SAN JOSE Visiting Max aka ¨One more turn¨

I hope you all enjoy the pictures from this weekend and from last week.

A little recap of last week:
Sunday we went to the waterfall in Santa Clara....it was awesome. I sat under the waterfall for a good 30minutes...it was the best showerlike experience i´ve had since my arrival in Santa Clara. In the afternoon it poured so a couple of us played Bingo. OHH and how can i forget. Panama elected their president on Sunday...Martinelli won--I didn´t leave the house cause ppl were kinda crazy celebrating...nothing like the way we celebrate in gainesville for national championships but in their own way...shooting guns in the air...honking their horns...fireworks...that kinda stuff.

MOnday we got to work with our Machetes. I dug out a ditch with a pick ax, and cleard the side of a mountain with my machete.
TUesday I didn´t even celebrate 5 de Mayo! so sad but at night we went to Arreijan. We were gonna use the internet but just ended up eating dinner. One ppl in the group broke a glass table that they tried to make us pay for but we didn´t.
Wednesday we made a semillero and got out chickens!!! we vaccinated all the chickens and set up their home! In the afternoon I did my nails and eyebrows and packed for my trip!

My trip to Visit MAX:

THursday I left Santa Clara by myself to come visit Max. All I had was a hand drawn map, some directions, and a phone number (which he never answered). I started my jounrey at 6am leaving santa clara and heading to the bus terminal in Panama (which cost $0.70 ). THen I got on the bus to Santiago which was an airconditioned greyhound showing a movie! I did that trip with Stacey one of the girls who was going to Santa fe...one town beyond san jose (my destination). Once we got to santiago we got on a little bus heading to santa fe. With my huge backpack on my lap, i could barely see out the window. OUt of the corner of my eye i could see mountainas and pastures with horses and cattle and chicken breeding farms. It was beautiful. I was so excited I couldn´t wait to arrive but I HAD NO IDEA WHAT AWAITED ME!!

When i got off at the stop: Escula San Jose, I looked around and had no idea where to go. I looked for Max but i didn´t have any description of what he looked like so it made it a little hard. I remembered that his map had a building that said CO-OP. So i asked a little kid that walked by where it was, he just pointed with his mouth in the direction that i started walking. when i got there i saw a white lady in the distance so i walked up to her. To my surprise, MAX was talking to her!!
He said hello and asked me if i was ready to walk...in my head i said, how hard can it me right....

WRONG!

1pm the sun was beeming down. In the distance I could see rain clouds and some mountains. Max nonchalontly pointed to the furtherest mountain and said...that is where we are going...and so the walk began....

Almost 2 hours later and a couple pounds lighter we arrived at Max´s house. It had an incredible view...but i was just happy to drink water...lol. The rest of the afternoon we played cards with the kids that live nearby, played with his rabbits, sat on the hammock, ate dinner, and went to sleep (max gave me his bed and bug net and he slept on the hammock outside....I still got eaten up by bugs...can u imagine if i had slept outside!!!)

Friday we went to ¨pasear¨ , see one of his fish tank projects, visit a couple families, and down to the river. At the river i snorkeled and swam and we slid down some rapids. the raft we used looked like something directly out of a huckleberry finn story...a couple tubes tided together with a super long stick to push forward. In the aternoon we ate lunch back at his house and played with the kids and chilled. Saturday we ate breakfast and set out on an hour hike up the hill to a neighbors house to see another fish tank we made it back by 1, had lunch and talked all afternoon about how to set up (step by step) each of the projects i want to set up at my site. I got really excited I even drew a map ( a couple actually) of how i want the set up to be. I want to have: a clay oven, a chicken project, rabbit project, fish project, a Garden, a Horse, and a Cat! I will explain it all later i´m sure. Right now i need to get to work on the research behind each thing.

This morning we got up at 5am. I bucket showered, ate a hard boiled egg and started the treck back to san Jose...

It is actually uphill both ways!!

by 7am we were in San Jose where i immediatly went to the tienda to get a cold drink. We ran to the bus stop to catch the bus going to Santiago. 1 hour later we arrived here. Since we got to santiago I´ve been at this internet place trying to uploaad my pictures and respond to email and catch up on stuff. I am starving cause that hard boiled egg has already disappeard so I can´t wait to get lunch! (you all know how i get when im hungry...lol....HULKY)

But i must say that Max was a great Host. I learned so much from the REAL peace corps life. I think I am ready to go to my site tomorrow with what i have learned in the last couple days. Max has only had one visitor, his fiancee.

I hope i have more visitors at my site!!!

From here im heading back to the Terminal in Panama and then to Santa Clara. I´ll probably be there tonight before 9pm.

I miss you all! I hope that you all give your moms a huge hug for mother´s day.

Mommy I love you!!