Friday, April 20, 2012

Aguacero: The Downpour Begins

After coming up with such an ominous title, I feel the post has to live up to it by being dark and sinister. But it’s really not at all. However, the rainy season has begun. Since April has started, it has rained a good portion of the days. Although the rain forces people to stay cooped up indoors or under some sort of roof while it falls, it doesn’t last forever. Here, the rain is a welcome respite from the sweltering afternoon heat. When the rain falls, the roads stop kicking up dust whenever a car passes. The fresh smell of rain replaces the dry stench of burning/burnt garbage. It makes everything greener, and even washes away a bit of the ugly dry patches from poor waste management. So as of now, I don’t mind the rain. However, come October, I might change my tune.

As of yesterday, I have officially spent one month in my site. It’s a milestone, I suppose. As such, I should present some general updates. I think I would prefer to do that in the form of
The New Loves of my Life:

-Kindle. Thanks to that wonderful contraption, I’ve read 15 books since I’ve been here (which can be a good and bad thing). And thanks to the volunteer pooling and sharing of resources, I have a thousand waiting to be read. I just finished The Hunger Games series. Loved it!

-Unnamed puppies. Negra, my host family dog, just had four puppies, at least one of which I plan to keep when I move in to another house to live on my own.

-Tupperware/Ziploc bags. Endlessly useful here, especially for keeping...

-Fruit! Making a huge comeback in my life after being quite elusive for a while. Plus, fruits are springing up everywhere around here. More on that later...

-Internet. My school finally gets a bit of spotty Internet. It comes and goes, but even just a little is better than none.

-Packages. I finally received a package from home, which means it’s possible to send me things. Here’s the address, in case you’re interested:

Nicholas J. Bringardner
Cuerpo de Paz
Entrega General
Santiago, Veraguas
Panamá, República de Panamá

I could have posted this a month ago, but I wanted to be absolutely certain that things would safely arrive.

-The little things, like this afternoon. Pollution, although disgusting, offered its one small benefit by painting the sky purple, orange, and pink as the sun was setting. That beautiful canvas provided the background for a hummingbird that flew only a few feet from my window. Then I thought, Wow. Panamá really has its moments.

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