well this is my first posting from panama. man this country is great, it is so beautiful and mellow. i am living in a small place called santa clara, it is about an hour and a half outside the capital. it is really small about a thousand people dispersed through the mountians. it is jungle everywhere i look, monkeys and rain is the name of the game down here. the pace of life is increadibly slow, exactly what i was hoping for. the training is pretty easy, i got the second highest score on my language test, the guy who beat me out was a native speaker from mexico. so i kind of have that area covered, on monday i begin my indigenous language training which should be really interesting. we are the only two that are allowed to begin so it looks like we will be facing the challenge alone for the next few weeks. for the most part i am loving life down here, having served in bangladesh has made my life so much easier here. it is pretty funny because i am the only returned volunteer, so some of my stories from bangladesh have really freaked the group out. they kind of see me as a leader, which i think is even funnier. i guess i will figure out how that works soon enough.
we had machete training yesterday which was also funny because i think that it was the first time that some of them had raised a hand in hard labor. i had to impart some of my surveying machete skills apon some of them, i think that they think that people from arkansas are crazy. but that doesnt bother me, i am the first arkansan that many of them have met so i am trying to make a impression that is impossible for the rest of you to live up to.
so my job looks like it is going to be really interesting, we hike through the mountians and jungles looking for good sources of water and then figure out what it is going to take to get it to the village. it is right up my alley, although many of the other trainees have a much more technical background than myself i.e. engineering, all that goes out the window when the first mosquito lands on your arm. as it tuns out my surveying experience is all that i am going to need, which was how to rough it out in the woods all day.

so anyways i have some pictures that i am going to try and post later today if i still have a chance. i hope everyone is well and that this adventure will be as intriguing as the last. do keep in touch through email if possible, if not oh well. take care.
el diablo blanco