"You wanna go to Bocas mon?"*

* This is the question that guys in Almirante chant at you as you pull in on the bus as they try to make some cash by taking the English speaking tourists to Bocas island.
So, by the way, I got my assignment and as of July 4, will be living in the Bocas Del Toro region in a Ngabe indigenous site. Woohoo! I took a trip last week to visit the area and it´s basically gorgeous. Although from looking at a map it appears I am close to the beach, I am actually a 20 min hike, 30 min bus ride, 1 hr boat ride, and 15 min walk from an actual beach. But my site has a cool river running through it.

Training has been intense. My last two weeks I traveled to the provinces of Cocle and Bocas del Toro for technical and culture training. Now I´m back in my training community with just 3 weeks left til I swear in and am officially a Peace Corps volunteer. It´s crazy thinking of how fast this has all happened.

My next big challenge is my Ngabere classes (which is REDICULOUSLY hard) and getting myself mentally prepared to do my site visit next week in which I spend about 5 days in my site getting to meet the people and look into what I will likely be doing for the next two years. My primary jobs will likely be working with the elementary school finding ways to implement the mandated environmental eductation topics in classes, working with the local environmental group, and possibly doing some solid waste/latrine projects. I´m stoked and freaked at the same time.

I´m excited to be almost past the brutal training period but sad I´ll be leaving my gringo buddies and nervous to be kissing the English language goodbye for a while. Should be a challenge but I´m still up for it :)

Sorry this one´s so short but I have a half hour of internet left and lots of important Peace Corps business to do (totally a lie, I´ll probably just go to facebook). But I definately miss all of my friends and family and think about everyone all the time. Thank you for all your kind messages and if you do so feel like talking with me here is my new Panamanian cell number: 50760898524

Hugs and kisses! Jatuaita mare!