First Day in Site

I'm at my new site sitting inside my mosquito net flat on my back because I seem to have made a grave mistake. I forgot bug spray, didn't bring a pillow, and don't have a sleeping mat. I traveled for 2 days to get here and didn't get much sleep so I will go ahead and blame it on that. I don't really see how I'm going to get any sleep now seeing that I'm just going to be sleeping on boards, but at least I have my mosquito net and I can hide here.

This place is tucked into the mountains a little and I will have plenty of time to describe it over the next two years so I will not try to right now. The house I'm staying in for the next 3 days during my visit has two rooms and 6 people plus me sleeping in it. Chickens and ducks seem to be living under the house and the smell of urine and feces flows between the large gaps in the wood panels after a gust of wind comes through. At first I thought it was something in my bag that smelt and I searched through the entire thing looking for the culprit. The house is surrounded by trees and growth and it really feels like the jungle here. Strange sounding birds and frogs fill the air along side the distant sound of kids playing. There are now so many mosquitoes outside my net that I can here them. The sound reminds me of a tea kettle just about to start boiling with the low whistling sound getting louder. I don't know how I'm going to get out of this thing and make it to dinner. I also don't know how or where I'm getting dinner being that there is only a little girl here playing in the common room. She just came home from school and I'm pretty sure I took her room.

The sun is almost out and I can barley see out of the window. The swarm of mosquitoes just outside my net have grown and they seem to be getting hungrier. I'm pretty thirsty and ran out of water awhile ago, but putting the large government issued water filter together right now sounds impossible. So this is going to be where I will be living for the next two years uh? Well, I guess I won't be living in this particular house the entire time. In fact at the most, I will be at this house for about a month and then two others for a month at a time before moving into my own place. This “house” or hut doesn't seem too bad. The bucket shower room has a sheet that blows in the wind so I will be taking my showers at night or just in the river, and I can get used to the smell that seems to be seeping from the ground. The host mom is nice and two of kids are so far. The dad doesn't say much but seems to be a nice guy and so far they have not talked about me in Gnabe yet. They will speak Gnabe when they want to make sure that you won't know what they are saying. I don't know why they don't just speak in Spanish. I can't understand them anyways. This community is pretty small and the people seem as friendly as Gnabe can be. One thing I will have to get used to is the silent game which they love to do. They will sit there and stare at you for hours even if your not doing anything. Even when they talk to each other they take long sometimes 5 minute pauses and stare into the jungle. They also do not look straight into your eyes when talking to you.

I will have to keep busy here because it could get lonely. These people are very different than the society I'm used to and keeping myself entertained and busy will be key. I've already came up with a great way to keep myself on track when my mind starts to think “what am I doing here” or “I want to just go home”. I slap myself in the face. This is great because not only does it wake me up from what could be a slippery slope of Early Termination, but it also makes the locals laugh. Another thing I will have to start implementing here is a work out plan. I've dropped about 7 lbs since I've been in Panama mostly due to being deathly ill twice and poor diet and getting that muscle back will be another key to my happiness here. Plus I want to look good when all of you come visit....