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.