Site update and new pics...

Greetings, here is my counterpart Jose with his daughter, Marisel.

Here is the corner of my new home, which I affectionately refer to as, `the tree house`.

Hola!
Two weeks in and things are real good. I snuck away today to rejoin civilization so here we go. I`ve been working with the Agro-pecuario program at the colegio. Last week they had a congreso which was a big deal. It was basically high school seniors working on their senior project. In this case, they did power point presentations on subjects like organic composting, water conservation, fattening chickens, and artificially inseminating cattle, among other things. I helped them with the power point the week before and then I was a judge, somewhat. I hit the ground running the first week here: working at the school, bridge fishing for `bobos` which are kind of like croakers, and working with Jose for a day at his farm. The farm is more like a mountain in thick jungle with lots of plantains, bananas, sugar cane, and yucca, and some cows. To get there we had a 45 minute hike at altitude followed by 3-4 hours of machete work. I thought I was in shape until I tried the return hike and about passed out after reaching the top of one hill. And, I am probably going to build my house with Jose. Stoked. Here are some pics:
School kids doing the congo, which is this cool dance with drums, before the start of the congreso. The music is made by two bongos, a chorus of voices and clapping. It was real cool.

These two girls are in traditional dress and ushered the distinguished guests to their seats. I don`t know how I ranked as distinguished, but I went with it.

This is my little host sister Marisel, super cute with an infectious laugh.
This is a freighter about to pass through the Gatun locks. This is the view from the bus when it crosses over this little one lane bridge. Millions of gallons of water is dammed up on the other side and the ship is bearing down on the bridge. Uhhhh, n-n-not scary at all, but I`m not sure the diablo rojos can float.

Until next time...hasta luego!

July 3

The infamous diablo rojo. This is what public transit looks like here. Remember your yellow schoolbus, the ones with the sticky vinyl seats. Panama is where they are put out to pasture. They are reincarnated with fancy airbrush paintjobs, chrome wheels and blaring soundsystems.
Pimptastic!
Another famous citizen of Panama, the threatened Conejo Pintado, this nocturnal rodent is hunted for its supposedly delicious meat. Some PC projects are trying to breed them in captivity. But therein lies the dilemma, how do you tell someone who is struggling to feed his family that it is not right to kill what the campesinos think is the most delicious meat of all. We are trying to find a way to make all parties happy, but these are some of the challenges we face.


"That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves"
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

Here we go... I report to site today. It is also my birthday. I think that is a good omen. It may be the best and worst birthday ever. The worst because I can`t be with my friends and family from home and I`ll be spending far too much time on a bus. The best because my present is my site and hopefully I will make new relationships that will be like family. Furthermore, it has taken 31 years but I am finally doing something real. Two years on the job begins today. The blog may be inactive for a while because it is going to be at least a month until I encounter internet again. So here are some thoughts and pictures(oops, pictures above)...

-This Gulf of Mexico oil spill makes me sick. Let`s do something about it. Terry Gibson wrote a very good, informative article on Surfline that gives you ways to contact the powers that be. Check it out. Hopefully, once the smoke clears, this can be a catalyst that brings about positive change. GET INVOLVED!

-Germany just beat Argentina 4-0. What???? It is too bad the talent of Argentina is wasted on the tactical ignorance of Maradona. Brasil is out too, crazy. Holland, Uruguay, Germany, and Spain or Paraguay. Who knows who is going to win this thing?

-Grandma Nancy, thank you for your email. I tried to respond but yahoo is not working at the moment. I appreciate the kind thoughts. I`ll talk to you soon.

-For all my family and friends, I miss you all. I wish you an excellent Fourth of July. For my birthday, please let any of the family and friends who aren`t aware of the blog know it is here. I'm doing it for you guys. Also, if you tried to mail me something make sure it goes out like this:

Cuerpo de Paz-Panama
Attn: Elliott Moore
followed by the address i gave you. If you list my name before Peace Corps it may get lost since the mail is going to the Peace Corps box and not the Elliott box.

I love Y'ALL. Thanks for all the positive thoughts. They are keeping me inspired. Wish me luck.