Happy Holidays y ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

This year my parents flew me home to Portland, Oregon, for Christmas and it was the most wonderful Christmas present ever. As you can see from the picture my mom makes the house beautiful and cozy every year with tons of decorations. I had been craving cold weather and chai tea by the fireplace and Portland did not disappoint!


A week into my visit the snow started and it did not stop until just before I left. Portland isn't known for snow on the ground, especially in December (sometimes we get a little in February) and it was the first time in my entire life that I experienced a white Christmas. It was absolutely gorgeous. The downside is, of course, the insufferable cold that comes along with snow. I am well accustomed to Panama's 90 degree weather and I don't think I stopped shivering the entire time I was in the states. My dad's pup, Buddy Holly, loved prancing around in the pretty white powder though.


I only found out that I was coming home 3 weeks before my flight so it was pretty easy to keep it a secret. My plan was to surprise Aunt Jenny (who had come down to visit me in August) and my best friend, Christy. I flew in just in time for the Krueger family Christmas in Seattle. It was wonderful to see everyone. I even got in a little bonding with my Uncle Matthew. Isn't he cute? That photo was taken with his iPhone. I swear I am going to be baffled by all the crazy technology when I get back after 2 years abroad.



I was also able to be home in time for my little brother's 26th birthday. He is one of my favorite people in the whole world and I loved being able to spend so much time with him while I was home. I never realized it until now but I think we took opposite traits from our parents. We don't look much alike... I have a Krueger nose. His eyebrows look like my Dad's. Huh.






It took a lot of stealth covertness (including almost breaking up a marriage (kidding!)) to surprise my best friend. Thanks to her older sister and her very helpful and exceedingly patient husband I was able to ambush her at a pet store. She was shocked, which is what I was going for. I wasn't able to spend enough time with her because we both got snowed-in about 20 miles from each other but we got in a little bit of time and some Orange Chicken from Panda Express, so what more could you want?



One night my little brother Justin's friends were snowed-in at our house (well, Patrick was snowed-in multiple nights) and we stayed up drinking and playing cards with my older brother and my parents (you should see the video...). It was a lot of fun and I won $7. It was so nice to be home. I also got to spend a lot of time with my good friend Adie. We dyed our hair, too. Funny side note- I went to a salon to get a hair cut (my first in 16 months) and she asked me what nationality I was because my skin was so dark. Gotta love the permanent tan that Panama has given me in exchange for my service. :)

Eventually my 16 day trip had to come to an end. It was sad to leave my family once again but I'll be home in 9 months, which really doesn't seem like that long. And it was nice to get back to my friends and "family" in Panama (not to mention the warm weather!). I met up with some friends in Panama City to celebrate the New Year, ate good food, and remembered the things I love about Panama- the sun (when it isn't too strong), the friendly people, the cheap food (I had the worst sticker shock in the states), and the calm, slow pace of life. This photo depicts the traditional clothes of Panamanians. The statues were gigantic. You can see me standing next to the baby.

There are definitely some things that I don't love, of course. It was nice in the states to not be sweating through my clothes every few hours. I couldn't get enough hot showers. My mom's homemade bread and chicken with rice casserole is perfection. I love my cat. Rockband is the greatest game ever invented and I am amazing. Not as amazing as my little brother but still- I should be IN a rock band. I have the greatest friends ever (my friend Anne bussed hours in the snow to come see me for a small window of time just so we could see each other). I remember being in a store and being astounded at the friendliness and helpfulness of the employees. Don't get me wrong, I do love Panama, but they are seriously lacking in customer service here- something they are definitely working on as tourism starts to pick up.

It was fun to get back to my community after being gone for a couple of weeks. The new year is a time to start fresh, symbolized by many people painting their houses new colors. Honestly it was kind of confusing. Many of the houses are the exact same style and I got a little confused when the woman who lives in a blue house was going into the pink house, etc. But it's fun to see all the fresh new paint in the bright vivid colors that Panamanians love. Never have I seen so many bright teal homes.

Well, that's enough rambling from me. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year. I am constantly reminded of how lucky (and spoiled) I am by my incredible family and my amazing friends. I love you all so much! And a special thanks to my parents, without whom the photos on this blog would not be possible because they got me a new camera to replace the one that was stolen. Thank you so much!

P.S. There is a sad note to my trip. A few days before I left I was able to spend time with my Grandma Mary (my dad's mom), and recently found out that that would be my last visit with her. She passed away in her sleep last Sunday night. I am forever thankful that I was able to see her and say goodbye but I am sad that I cannot be in Portland with my family today as they honor her at the funeral. Rest in peace, Grandma. You were an amazing woman and an inspiration.

Things to be Thankful for...

Last week was a crazy week, good and bad. My boss was scheduled to come do a one-year visit with me last Monday but had to cancel because he was sick. Instead I spent the day in my regional capital (Santiago) doing laundry and working on different things in preparation for our Volunteer Advisory Council meeting on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, while I was spending my day in Santiago, some kids broke into my house. I came back that night and noticed that some things weren't where I had left them. Not long after that I realized stuff was missing. Most of the things were unnecessary conveniences, like a pair of Serengeti sunglasses that my parents got me a few years ago and a gameboy that my little brother gave me for the long bus rides I seem to always be on. It really sucks to lose them, but I'll survive.

The most frustrating things that I lost, though, were my camera, my iPod, and my contact lenses. My friend Pete and I are the photographers of our group- we always have our cameras with us. The most annoying thing is that my camera was 3 years old and still worked awesome. It had scratches and dings but the photos it took were great. It's such a waste of money to have to replace it. Especially since I was hoping instead to replace my iPod, which was 5 years old and didn't hold a charge anymore. The thieves will be terribly disappointed with it. And the contact lenses- well that's just obnoxious. Contacts have no value to anyone other than their owner. I don't have the money to replace them because that would mean seeing an eye doctor, which I also can't afford. And the thieves won't even get anything for them. So frustrating.

All of the windows on my house have bars, as well as the kitchen door. The front door doesn't but it wouldn't be easy to get through. The kids came in through a window in the attached room on the side of my house that I don't have access to. They broke down the connecting door once inside. My landlord has fixed the door, reinforcing it, and will be putting bars on the rest of the windows. I had felt so secure in my house. I suppose I still feel secure but this is the first time I've ever had my home here or in the states broken into and now I understand what people mean by feeling violated. They went through every drawer and broke things and they stole my friend Shawn's ring which has serious sentimental value.

But there is a lot to be thankful for. I wasn't home at the time, which could have been bad. Nobody was hurt and everything but the ring is replaceable. All of the pictures that I had taken had just been uploaded onto my computer, so I didn't lose any photos. And, the biggest thing of all, they didn't take my laptop. It was sitting in the open and they didn't take it. I have no idea why.

Right around the same time that I was dealing with my mini-crisis here there was a real-life crisis going on in western Panama. I hear it's been on international news. There has been a serious storm hovering over the country, dumping buckets and buckets of water everywhere. Rivers have flooded many communities in the Bocas del Toro region and so far 12 people have died. Our volunteers stationed in the area have been evacuated (some of them airlifted) and have spent the past few days working on relief efforts with local government agencies.

The rest of us have been on alert status, but a little over a third of the volunteers in Panama were still able to make it the mountains of El Valle de Antón for Thanksgiving. We rented out a hotel/resort, which was pretty amazing. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures (I miss my camera so much!). Our thoughts are obviously with all of the volunteers and their communities up in Bocas and Chiriqui provinces, and those in Colón, who have been evacuated to Panama City until the flood waters recede.

On another note, here are some pictures from Halloween and a recent parade in my community:Halloween in Panama City- Captain was a crazed soccer fan, I was a sad clown, and Dennis was a pirate.José Duarte is my community counterpart. He is one of my favorite Panamanians. He loves his country and helps me with anything and everything I could need in Atalaya. Normally he wears Addidas track pants and a t-shirt but for a recent EcoClub fair he dressed in traditional Panamanian clothes.November is the month of parades in Panama. Their independence from Spain, Columbia, flag day, and other holidays are all celebrated this month. The kids in the marching bands have been practicing nonstop for the last three months in preparation.
Atalaya is the home of Jesús de Nazareno whose robe is purple. The church is painted lilac and these girls represent the town. They had a dance that they did in sync with the marching band.Matt and Lisa are my two closest volunteers. They came to watch the parade and go to the fair with me. At the fair there were a lot of traditional dances performed. These little kids were absolutely adorable- I got a million photos of the little boy in front. The elaborate, colorful dresses and hair decorations are my favorite type of traditional Panamanian clothes. The skirts (which you can't see) are beautiful and called polleras. The tops with the little poofs are called tembleques (I'm not sure on the spelling).

So that's it for photos and everything. Thanks, as always for reading. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. There is certainly a lot to be thankful for, especially Franco. Happy Holidays!

Beaches, Bichos (Bugs), and Birthdays

Last Sunday was my birthday. I am like a small child when it comes to my birthday. I always have been and I imagine I always will be. Thankfully, my friends and family humor me and my narcissism during this important holiday that usually goes beyond just one day of Emily-centric living and becomes a month long event. Sadly, last year my birthday fell on the first day that I was in my new community, and was kind of lonely. But this year I spent my birthday at the beach with a few close friends, swimming in the warm waves, playing poker, and swatting mosquitoes. Afterwards we went to David, saw Tropic Thunder (oh my Ted, hilarious), and lost money at the casino. It was pretty perfect.
When I got back to my community my host family threw me a mini-party. My host mom and host sister came over with a slew of kids in tow. They brought me a cake and sang Happy Birthday to me in English (which is pronounced Appy Bairf day) and in Spanish. We didn't have candles so they put matches on the cake that 5 year old Yosuet kept blowing out.
Thankfully I have a lot of crayons to keep the kids entertained when they come over. They hung out on the floor of my living room drawing pictures for my walls. Clockwise from the girl in pink pants: Yurielis, Yalineth, Gisel, and Yosuet.
My good friend Liz, who lives in my community, also came by with some home made Sangria. She made it from Clos (a boxed wine here that I am not ashamed to admit I rather enjoy), pineapples, apples, and grapes. It was delicious!

A couple of weeks before my birthday I went up into the Comarca Ngäbe Bugle to visit my friend Dennis in his community. About a month earlier the two rivers that converge in his backyard, the Soloy and the Fonseca, flooded, killing 6 and leaving many homeless. Dennis took me on a tour of the community and showed me some of the damage. This bridge crosses the Fonseca River, which was almost as high as the bridge during the flood, and is the only way to get to the many small communities that head up towards the mountains. In some spots it was hard to imagine the before. I would be looking out at a big open space and he would tell me about all of the houses that were there only a few weeks earlier. Two Peace Corps volunteers, a married couple, lived about a forty minute walk down the river and their house, as well as those of almost their entire community, were washed downstream. This used to be a branch of the Soloy River but, as you can see, it is nothing but debris now. Dennis was fortunate. His house is up on stilts and wasn't damaged by the floods. This is the inside of his house. It is tiny, but somehow perfect. It is just one small room that has a bed on the floor, a counter with a camping stove on it (his water source is about half a block away) and a table with two chairs. He uses a composting latrine that he built with a few other volunteers recently, which is just past the water spigot a short walk away- although not a fun walk in the rain/mud, or if you have those ever present stomach problems that come from living in an area without clean water.

It was really fun to get a chance to see Dennis' version of life in the Peace Corps. I admit to being a little jealous of his site. I love my community, Atalaya, but it is a lot more developed than I was expecting for my two years of service. Sometimes it doesn't feel like I should really be able to call myself a Peace Corps volunteer. So I take every opportunity that I can to go see other communities and get a feel for life on the other side.

One of the greatest things about the Peace Corps is the ability to really get to know the country. While I spend the majority of my time in my site, I really enjoy visiting my friends and helping with projects in their communities. But my focus in the coming months is definitely going to be on Atalaya. I'm about to start teaching more in the schools and I might start up a newspaper project with my Ecoclub. The kids will be responsible for doing interviews and writing articles and then we will sell each paper for around 15 cents each and use the profits to travel to other communities and spread the word about environmental health.

I'm also going to start helping my community look for ways to raise money so they can finish their long ago abandoned Casa Comunal (Community Center), which they hope to use for social gatherings, pageants, dance lessons, etc. And there are a group of men and women who do a variety of crafts including woodworking and card making that are hoping to form an official group of some sort, though they aren't sold on the idea of a cooperative. So, I will definitely be keeping busy in the coming months, and hoping to help in some way.

And, as always, my door is open. I now have two (2!) guest beds so come on down. So far I have had 7 visitors but I don't have anybody who has signed on to come down from here on out. I can't have visitors in my last 3 months so you have until July 15 to get down here! :) And hopefully by the time you get here I will have fixed my damn termite problem. The stupid little beasts are eating all my doors!

My house itself is made of concrete but the door frames and doors are wood. The annoying thing is not just that they are there but that since they can't tunnel through concrete walls they make their little trails in plain site, so I can't pretend they don't exist. It's obnoxious to see hundreds and hundreds of termites marching up and down your walls and be powerless to stop them. Oh, don't get me wrong, I try. I have gone through many a can of raid but they don't care. The second they plummet to their deaths a hundred more poke their heads out of the ceiling and pick up the path again. I hear you have to kill the queen. How in Frank's name do you find the queen? My neighbor tells me she lives in the ground out by this old tree in my yard. I have this vision of this giant 5 foot termite snuggled up in the roots of the tree, surrounded by her thousands of little drones. I creep myself out.

Either way, I've told my landlord and I'm praying she fixes it before the termites find my bed or start eating my closet. I'm okay with the thousands of ants, the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of daddy long legs spiders, and the plethora (good word, right?) of cockroaches. But I do not like termites in my clothes.

So yeah, I'll work on getting that fixed and you work on coming down to visit! :)