They deserve to be recognized though, and I hope I can be a bridge to get them the resources they need to have long term sustainability. Here is a journal entry from the visit (it rained a lot): The cool, heavy rain is a blanket on the loud and hot Panamanian night. The sound of water falling on a tin roof is a white noise that drowns out the ever present music and loud voices. The fresh stormy breeze blows the clouds of humidity to tomorrow. And I sleep peacefully knowing I've put in a hard day's work.