One of those weeks

Hey guys,

I am writing a little sooner than I expected. So this has been kind of a crappy week, not so much about what happens or doesnt happen, but just a collection of little things that are driving me into the dumps for the time being. Yes, this is another negative post, I appologize. And no, there are no pictures because I havent taken any.

I got back from San Felix on Tuesday after the seminar that wasnt, and I wasnt in any particular kind of spirits except for maybe being annoyed with the so called officials of Panama. But I get back to Chichica and all of a sudden I dont even want to do anything, clean my house, unpack my bag, whatever. I sat around all day reading. The next day I didnt even feel like reading, I mostly just laid around sleeping, and after I had slept much of the morning away I read a little bit more. All this while my house was a mess and I really should have been going around trying to get people to go to the tourism meeting that we were going to have on Thursday. However, it really would have been a wasted effort so I didnt. It rained in the afternoon though, so I got up and cleaned my house while the water was coming to me. I went to put some nice cold rain water in my water filter so I could have something cool to drink, but the top part with the ceramic filters fell on the floor after I had set it on the bench. The ceramic wicks broke into more pieces than they should have been. I was feeling pretty down, but then Loli came to visit and I told her that I could make us some tapioca pudding if only I had an egg (hint hint). So she said that she had plenty of eggs and lets go get one. So I was following her but the little hill that separates our houses was really slippery, and I slipped and landed on my butt. I was thinking, yep, this pretty much sums up how I feel today, but the fact that Loli was laughing so hard at me actually made me feel a lot better, that and the tapioca pudding.

Then yesterday I reluctantly got up to go to the meeting that I was convinced wouldnt even happen, and my fears were worstened by the fact that there was yet another beauty queen competition going on, this time at the high school. So the whole town was at the fiesta, and I figured that nobody was going to show up. So I grated a ginormous bowlful of carrots for the teachers as I waited for 11:00, because it was more satisfying to be doing something than hanging around watching everyone who were watching everone do nothing.

So I go over at 11:00, but I didnt even set anything up because I really felt that nobody would be coming again, but at 11:20 Ana showed up, the one who had arranged the meeting for a third time. Then two other guys showed up that really didnt know why they were there I dont think, and some other woman that Ana had invited. Thats all, but it was more than I expected. So we decided as we sat there to shift our target for group members to people who are less busy, i.e. youth of about 16 to 22 years old. So I guess in July when I have more time I will begin to see if this would be feasable. Maybe I can teach a small group of kids to actually be responsible. Ha.

So we went back to the party after waiting for about an hour to see if anyone else was going to show up, and I watched the competition and ate some food, but I couldnt stick it out to see who won. I went home and washed my clothes, but Loli insisted on coming with me to the stream because right now she is talking to me (she goes through phases where she refuses to speak to me, and others where I am her best friend, for reasons that I don´t comprehend). So she brought her clothes to wash, and when she finished with that she decided to get me wet.

Anyway, I still had the problem that my water filter was busted. I had pulled out my backup option, my hand pump filter that I had bought before leaving for Panama. However, I had only used it once before, and after that I had improperly stored it (by not taking it apart to clean and let it dry out afterwards, about 9 months ago) and I feel like I have pumped gallons of water through it but it still has an awful taste, so I have been avoiding drinking water. I have drank a lot of fruit nectar, but that is expensive. I have been eating watery foods, like soup and stuff. But then it dawned on me this morning that I can try using my backup extra filter for my handpump, and I also have the steripen that kills any living organisms in the water using UV light. I went to pull out the steripen, but it also had not been used since about a year ago and a colony of tiny ants had moved into it. So I cleaned them out as best I could and attempted to use the pen, but it didnt seem to be working. I hope the ants didnt damage it inside, but I will try it again when I get back because I didnt have time this morning to mess with it. And anyway, at the end of this month I will get new filter wicks for my big filter when I go to the PC office in Panama City for my med checkup.

So here I am in David, against my will although at least I will have water and surroundings that dont smell like chicken crap. I bought some chicken feed in Tole from the chinos, and it is making my chickens poo smell really really bad. It wasnt that bad when they were just eating corn and bugs, but the corn was getting expensive and they are starting to go through more than 5 pounds a week, when with just my hen that would last a month. This is making me want to cook them just so I dont have to feed them anymore, and stand there while they eat so the neighbors chickens dont eat all my feed. And so my house doesnt smell like a chicken latrine. Gag!

Anyway, my main mission here today is to pay for my stay at the Decameron resort for my group´s one year anniversary of going into our site. I am trying to figure out who (if anyone) I can find to stay with because I am not in a lot of communication with people in my group and I think that they have mostly already made their reservations with their buddies. So I guess it is supposed to be fun, but I am not sure that I will even enjoy it a whole lot if I can even get a reservation. Plus it is another $60 that, although I can afford it, makes me look too rich anyway. I let it slip to Ana that I was going there, and she looked at me like, wow, you really are rich, so why didn´t you lend me that $50 that I asked for two weeks ago? I get really sick of people asking me for money. This morning another old man came up to me begging for money, and I feel like a jerk when I turn people down but it´s not like I can be a wandering ATM.

Well, sorry again for being so negative today. It´s just one of those phases where I feel like there is no point trying and everything gets on my nerves. But all things must pass. As they say, this is the toughest job you´ll ever love. And all things considering, I am a whole lot happier with the nothing I get done here than the nothing I was getting done in the U.S.

I guess next time I write will be in Panama City when I go to get my checkup. Uh oh, it´s starting to rain and I don´t have my umbrella because my neighbors borrowed it and never gave it back. Great. Well, I guess that´s why I carry around large plastic bags for my backpack. I guess its also time to buy yet another umbrella. Blood pressure rising. . . rising. . . leveling . . . falling ever so slightly. Ok, I will be fine.