The Bocas Crew right after the Swear-In Ceremony. These are my geographically closest volunteers from my training group. ( as in I could take boats and/or buses and/or hikes and get to them in the same day.)







Off to the beach post-swear in where we had a Panamanian costume party. These girls were dressed as follows (left to right, top to bottom) mosquito, pifa-lantern, Panamanian telenovela character Rebelde, a tamale, a tree, a Latina child.






A Bocas Island tourist

(the type island that attracts lots

of fanny-pack doting, teva/sock duo

psuedo surfer europeans

looking to "catch somewaves.")

Adam dressed as the Canal. Otherwise known as a blue table cloth with pictures of boats and lotsof locks hanging off.

Kevin dressed as the local policia nacional ( below in typical Keven form, singing to the Talking Heads)

Off to my community....

Here´s my biggest project over the next two years. Below is our water captivity source from an underground outlet. It goes to about 5 central PVC tubes in the community. My job is to make it cleaner and accessible by everyone. For all you engineers out there, any ideas? Keep in mind, I live in a community with lots of drastic elevation changes, lots of mud, and a whooole lot of cattle (aka you cant leave pvc pipes unprotected).

Here is the water quality inside the captation- aka this is the cleanest it gets before traveling through the tubing to homes- aka I use a lot of bleach in the water I drink.

My community is really spread out over these hills that overlook the Caribbean. I call this the Punta Sirain skyline. (you´re lookin at down town right now with the health puesto, the school, and the biggest store.)

Heres a beach on the outer side of the Peninsual facing the open ocean. One of the most beautiful beaches Ive seen in my life. We hiked over and spent the day here for a volunteers birthday.Below are the three other volunteers that live out on the Peninsula with me: Blake from Lousianna, Adam from North Carolina, and Jack from Arkansas.

During the wind storms over thanksgiving, temperatures dipped to dangerous degrees of below 75. All were bundled accordingly, though im not really sure why they had or where they got a winter beanie meant to fit a baby.. Here is an example of how women carry laundry or produce from farm. These bags, made from woven string that is actually grown, rolled, and dyed in site, are what I am trying to focus on in the women´s artisan group which will be marketed towards tourist populations on near by islands.This is my community in a nut shell.... Tropical ocean and palm trees with a huuuge freakin cow. Its like Gilligans Island meets Green Acres but with a Ngabe costume designer? Yes, I am still trying to figure it out as well. Thats all for now, but this month I begin building my house. No you read that correctly, Im going to build a house. Ill let you know when those pictures are up. Keep in touch and enjoy the holiday season!!!