I never really celebrated my birthday much. I mean I guess I did as a kid but I can't really remember one that sticks out. We moved around so much that I never really had enough friends to throw a party and it always fell at the beginning of school. So it was pretty much just me and Matt staring at each other and if I was lucky enough to have my birthday at my mom and stepfathers house I probably got a gag gift anyways. It wasn't much to look forward to. I guess that's why I never really expected much when it was that time of year.
That said, this was a pretty good birthday and I even have cake coming. I've been told that a friend is buying one in the city and bringing it here. This is no small feat. Not only does a cake cost more than food for a week for these people, but it has to be brought by bus which I can tell you is not fun. Smashed, sardines, hot, annoying, and cramped are all words I would use to describe them. They actually do have some charm though being old American School buses with all kinds of crazy paintings and streamers all over them. Kinda like a shitty strip joint on wheels.
Back to my birthday. I didn't really expect much. I actually bought myself a guitar yesterday and thought that would do. I was just hoping to get a semi nice meal today to celebrate. Alec, who I've been hanging out with a lot came over after class today and was like “hey there is something going on at the Community Center”. Sounded good to me so I quickly and we headed down. Taking the 10 min walk down the street I was smiling the whole time. I knew what was up. As soon as we got down to the community center I could see the group of people standing in a circle. They had bought a banner saying happy 1rst birthday complete with party favors and hats. Everything was bought the day before when we went to the city and even the cupcake and candles took some thought to get ready. It was pretty cool. I know we all feel a little disconnected and taking comfort in the little things in each other is definitely helping.
My family had something else in mind for my birthday. I finally got the cake I was promised after the special birthday dinner of a type of Panamanian piea was served. The cake was amazing and was served with jello and ice cream. Complete with feliz cumpleanos Adam written on the cake, there was nothing more to be desired. They love to eat their ice cream with jello here and have it at least once a night. I guess they use it as a filler. I've been making fun of Alec for having such shitty meals and this was a great chance to rub it in. He pretty much gets fed white bread and corn flakes every day and by the looks of his house I think they are on the verge of complete poverty. All amenities are outside pretty much and there are 4 people staying in a 3 room (total) house. We only have 7 more weeks left in these houses so its alright to make fun of him I think.
I've been finding out something troubling about the dropout rate among Peace Corps Volunteers. A lot drop out. From what I've seen its like 25% or something close to that. I didn't think that it was so common but I guess some people just can't handle it. It is also pretty common for people to complete a year of service and take half of the completion money. I have to say that I have been a little homesick lately and I think most of it is because of the language barrier and the fact that my allergies are so bad that I can't see or think in the morning and I just want to sleep all the time. I've also had a couple of really graphic dreams about certain people due to the malaria pills and it definitely doesn't help. We have only been in the Peace Corps for 2 weeks now but it seems like forever. It seems like we have at least been here for months.
Notes:
Most of the guys I've talked to agree that they are not interested in the girls in our group. I'm sure that will change as time goes on though and I'm not really sure what the other guys think. Its pretty funny to talk about down here given everyone’s situation. I'm pretty sure most of the guys are hoping that someone from back home will come “visit” them in January when we are allowed to have people come. I like watching the drama unfold from a distance. Better than the t.v. Here that's for sure.
My health sucks. Foot still hurts and I'm going to have to use it a lot this week when we visit the site. My allergies are out of control. My whole head is swelling up and I can't stay awake. Hopefully getting medicine for that tomorrow. I'm hoping those two things will be taken care of by this week so I can concentrate more. I really need to work on my Spanish as we are going to start having our technical courses only in Spanish. Its harder than I remember though and I'm usually mentally retarded during the day due to my allergies.
I get excited when I think that I could be sent to an area that I can work on sustainable eco tourism with the government. I really hope I get an assignment like that.
Should be an interesting week. A lot of traveling. Viva Bocas Del Toro....
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