Dust in the Wind

Its been a rough week. Mentally and physically. Well I guess the physical part was me kayaking at my own will for fun, but still It's been a rough week. Tourists apparently have disappeared from the island and we haven't had a tour in over two weeks which is scaring a couple of the people here. Its amazing actually that once the people start getting a little money in, they start to expect it. Solomon and I have scrambled to the island a couple times to remedy the large falloff and even after talking to three new hotels and handing out fliers, we still haven't had anybody.

In other news, having no tourists for a time did have its benefits. With the help of another volunteer named Jack we were able to what is called PML in Peace Corps which is (for them) a very intensive comprehensive business seminar. Now usually a volunteer would plan for weeks to do this in their site, but knowing that Jack had already facilitated two of these seminars before, I decided to not sweat it. Also, usually the volunteer would have to set up and plan everything from food for the participants to materials and copies of everything. Not so much with my group as I they took care of almost everything. I did have to make some copies, but it wasn't the biggest of deals. Needless to say, the seminar went great and even though I didn't know all of the information as well I should have, having the help of Jack and even Solomon helped. We even invited two women from an artisan group about an hour away. After two long days though I was ready to be done with it.

Probably the biggest thing weighing on my mind right now is the fact that after today the girl that I have been dating for the last 8 months is gone. She is traveling for awhile and then going back to the states as she has finished her service. We always knew that this was coming but it seems that no amount of preparation could have helped. It's hard down here when your used to being close to someone for most of the time you've been here and then they are just gone. There is a lot more I can say but to keep this post lower on the mushy side I will just say that I miss her already and can only hope to see her in just over 11 months when I come back.

I'm starting to recover from my last terrible sickness which is good. That last one was a tough one for sure and I have been extra careful since then as to not get it again. I can't tell what is the worse the amoebas or the medicine. The stuff rips your stomach to shreds and makes it feel like it's on fire and then because it has killed almost everything good and bad in your digestive system, you feel like somebody beat your immune system with a baseball bat. It's hard to pay attention, I'm tired all the time, and every once in awhile I get a little stomach pain. I'm getting better so lets look on the bright side.

In good news, working with the Rotary Club of Boquete it looks like we will be doing a fundraiser for a new solar panel system for our artisan group in Boquete. We are going to do a chocolate cook-off, have raffle prizes and then hopefully raise enough money to buy a new solar panel system so I can teach computer and english classes. That is if I ever get the computer back from the gringo that is supposed to be fixing it.

Other than that I have been in two Domino Tournaments so far and I have to say I love the game. I promised a write up about it and I swear I will do it. Til next time.....