Santiago de Veraguas

Mile collecting seeds to plant, he always does that!


Well hi again! This last week I was in Chichica for the whole week. Then I left again. Such is the pattern.

Jessica had organized a seminar for local business owners to recieve seed capital for their businesses, and I attended part of the sessions but they were horrible. Horrible in the sense that the guy from AMPYME arrived anywhere from 2 to 4 hours late. Horrible that he loved to hear himself talk and talked about everything under the sun, anything like how not to snore, why there is a problem with albinos in the comarca (btw, I have never seen an albino ngabe), and how hermaprodites don't exist. What this has to do with business I don't know. I only went because my neighbors were attending and wanted to make sure that they understood what was going on, especially because Encarnaciona can't read or write or even count money (although she is the treasurer of the store, go figure), but even I didn't because there was nothing to understand. So poor Jess, who had to stay the whole time, got to deal with all that garbage. I left early.

I also had my first Elige Tu Vida class of the year on Wednesday. Supposedly. Only four kids showed up, and said that everyone else had gone home. So we are a week behind, because I didn´t want to do it with just four kids. I need to go tomorrow and promote it again and make sure that people come, or else I am going to scrap the idea if nobody wants to participate.

So this weekend I went to visit Mile in his new place in Santiago. He got a teaching job at the high school there, and is renting a room in the house of another professor. So we walked around exploring the town, and found a museum by the cathedral. We went in and looked at that, and there was an English class being taught by some people from World Teach, which sends people out for a year to teach English. The director was really nice and invited us to stay for the little party that was closing the course, so we ate the chips and soda that they practically shoved at us and talked with the teachers and students.

The next day we decided to visit the old church in San Francisco that was built in 1621 or thereabouts. It was full of old colonial woodcarving that was interesting although not spectacular in quality. Mile was more interested in collecting seed pods from the trees outside so he could plant some! Then we saw that there was a sign for a waterfall so we went down there, but it was dirty and full of garbage and broken glass and the water was low because it was the dry season. So we entertained ourselves throwing baby toads (what is the word for that? I must be forgetting English) to the fish. The fish were hungry. Then we went back to Santiago, where there was an international food fair with food from about 20 countries. I ate a columbian patacon, a mexican taco, and then back to the columbians for rice pudding. All tasty, although not very filling for three dollars. And yes, three dollars goes a lot farther here than it does back there in gringoland.

Well, I am now on my way back to Chichica, where I don't plan on leaving for a very long time! I just want to be in my house!!! Not in a bus!! So that is all for now. Later!