This is the best life ever!

So it has been one week since we arrived in Panamá and I am still completely in love with this country. It feels as though we have been here for months, but maybe I just have a lot of dirty laundry...
On Friday Pablo drove Hannah, Joy, Nancy, Marc (our professor) and I to El Caño, the archaeological park where I will be working for the next few weeks. The archaeologists at the site are great and gave us a tour of current and previous excavations. While right now the site they are excavating is a bit crowded, we will still get a chance to assist them by sorting through dirt for human and dog teeth (los dientes de humanos y perros). Quite dirty, but exciting. I´m learning a lot about bones! The site includes several unexcavated earthen mounds, two graves that have been excavated, and lots of strategically placed columns (some of which used to have heads before people cut them off to take to the United States...) that most likely signified a market area and sports arena. While this week we will be traveling to San Blas, I should be working there about 5 days a week once we get back.
After we spent the morning at El Caño, we went to Penonomé and La Pintada, where they were setting up for a weekend festival. I bought a very cool woven hat from a man and it makes me look totally Anthropologist. It was an awesome day and we listened to a great mixtape of Pablo´s, which included select songs from the soundtrack to Grease, Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, and Britney Spears. Pretty killer tracks.

Saturday was very relaxing, just a lot of reading, a Biology lecture out on the deck and a JINS discussion on ethnic relations in Panama after dinner.

Sunday was one of my favorite days so far. The morning started with cereal (per usual), and laying out on the rocks down by the river reading ´Beak of the Finch´. Then Jackie and I went to the swimming hole and everyone joined us. It is one of the greatest swimming holes of all time, very secluded with good climbing rocks and a waterfall. Quite possibly the reason I have been bathing so often. Next we enjoyed a delicious lunch, followed by a biology class in Omar Torrijos National Park. A few of the BIO 444 students joined our class of 5 as we hiked for a few hours deciding on what to study. The rainforest is one of the coolest places I have ever been, especially when we have our professor (Chad) and three very intelligent bio students (Denyse, Joey, and Will) telling us everything we would ever want to know about the plants and animals around us. We finally decided to study the percentage of surface area consumed by herbivores in a two week period of new growth and old growth plants around La MICA. Pretty exciting. After getting quite muddy in the park, the chiva drove Chris, Jackie, and I up to El Copé for a little more excitement. We walked around the town, chilled on some benches, and had a swell time trying to use our Spanish while talking to the local police. (Who by the way, absolutely love the ladies around here.) We also pulled out the uber-gringo card by taking pictures of a local fútbol match between the local kids while waiting in line at the panadería (bakery). They probably loved it. On our hike back to La MICA we ran into a gringa named Kayla who has been here for 2 years with the Peace Corps. Hopefully we will get to spend some time with her after we get back from San Blas. In short, after the long hike back we jumped in the river for a late night swim, ate dinner (french fries at last!) and then went to bed. Great day!

Now I am the last one on the computers and everyone is waiting on the bus to leave for Kuna Yala! Hasta luego!

En Español, por fa

Pues, es Jueves, 18 de Febrero y estoy en un cafe internet para el primero vez en Penonomé, Panamá...
¿En íngles, por favor? It is Thursday, February 18th, and I am at my first internet cafe in Penonome, Panama. YES! I finally made it! (To Panama, of course, not just the internet cafe.) It is unbelievably exciting here. We arrived on Tuesday morning after a very swift connection in Miami (similar to a scene from Home Alone 1). Everything since has been very different, but enjoyable. Our home base is out of the "ecological station" La MICA (www.lamica.org) just outside of El Copé. A van picked all 25 of us up from the airport and drove us about three hours west to El Copé. From there we had about a 15-20 minute hike to our compound. Our station consists of a large cabin for the 23 students, a deck underneath for eating, classes, and lounging, a separate cabin for our 2 professors, and 2 showers and 2 "toilets" in bamboo huts. (I will put up pictures later.) It is incredibly secluded, beautiful, and relaxing. There is even a river about two minutes down the mountain.

Our first day at La MICA we just got situated in our cabin, picked out our bunk, and ate a very delicious chicken and spaghetti dinner. The next morning after a 7 am breakfast we hiked out of la MICA and toured El Copé. While the locals seem to have limited contact with gringos, everyone was very friendly. I think I said "Buenos" and "Buenas" (good day, short for buenos días y buenos tardes) roughly 50 times throughout our walk. After the tour (which took about 15 minutes to see almost the main part of town) we ate lunch at Julie´s house (the researcher for La MICA). The lunch consisted of white rice with stewed beef, carrots, yucca, onions and beans, and fresh pineapple, watermelon, and plantains. ¡Delicioso! Next we rode in the back of a truck (chiva) to Omar Torrijos National Park, one of the places our group will be conducting a lot of field research. The park is a tropical forest (bosque tropical) at 800 metros in a cloud forest (bosque nube). The flora and fauna is incredible, and we spent a few hours hiking and learning about the ecosystem. Very soon my biology class will do some labs there, and the biology major students are conducting their semester projects there. What a beautiful but challenging hike (¡Más bonito pero muy dificil!) While the temperature was warm, it was incredibly humid and poured down on us toward the end of our adventure. Luckily, the 40 minute drive in the back of the chiva helped to dry us off. :) The rest of the day back at la MICA was relaxing, just showering, dinner, and journal time for me, with a very early bed time.

Today I was the last one to wake up (somehow my body doesn´t comprehend "early to bed, early to rise") at 7:30. After breakfast we headed out at 8:30 to a chiva, which took us to a bus, which took us to Penononmé. Here we toured a museum, stood in the geographical center of Panamá, spent about an hour shopping in local markets attempting to purchase things with limited Spanish knowledge, and then ate lunch. I had rice, soup, a plantain, and tea (arroz, sopa, platano y té). ¡Muy delicioso! We have a few more hours here in Penonomé, and then we head back to camp.

I have had a wonderful time here so far, and it´s only been three days! Tomorrow Hanna, Jackie, Joy, Nancy, and I will head to the archaeological site at El Caño to see where Hanna and I will be working for the next few weeks. I have been doing a lot of research about the Coclé culture and our museum tour today included information about the nearby sites as well. Hopefully we have a splendid time!

¡Hasta luego!

Under pressure...

So it's midnight on Monday, and my flight leaves at 6 am today! To say I am excited doesn't even begin to explain what I'm feeling. To the dismay of my exhausted parents, I am not quite done packing, but I can never really pack until I'm under pressure. It's more fun that way.

I came home to St. Louis on Saturday afternoon and have been fortunate to spend three great days with my family and friends. I am going to miss spending quality time with everyone, whether it's in person or on the phone, convenient communication is something I will definitely miss. Tonight my family held a small party at our house to wish me safe travels. As many times as I explain to people what I am doing I am still not quite sure myself. But I think the excitement of the unknown is much more enchanting than having a detailed schedule. Hopefully I still feel that way once I understand just exactly what I'll be doing...

In addition to preparing for the party, my family has been running around like crazy helping me get ready, and thankfully everyone but me is currently sleeping. I will not sleep tonight, but I never thought I would. Too much excitement in these bones to rest. And with that, I will drink one more cup of coffee (not that I need any stimulants to keep me awake tonight) and finish the great task of preparation!

Here's to better weather...

The museum at El Caño Archaeological Park where I will work

It's the Final Countdown!

One week, baby!
I really cannot believe that in one week and 5 hours I will be on my way to Panama. I have been thinking about this trip for about a year now and it still does not seem real. Maybe once I decide to start packing it will seem like I'm actually going...

School is here good. Very, very busy with classes and preparation, but I know it will pay off when I have a little less work to do while we're down there. Biology, JINS, and Environmental Studies have been great tools for both learning and getting to know everyone a little better. I think by the time I get down there I will have everyone's name down.. haha (Disclaimer: To anyone in the class reading this whose name I get wrong, it's not you, I'm just very bad with names.)

Currently, I've been working on two projects for Panama, one through Environmental Studies and one through Senior Seminar. For Environmental studies I am working with a group of about 5 students to do some advertising/fundraising for La MICA (La Montaña para Investigación y Conservación Ambiental), a biological station doing conservation research in El Cope, Panama. We are spreading the word on Facebook about this wonderful NGO through a fan page we created, and hope to soon help with La MICA's website as well. In addition, we are raising money to support La MICA's crucial research.
Please visit their website www.lamica.org and if you are into Facebook, please fan us through "La MICA" and "Gringos in Panama".
Awesome :)

My second project for Panama has been through my Senior Seminar in Anthropology/Sociology. While we are there, myself and Hanna Hartman are going to volunteer at El Cano, an archaeological site of the Cocle. This will be the project of a lifetime! I am extremely excited to join in the dig and learn a lot about this Central American culture. To prepare, I have been doing a lot of research about the site and archaeology in Central America. Hopefully this will aid me while working, but also for writing a paper and compiling a brochure for the site. This is one of two archaeological sites in Panama open to the public, and they are in need of some English brochures for tourists. Therefore, Hanna and I are creating a brochure for the museum at El Cano and hoping to print that for them through the university when we return.

Well, thats a good update of where I am right now in the mix of things. Let the countdown begin!