Tour Updates

This is pretty much just an update on our tour. The following appeared in the local newspaper which was written by yours truly and their are some links at the end that point to a couple other articles that others have written. Enjoy: If you have shopped at Super Gourmet specialty food store in Bocas town, you may have noticed some of the many chocolate products available. You can find anything from homemade brownies and cakes to roasted cacao nibs and handmade dark chocolate fudge. You might have also noticed the growing number of companies or organizations making this chocolate. You can find Oreba Chocolate produced by a local indigenous community, Dorothy's Own chocolate products made by an expat local who supports indigenous farmers and the Bocas Caribbean Chocolate Company, which makes delicious refined chocolate bars among other. And this is all just in the Super Gourmet. Walking down the street and into Starfish Coffee, you can find ground cacao liqueur balls for sale from various local farmers along with many books about what makes a good chocolate. Even further down the street, the Buena Vista Bar & Grill restaurant offers delicious goodies made from the Cerutti Family Chocolate farm, Green Acres. If you're the adventurous type, you can even take a walk to the Up on the Hill shop on Isla Bastimentos where you can find organic homemade chocolate coconut balls, among other products. It seems that Bocas has quietly become a small chocolate and cacao haven and for good reason. We are surrounded by it. If walk into the mountains of Almirante or pretty much anywhere in the Bocas archipelago you will encounter a large amount of cacao trees which produce the fruit that is then turned into chocolate. If you came to the island by bus from the Costa Rica border or over the mountains from David, you passed hundreds of thousands of cacao trees and most likely didn't realize it. Don't worry if you feel like you missed a big sign that said “Cacao Tree Here.” They're just not that obvious. The trees come in all shapes and sizes as do the fruits and that can make them hard to spot. Also, the fact that the trees grow within the jungle makes them easy to miss. In fact, almost all the cacao in Bocas is shade-grown. Cacao trees need filtered rather than direct sunlight to properly and generously produce. Young, healthy cacao trees Árboles jóvenes y saludables I'm not an expert on cacao or chocolate production by any means, but living in a cacao-producing indigenous community as a Peace Corps volunteer, I have learned a lot in the past year. Whether it be from the Peace Corps cacao training workshops, working in the farms with community members, or just talking to others in the chocolate industry, I can honestly say that I learn something new every day. The first week I arrived in my community I had no idea chocolate came from a fruit. Fast forward to today and you can find me grafting cacao trees with local farmers to increase yield. And from what I have seen, there is an endless amount that can be learned about cacao and chocolate at every level of production. Some say it is like wine-making in a way – as every slight variation in temperature, location, fermenting process, drying process, and production process will change the final outcome of the product. Those who read the cover story in the April 2011 issue of the Bocas Breeze already know a little about me and the project that I'm working on. Simply put, working as a volunteer in the Peace Corps I have used my business background to help the chocolate artisan group put together a native-style chocolate tour that takes tourists through the indigenous farms and surrounding jungle to explain the entire process of turning organic cacao into simple chocolate. Along the way there are always animals, such as sloths and parrots, and when we arrive at the top of the mountain we give a traditional chocolate-making demonstration where you get to taste dark chocolate that was made right in front of you on a grinding stone. In the short time since we started this chocolate tour, we have been contacted by various tour operators and are now even listed in guidebooks as one of the top things to see and do in Bocas.

http://gocentralamerica.about.com/od/panamaguide/fr/Bocas-del-Toro-Chocolate-Tour.htm

http://www.samanthalowe.com/travel/?p=909

http://www.facebook.com/Orebachocolate

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g304171-d2085833-Reviews-Oreba_Chocolate_Tour-Bocas_Town_Isla_Colon_Bocas_del_Toro.html

http://www.thebocasbreeze.com/previous-issues/april-abril-2011-volume-8.shtml

Doctors, Teaching, Chocolate and Porn

As the time passes I'm starting to feel more and more like nothing is really going to surprise or shock me any more. Weeks will now go by and significant things will happen that I completely forget to tell people. I guess it is just all part of getting used the system, the country, the weather, and the way of life that is a Peace Corps Volunteer. That in mind here a couple of highlights of the past couple weeks.

I took Salomon (he spells his name that way. I'm not sure why) to a Peace Corps week long business seminar that he had already been to. We had to split the trip up into two days as the seminar was pretty far away and we ended up sharing a room in David. The seminar was great and even though Salomon had already attended two years ago, things had changed a little bit and Salomon was eager to show everyone the results of business seminars such as that one. We wore our Oreba Chocolate shirts, brought what I thought was plenty of chocolate that we soon ran out of, and Salomon talks endlessly about how good we are doing. If you know me, you might know that I can't be in one spot for more than 45 min without either falling asleep or wanting to explode from boredom so being in a classroom for 8 hours a day almost killed me. I also somehow got Ascaris worms for the second time and it was slowing me down quite a lot.

We have been having meetings with the different departments in our artisan group about how everyone feels and anything we can make better. The majority of people wanted more money which I guess is a common request in business, but others just wanted more tourists and some type of machine to help make the chocolate. I really thought that after having 4 months of tourists that these people would see what they are all about and want to give it up or at least be content with the 30 or so people we are getting on average every month. But I guess they want more.

Salomon and I took a really long day out and went door to door pretty much on the island talking about our tour and pretty much only came away with the prospect of selling our tour and chocolate at one really nice place on the island called Palma Royale. We now have a meeting with the people tomorrow and hope to impress. Other contacts will have to wait and things like adequate transportation if we were to have more people come on the tour every day, will become a problem.

I coordinated a group of doctors to come into my site named Floating Doctors and the day long clinic went pretty well. It just so happened that this was the day that the government gave families money for kids that were kept in school so we had a large abandonment of people around 3pm so they could get to the bank. I didn't know this would happen but the teachers brought in every single kid from the school into the church that I had borrowed for the event. It was pretty much mayhem for the first couple hours and I was happy to get away to my house periodically to help out with sonograms for pregnant women. The doctors were great, we found a couple kids with Lech Meniasis, couple UTI's and tons of colds, parasites, and just plain old old people. They are supposed to come back every three weeks and I'm hoping to set up a cleaner system to see people. I'm thinking of making a board that lists times and numbers.

Salomon helped organize a lot too and he sat patiently throughout the entire event in the sweltering heat. It was only at the end of the clinic as they were packing up that I found out he is almost completely blind in one eye. For the last 3 years apparently his eye has developed a large dark spot in the middle that has only gotten worse. Never have I heard him complain about it until he mentioned to the doctors. That in mind, I have started the look for an ophthalmologist that can look at it. I've started making a couple contacts with regular doctors that might know of some.

I helped out with teaching sex ed one day in the school which was pretty funny, but have now moved on to teaching computers. This was of no choice mine as I have insisted that the school fix the computers and electrical system that it has before I bring my own equipment in. In another example of aid organizations absolutely failing the school has an incredibly large solar panel and battery system that could light up the entire town but about a month after the system was installed one part broke and no one knew how to fix it so only two rooms have fans and lights out of 8. The school also received computers which would have been great if there were a room to put them in. So instead of having electricity and computers, the electricity barely works and the computers rusted to a point where they don't turn on anymore because their was no closed area to put them in. Salomon and I have started talking to the head teacher to find out what the deal is with both cases but until then I have been signed up to teach computers on Friday's for 3 hours with one laptop. Its not really the type of hands on experience I was hoping for them to get.

Its not only the government failing the schools here though. There is also a giant $1000 water system that was dropped off by a supposed local non profit that failed to bring the tubes necessary to hook anything up. That tank has been sitting there for years unused.

I booked my ticket for home and will be coming into SFO on Aug 24^th! Can't wait to see my family after a year of being down here in Panama.

My Spanish has jumped another hurdle so to speak. I find myself being able to talk for hours in front of audiences and even taking questions with only a little explanation as to what they are saying. I've also started to visit more people's houses which is good to get to know them better but bad because they pretty much force me to eat their food. On another note I have gotten amoebas twice and worms once in the last 30 days and my immune system seems very fragile. I also feel extremely tired worn out most times which could be due to being so sick so much. I have a new filter so I'm hoping that helps.

In the Things I Didn't Need to Know category: Couple things I've started to realize about the people here and something that I'm sure happens pretty much all around the world, guys in particular will do one thing the first time they are alone with a computer that is connected to the internet. Look at porn. Not only have I seen many guys in open computer cafes here look at porn, but I've now caught two community members looking at it. I found out because they are the only two people here that have laptops which just happen to be filled with about as many search results for porn as there are virus' on the them. I guess technology really does bridge a gap. I'm pretty sure there is no place to get any type of pornographic material here and along comes an open invitation to as much as one computer can handle without going down in a blaze of virus glory.

I apparently have two packages on the way so I'm going to go ahead and say thank you in advance. I received the most amazing package ever from Desiree back home filled with organic goodies and some books. Thanks again. Next week I go to the island again, celebrate the 4^th with other volunteers, and start work on a new chocolate processing plant....

To the Organization, University, or Individual that is willing to take the challenge,

So I just need to say first off that we received enough funding through donations and a clean energy grant from the U.S. so we don't need any more donations. Thanks. And thanks President Obama for proving a new solar panel unit for our artisan group!


To the Organization, University, or Individual that is willing to take the challenge,

My name is Adam Armstrong and I am a Volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in Panama and this is an open appeal for your help with a chocolate production project I'm working on in a small indigenous village located in the heart of the jungle and cacao farms of Bocas del Toro, Panama. I have been living in this small village as a Volunteer with the Peace Corps for about 9 months now, and since I have been here we have successfully created a product and developed a market for our native style chocolate and it is selling faster than previously anticipated. As of right now our artisan group of cacao farmers and craft makers roast, peel, and grind all of the cacao by hand to make our chocolate products. As you might imagine, this takes a long time and after spending countless back breaking hours working in the cacao farms, it is hard to spend so many more hours away from the family creating the chocolate. Here you can view some pictures of some of our group and the eco-tour we are now starting to conduct in the community. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.196860087001431.42750.196669717020468

The Challenge

Our chocolate artisan group is looking for a way to use basic machinery to help with the processing of our chocolate. As we are newly organic certified, we would like to use processes that use renewable energy or that can be done by hand or foot. This could include technologies such as solar panels hooked up to an electric motor that runs a grinder ( please look here to see the grinders we use: http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/303760437/manual_grinder_cast_iron_grinder_hand_grinder.jpg). Or this could also be a simple machine that helps us toast the cacao, a separate machine that can break the cacao, and then another that separates the cacao from the shell (you can see here how we crack the cacao currently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LuU7fqBM7k).

Keep a few key things in mind while you consider this challenge. First, not all tools and materials are available in Panama, and especially in Bocas del Toro, although Panama City is experiencing an economic boom and could offer opportunities for good alternatives to some tools and materials if the desired piece cannot be found. We already have local contacts for reasonably priced solar panel systems and the artisan group currently uses a small solar system so people can work at night. Also keep in mind that at this point in time we are not looking for machinery that would make refined chocolate such as a conching machine (http://www.chocolatealchemy.com/conchingrefining.php). We currently process our chocolate by grinding our cacao using a hand grinder, making it into a liquor at which point we harden the product and sell it or combine it with milk and sugar to sell as native chocolate. Here is a video that shows how a local American has rigged a motor up to a grinder (with solar power). ): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GycZiDj99Bg

Funding

After an appropriate and sustainable plan has been developed, I will work with community members and other staff in the Peace Corps to write a grant proposal seeking funding. If you, your organization, or group has funding available or know of funds available we would also be interested. Our artisan group also has been setting aside some money from all of our chocolate sales to use for this project ensuring that the people here also take ownership of the project. We have access to many materials that are locally available (and free) including wood and we have already received a few bike donations that can be used for parts. If you or your organization would like to come to our community and work with us with this project we will provide your food, water, lodging and an adventure for free. Depending upon the size of the grant we are able to get for this project, we may be able to write in local transportation costs as well. International transportation costs should be considered the responsibility of the organization or individual. Ultimately, we would like to keep the grant proposal at or around $5,000 to increase our chances of securing the funding. We have determined that a solar panel system that is capable of handling a good sized motor will cost us around $2,500 which would leave us another $2,500 for the implementation of the project.

About the Community

The native community here is comprised of 100% Gnabe Indigenous people whom have been farming cacao in Bocas del Toro for nearly 80 years. Most of the farmers rely on the sale of cacao beans to the local co-op as their sole source of income. In the low production season an entire family will live on anywhere from $1-$2 a day. In the high production season (which only lasts for 4 months of the year) a family will live on about $4 a day. By creating products that add value to the basic cacao beans, we have started to change this. Historically, one pound of cacao that is sold to the co-op in the city sells for about $1.30. Once we have processed the cacao beans, through toasting and shelling or grinding, that same pound is worth $12 to the farmer. By increasing production, but not increasing the amount of time to actually produce it, there is a possibility to sustainably and significantly increase income generation for over 26 families with a combined 150 people affected. Our group also splits all the profits from chocolate production to benefit the education of group members as well as a no questions asked emergency health fund, and a fund that allows the group to reinvest in their business.

We are looking for someone to stay in the community until the project is completed, which could be anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks but if this is not an option just simple design help using e mail correspondence would be highly appreciated. Bocas del Toro has many beautiful sites to see and if you do accept our challenge I would be happy to direct you in the right direction of some of the better things to do and see as well.

Here are some additional links that show the process of making chocolate we use now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxO5pV1UpK8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSBxQtLbL_s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS3wKMNx3vc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfkiLPBddsM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZOI1wehkO8

Sincerely,

Adam Armstrong

Peace Corps Panama

Community Economic Development

Bocas Del Toro

694-292-71

Californiaadam @ yahoo.com (delete the spaces between the @ sign) 

Why The Peace Corps Kills Them All

I recently wrote an article for my other blog The Daily Censored showing why the Peace Corps approach to development really does work and why we should support this government institution. Check it out at http://dailycensored.com/2011/06/09/the-peace-corps-a-government-organization-that-actually-makes-sense/

From the Womb to the Grave

So the delays between blog posts are definitely getting longer as you probably have noticed. That is if you are even still visiting my blog to see how or what I'm doing anymore. I say that because as time has powered on it seems that contact between the outside world has become less and less. There is nothing wrong with this in my book as it probably mostly means that I've become adjusted to life here. In any respect, here are some updates and a little story. The updates first:

My body hates me once again. Most of the problem has been the crazy heat and humidity we have had here in the last month. My body revolted and decided to break out in a crazy heat rash all over my legs. This combined with an infected wound on my ankle, tick bites, and mosquito bites has pretty much forced me to pop a benidryl to be able to sleep.

Now for some good stuff. We had Cacao Training Week in my site and it was pretty great. Some new Peace Corps recruits came along with the trainers and we got together every day for a week to learn the hands on way to keep a cacao farm healthy. It was pretty eye opening and I learned more than I ever thought their was about grafting one tree to another. We chopped, grafted, and pruned cacao trees all week not to mention all the cacao we turned into chocolate.

A group called the Floating Doctors has come to port in Bocas Island and after having dinner with them it has all but been decided that they will come to my site to do a clinic day. They have medicine, doctors, and even a sonogram machine. I've already received antibiotics and bandages from them so hopefully they stay for the whole 7 months they promised because its nice being close to medical attention.

Chocolate sales are doing good with our new chocolate to eat. I knew that we would sell much more than just the chocolate liquer and the roasted and raw beans. We have upcoming appointments with the government here and a place near Boquete for organic certifications too which will be amazing. With these two certifications we should be able to sell much more than we are now.

The tour has tapered off some due to the slow season and the fact that our article is no longer running in the local newspaper. For about the 5^th time we had someone say they were coming and then not. The only thing is that this time Salomon said this was OK and when it came time to meet them no one was there. I'm hoping that this will be a lesson to all of us about having people pay before they come on the tour. We have 3 reviews now on Trip Advisor and had a couple come the other day from just that review so it is starting to work.

Story Time:

I rushed down the hill to the river following Salomon. The water soon rushed into my sneakers as we hurried through its shallow coldness. Weaving in and out of plantain and cacao trees, we scurried to the other side of the hill. A place that Salomon confessed himself he hasn’t been to in awhile and as we briefly lost our way we soon found it again.

The hill was muddy and straight up. Vines and grass clinging vertically to a trail that seems to be only used for special occasions. One of those occasions was today and saying that the occasion is special might imply that it is special in a good context. Quite the opposite. We were scrambling up this treacherous hill because on top lay the community cemetery. A cemetery that would take in two new inhabitants in the same day. Both being babies that were robbed of their first breath as humans.

We made it to the top panting and sweating. The heat seemed to enter into my body from every direction and the humidity tricked my mouth into thinking that water was readily available. We stepped into a surreal scene. Belisario standing off to the right of freshly shoveled dirt. Both of his boys clinched in his arms and theirs clinched to his. While two men whom I see and talk to every day shoveled dirt on top of a casket that should have never been made, I stood behind a small crowd of loved ones and relatives. Belisario looked over to me and smiled. Sending me a message that everything would be alright and that things like this happen.

Not two in the same day. It couldn't be. As I looked over my shoulder to the left I could see the freshly moved dirt of another similar sized grave. Salomon explained to me that another baby in hospital just down the street died in the exact same way on the same day. It strangled itself with the umbilical chord coming out of the womb and no nurse or doctor was present in the room to help.

This cemetery, unlike any other I had seen, had been cut out of the jungle and sat upon a small hill. Looking to the sky, about 100 tall to medium sized purple and red colored plants lay were the fallen of this community are now resting. The two men broke off three branches from two older trees and stuck them where the new member of this tranquil place lay. We left in silence and returned to work.

Rain

I think the old saying “when it rains, it pours” only portends to life situations. There has been many cases here when it only drizzles and then the sun comes out. Life lately seems to be pouring. And not the good kind of water that you really want when your thirsty. Our tour has slowed down significantly which is OK because the guys definitely need a break. We knew it would happen as this is the lowest season right now but not having a tour for a week at a time is has not been the norm. Chocolate sales are doing alright as we are expanding our market with chocolate to eat which is great, but we now have the local cacao co-op breathing down our necks because not only do they have new competition, they are not getting as many cacao beans because we are selling them directly to consumers instead of the co-op. Our artisan group has already heard the rumblings of their displeasure and if it wasn't for Salomon, the group would have already given up in fear that the co-op would hand down some type of penalty. As people started talking about it in our group Salomon quickly pointed to the wall where we have all of our documents and said “let them come... this is our land and we owe them nothing”. Fact is that we have our chocolate making business registered with the correct government office here, and have our own type of organic certification for our chocolate products. I do get the feeling that even with all this, they are going to tell people that if they sell their cacao beans to our artisan group then they won't be able to sell them to the big co-op.

MORE RAIN

I came home from the island the other day to a somber mood. I didn't really notice it was somber until Salomon let me in on what had happened. Apparently my neighbor, who was pregnant, and whom I visit all the time because they are practically one good leap from my house, went to the hospital to have her baby and it didn't go so well. As the father told me, her water broke, she went to the hospital to have the baby and when she started delivering the baby no one was in the room for the entire thing. IN A HOSPITAL NO ONE WAS IN THE ROOM. She tried yelling for a nurse and nothing. The baby strangled itself on the way out with the umbilical chord and died. Now, I have heard of this happening but I have never heard of this happening this way. Of course with technology and good doctors even when the umbilical chord wraps around the baby's neck things can be done. The point of this story is that she went in, the baby was alive when it was inside her, and because the nurses weren't paying attention she lost her baby. This isn't the first time the exact same thing has happened at this hospital either. I've been told others have had the same problem and there is pretty much nothing they can do. My neighbor said he is in the process of writing a letter to some council members but I can tell you right now what good that will do. Nothing.

Funny Stuff

My other neighbors hen keeps jumping onto my porch, jumping into a cardboard box I have on the porch, and then sitting there for all day sometimes. I've tried kicking it out about 10 times but one day it did lay an egg which I soon made breakfast with so I stopped complaining.

Its been hotter and wetter than ever here. It seems like if it is not raining really hard lately, it is blazing hot. Many people here have told me that it is unusual for this time of year. Can't wait until it goes one way or the other.

My health is pretty good. My brother brought me down some pro biotics and some grape seed extract so I've been taking those with just rain water and I've been on the OK side. Still a little queezy every once in awhile but I can handle it now. Also received a generous package from the Armstrong family back home with a whole bunch of goodies from Trader Joes. One item in particular was great to share with my community. It was the Wasabi Peas that are little on the hot side. If you didn't know, the natives here don't like spicy hot food. Everyone always wants to try new things and they usually just put their hands out when you are eating something so I went around my community eating the peas in front of them. When they put their hands out I graciously handed some out. Most had the same reaction of spitting them out and making a terrible face, but a few select people did like them.

I will be home in exactly 3 and one half months. It is pretty crazy to think about. It will be just over a year since I left. I do have to say that I think I will be receiving some culture shock. I really don't want to stay for too long as I don't want to loose touch with the real world or what I call the real world now. Here.....

Chiggers and Chocolate

A lot has happened since my last post. My brother came, we climbed a mountain, went to a cock fight that might have scarred me permanently, went to another volunteers site that was just white sandy beaches and blue water, and visited many people in my community. It was fun and of course there was work mixed in with all of that.

This week has been a little strange in my site. Twice I found turtles. Well my brother found one walking across the walking path. I've never seen a turtle here unless it was already boiled and on a plate. Apparently they don't eat these ones which is good for him. We still moved him out of harms way. I've also had two large bugs in my food. The first was when my brother was visiting. I made him a fresh steaming hot bowl of what they call “Crema” which is just cream of wheat. We were enjoying our delicious meal when I chewed into something hard. I took two more chews and knew something was wrong. Immediately I spit out the contents of my mouth onto the floor to reveal that I had been eating a giant cockroach. The other bug was a giant beetle that decided to land in my soup tonight and ruin it. I would say I hope the chickens eat the bug that ruined my soup, but I would rather have the chickens starve for the simple fact that they wake me up at about 5 every morning.

On to chocolate. We just got out of a meeting where we talked about the numbers we did last month and our projections for the current. At one point I couldn't get my mouth to close. Me and a couple others thought that we heard wrong when Salomon stated that we sold $600 worth of chocolate last month. To put that into perspective, I'm pretty sure they sold around $200 total all last year. Part of this is because we have upped the price by about 4 times and that we are averaging about 24 tourists a month whom are buying the stuff up. If that is not economic development then I don't know what is. We have people coming out of the woodworks that want cacao and chocolate and a lot of my work lately has been trying to get a clear idea if we can do any volume sales and if it would even be worth it. At this point it seems that the value added work we have been doing is working well and the people here are already complaining about the workload.

An update on the production: To make cacao Nibs the women need to roast, shell, and then individually break each cacao seed, then package which includes writing an insane amount of information on each bag. It is all value added work and they are gaining a lot by doing just another days work, but it is starting to be too much. After doing some analysis of what part of the business needs the most help we decided that this part needs it. I've been searching for months of ways to quicken the process with less manual labor and after visiting a local gringo cacao farm that does tours as well I found the solution. They use a grinder to break the cacao along with a fan to blow the shells away. Genius. The same day I came across this method, I met a local Panamanian Engineer that has been working at a local hostel for the past couple years. He agreed to investigate the process and did. After visiting once and talking with my people we decided to go ahead with plans for a large wooden machine type thing that would separate the cacao after smashing it and then blow the shells off. The main point of this would be to get to a point where we could sell the Nibs, and to use these nibs to grind the cacao easier. The smaller pieces without the shells are much easier to grind than the whole beans. He comes back tomorrow so we will see.

Things seem to be going smoothly with the tour and we had 40 visitors last month which was our second month of operation. I would say that is a success. We aren't going to change much on the tour in the future and I've almost separated myself completely from it to see how it goes. We have our review trip adviser and the plan is for people to rate us and give comments to automaticly update things and attract more people. Its been hard get them to do simple things now as many people in the Artisan Group don't have much time. I've been talking about having a box where people could put comments into for about 2 months now. Well, we finally got it made and it is sitting in the corner of the room unlabeled. I really do believe just having this one box where people can put comments is going to prove to be invaluable. Having the words come straight from the tourists mouth means a lot to them and should give them incentive to do make the tour better constantly. Now getting them to read the comments may be another thing.

My health has been ok. I got Ascaris not too long ago which is a pretty large worm. I also got a stomach virus today but I'm doing good now. I've got chigger bites everywhere and I mean everywhere. They love to bury into the underwear line. Just think of a really hard mosquito bite that wont go away for 5 days. Now think of that on your private parts. It's not fun. I've been told they only like gringos and babies and that the older locals aren't affected by them anymore. Sucks for me. I can't think of anything else I can do to stop them short of rubbing insect repellant on my underwear. One option is just not to wear under garments but that's not too comfortable in jeans when I'm working. If you look back at some of my first posts from when I arrived here, I thought it was allergies in my underwear line. Well I guess not. Just going to have to deal with them and take a benadril to sleep without scratching.

My foot hurt a little on the hike with my brother but I'm convinced it was my shoes. The hike pretty much blew my legs out and they have been slowly trying to recover. Seeing my brother reminds me of how much weight I have lost over the last 9 months. I'm hoping I can start getting some of that back again. Especially for my trip back to the states in late Aug....