Tiny, fluffy, beautiful mewling balls of love, they are.
I had a really great Thanksgiving; Wednesday Kate and I went to Leonardo's, the Italian/pizza place, and had very good food, and a sad attempt at an apple pie. The next day was my school's Thanksgiving dinner, so Maru and I went, in semi formal dress (do you even KNOW how much I hate heels?), and I chillaxed with my homies, as it were, for a very nice evening. The turkey was good too.
Last night I went to a nighttime parade/fireworks display (antorcha), with Carlos. We met up with a bunch of others and spent more than three hours running about the dark, people-filled streets of Chorrera, watching the marching bands play and the various students marching with beautiful, candlelit torches. It was definitely my favorite parade that I've been to so far, and the fireworks were actually pretty enough to nearly justify the horrific noise. Also, I played Super Smash Brothers, which has been the only homesick point for me lately. Yes, you can laugh.
Today I am going to meet with Candice, my AFS friend who is living in Colón, to hang out around Chorrera. I will do my duty as a proud Chorreran and make sure that she tries both chicheme and bollo, unique to my city.
Love!
Laurel
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Copied from my journal... tengo pereza.
The heat tongiht is dense, at once dead weight and live animal, not quite mass over volume but just the same exerting some strange force that pushes my molecules closer together. It is la Mes de la Patria now, and while I, the anti-reptile, am warmed into lethargy, the sharp booms and bangs of drums and fireworks sound out endless parades. My classmates were right when they told me that Panameños are a party people.
My host mom knocks on my door, and sees me sprawled American on the bed; one earbud jammed in awkwardly as the other hangs loose, iPod in hand, solitaire on screen. "Ya vamos," she says, immediately exiting as if to underline the urgency in "ya." There is no need to state the obvious- of course we are going to see the parade. I do not bother to change from my pink snoopy flip-flops- in house wear only, por favor- to something more suitable for going out. I am too enveloped in a sleepiness that in most of the world would belong past 1 am, not 7:30 on a beautiful winter evening (those latitudes have never been this warm).
Once in the car, Maru, the host mother, presses radio buttons at random until she´s selected one that chooses a station she likes. Raw, rich lovesongs tumble forlornly from the speakers, the heartache lacquered brightly in mellow pop tonality and trite lyricisms. She rolls down her window, and we are on the one way road, hot wind in our faces, only billboards in sight.
When we´ve turned onto the main drag, the exhiliration and freedom of a rural drive, facade though it may be, is abruptly dispelled by the gaudiness of neon fast food signs, here the token golden arches, there a giant spinning cup of popcorn chicken emblazoned KFC with kindergarten name tag boldness. Judging by our turn signal and Maru´s greedily pointed eyes, MacDonald´s is our pre-parade stop. Every once in awhile we make this our custom, with one specific purpose, to eat ice cream. The thought of calorie laden, cold deliciousness spreads through my sweat-drenched body like an elixir. "Un cono, muchas gracias," is my anxious, grateful, overheated reply to the What do you want? that I have been waiting for.
As the car crawls slowly toward the drive through window, progress slowed by the SUV in front of us ("Mira Laura, cuatro por cuatro!"), Maru asks "No quieres un sundae?" and in politeness I respond no- she is paying so I must not burden her. My eyes, however, betray me, lingering a moment too long on the perfect specimen pictured on the lit up menu, drenched just so in caramel sauce, the soft serve ice cream forming a cute little point.
When the server takes our order, Maruquel decides on two sundaes, one caramel, on strawberry. The wait for the orders to be completed is agonizing, silent. Maru and I look at each other with twin expressions of hunger and impatience, and as each moment brings me closer to a spoonful of bliss, another bad love son blasts from the station on the radio, the singer´s voice letting me know that he loves me, that I am home.
My host mom knocks on my door, and sees me sprawled American on the bed; one earbud jammed in awkwardly as the other hangs loose, iPod in hand, solitaire on screen. "Ya vamos," she says, immediately exiting as if to underline the urgency in "ya." There is no need to state the obvious- of course we are going to see the parade. I do not bother to change from my pink snoopy flip-flops- in house wear only, por favor- to something more suitable for going out. I am too enveloped in a sleepiness that in most of the world would belong past 1 am, not 7:30 on a beautiful winter evening (those latitudes have never been this warm).
Once in the car, Maru, the host mother, presses radio buttons at random until she´s selected one that chooses a station she likes. Raw, rich lovesongs tumble forlornly from the speakers, the heartache lacquered brightly in mellow pop tonality and trite lyricisms. She rolls down her window, and we are on the one way road, hot wind in our faces, only billboards in sight.
When we´ve turned onto the main drag, the exhiliration and freedom of a rural drive, facade though it may be, is abruptly dispelled by the gaudiness of neon fast food signs, here the token golden arches, there a giant spinning cup of popcorn chicken emblazoned KFC with kindergarten name tag boldness. Judging by our turn signal and Maru´s greedily pointed eyes, MacDonald´s is our pre-parade stop. Every once in awhile we make this our custom, with one specific purpose, to eat ice cream. The thought of calorie laden, cold deliciousness spreads through my sweat-drenched body like an elixir. "Un cono, muchas gracias," is my anxious, grateful, overheated reply to the What do you want? that I have been waiting for.
As the car crawls slowly toward the drive through window, progress slowed by the SUV in front of us ("Mira Laura, cuatro por cuatro!"), Maru asks "No quieres un sundae?" and in politeness I respond no- she is paying so I must not burden her. My eyes, however, betray me, lingering a moment too long on the perfect specimen pictured on the lit up menu, drenched just so in caramel sauce, the soft serve ice cream forming a cute little point.
When the server takes our order, Maruquel decides on two sundaes, one caramel, on strawberry. The wait for the orders to be completed is agonizing, silent. Maru and I look at each other with twin expressions of hunger and impatience, and as each moment brings me closer to a spoonful of bliss, another bad love son blasts from the station on the radio, the singer´s voice letting me know that he loves me, that I am home.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
No dormimos en Panamá (pero no me importa!)
Things are incredibly awesome here; it´s hard to take the time out to write entires like this. Last Monday Aleida (who has come to be my best friend here) and I baked cookies at my house for an English presentation. The first time around, we added a rotten egg, and it stunk so badly... all of us, adults included, were laughing so hard. We went back to the supermarket and returned the eggs for full refund and bought new ones. At least the cookies were great.
Thursday Kate and I ate Chinese food at the local restaurant, and it was pretty good, although I have to say I am a little disappointed by the thickness of the chow fun noodles here, and the lack of vegetables. Yes Mom, now I want my chicken chow fun with vegetables- novel concept!
Friday Aleida and I perused the department stores in Chorrera trying to find her something to wear for Gina´s impending quince años. We were not successful, but we ate slurpies and laughed hysterically and all was well.
Saturday during the day I went for a tour of Panamá with the other AFSers in Chorrera. It was really fun and I quite enjoyed connecting with the other exchange students in my town. Almost all of them speak German and I am learning to like that language. Now if only I could speak it...
That night I went to Gina´s quince años, which was an enormous party and the most fun I´ve had in a long time. I was out until 3 am, totally safely and soberly, dancing salsa and bachata and hanging with my school friends. Also, if you are trying to dance "modern," it is easier to do so to reggaeton than to techno. Can´t do anything with techno other than beatbox and spin some glowsticks.
Today I woke up at 7 (ouch!) for a big AFS meeting with everyone from Chorrera, Panamá, Colón, Chepo, and Arraiján. It mostly consisted of chilling by the poolside and looking at monkeys, as well as talking to AFS volunteers about how we were faring with our families. I made a new friend, an American in Colón, and had a good time talking about Dragonriders of Pern fandom...
Anywho. Hasta luego!
Thursday Kate and I ate Chinese food at the local restaurant, and it was pretty good, although I have to say I am a little disappointed by the thickness of the chow fun noodles here, and the lack of vegetables. Yes Mom, now I want my chicken chow fun with vegetables- novel concept!
Friday Aleida and I perused the department stores in Chorrera trying to find her something to wear for Gina´s impending quince años. We were not successful, but we ate slurpies and laughed hysterically and all was well.
Saturday during the day I went for a tour of Panamá with the other AFSers in Chorrera. It was really fun and I quite enjoyed connecting with the other exchange students in my town. Almost all of them speak German and I am learning to like that language. Now if only I could speak it...
That night I went to Gina´s quince años, which was an enormous party and the most fun I´ve had in a long time. I was out until 3 am, totally safely and soberly, dancing salsa and bachata and hanging with my school friends. Also, if you are trying to dance "modern," it is easier to do so to reggaeton than to techno. Can´t do anything with techno other than beatbox and spin some glowsticks.
Today I woke up at 7 (ouch!) for a big AFS meeting with everyone from Chorrera, Panamá, Colón, Chepo, and Arraiján. It mostly consisted of chilling by the poolside and looking at monkeys, as well as talking to AFS volunteers about how we were faring with our families. I made a new friend, an American in Colón, and had a good time talking about Dragonriders of Pern fandom...
Anywho. Hasta luego!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
My... armpits hurt, my feet stink, and I don't love Jesus
I'd like to thank Jimmy Buffett, sort of, for the title of this post, as well as say that I'm actually doing quite fine here. :)
I'm at this exact moment a little worried because tomorrow we're to pray the rosary for an hour and I have neither rosary nor willingness to pray by one. Maru's out of town, and I don't want to ask my grandma. I wouldn't be concerned at all about respectfully sitting it out but I'm afraid that the principal (for an example of her nature, I used her to illustrate the meaning of the phrase "she has a stick up her ass.") will reprimand me, which will lead to the inevitable and honest "I'm not Catholic and I respect the religion too much to pretend to be," which hopefully leads to nothing bad.
Today in PE we got an awesome and gnarly-intense two hour workout. If I did that every day I would be ripped.
On Saturday night I went to the birthday party of my friend Borbua. Everyone was there, the cake was great (of course), and I had a blast, even plus headache and sleepiness (I apparently wasn't the only one... the blasting tipico probably had a lot to do with it). Unfortunately, at 11pm, when the dancing was just starting up, I had to leave, but that's not too horrible because it was mostly bachata anyways and I can't dance that.
Sunday I went to Mireybis' house with Aleida and Rafael and we worked on a display for Science Week, which turned out ridiculously elaborate and required sanding a ton of styrofoam.
Friday we only have two hours of real school because there's another schoolwide beauty pageant, fruit-themed, and we all get to run around the gym and eat free food made from each candidate's respective fruit. Hey, I can ignore the antifeminist implications long enough to stuff myself (I kid, I kid, it does kind of disgust me...).
...and uh, my armpits really do hurt.
I'm at this exact moment a little worried because tomorrow we're to pray the rosary for an hour and I have neither rosary nor willingness to pray by one. Maru's out of town, and I don't want to ask my grandma. I wouldn't be concerned at all about respectfully sitting it out but I'm afraid that the principal (for an example of her nature, I used her to illustrate the meaning of the phrase "she has a stick up her ass.") will reprimand me, which will lead to the inevitable and honest "I'm not Catholic and I respect the religion too much to pretend to be," which hopefully leads to nothing bad.
Today in PE we got an awesome and gnarly-intense two hour workout. If I did that every day I would be ripped.
On Saturday night I went to the birthday party of my friend Borbua. Everyone was there, the cake was great (of course), and I had a blast, even plus headache and sleepiness (I apparently wasn't the only one... the blasting tipico probably had a lot to do with it). Unfortunately, at 11pm, when the dancing was just starting up, I had to leave, but that's not too horrible because it was mostly bachata anyways and I can't dance that.
Sunday I went to Mireybis' house with Aleida and Rafael and we worked on a display for Science Week, which turned out ridiculously elaborate and required sanding a ton of styrofoam.
Friday we only have two hours of real school because there's another schoolwide beauty pageant, fruit-themed, and we all get to run around the gym and eat free food made from each candidate's respective fruit. Hey, I can ignore the antifeminist implications long enough to stuff myself (I kid, I kid, it does kind of disgust me...).
...and uh, my armpits really do hurt.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Welcome to the new bimestre
So things are pretty good here; exams are over, finally, and I now understand how I'm supposed to organize my schoolwork in order to get full credit (how nice). My new haircut is very indie boy, and this pleases me. I feel like I'm rebelling without having to do anything sketchy and I don't get in trouble, which is a-okay with me.
On Sunday I went to my aunt's house in Panama City for her birthday party while Maruquel was at a Christian retreat. It was really fun and I kept getting invited to drink with the men. I didn't, but I was still entertained. I ate the most delicious ceviche ever there, not to mention some highly decent cake. All the birthday cakes here seem to be really, really good, and I don't know why but I am a fan.
I'm currently working on a watercolor painting for Sebastian (my awesome friend), because his 17th birthday is tomorrow. I was supposed to go to Panama with him on Saturday but it didn't work out because my family thought he would take advantage of me, which is actually hilarious if you've ever seen this guy... But that's okay, I'm sure I'll get a chance to go at some point.
Weeeell, hope all is well in your various locations.
Love,
Laurel
On Sunday I went to my aunt's house in Panama City for her birthday party while Maruquel was at a Christian retreat. It was really fun and I kept getting invited to drink with the men. I didn't, but I was still entertained. I ate the most delicious ceviche ever there, not to mention some highly decent cake. All the birthday cakes here seem to be really, really good, and I don't know why but I am a fan.
I'm currently working on a watercolor painting for Sebastian (my awesome friend), because his 17th birthday is tomorrow. I was supposed to go to Panama with him on Saturday but it didn't work out because my family thought he would take advantage of me, which is actually hilarious if you've ever seen this guy... But that's okay, I'm sure I'll get a chance to go at some point.
Weeeell, hope all is well in your various locations.
Love,
Laurel
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Exams are fun! (not.)
Here I am, in my favorite internet café (I´ve been through a lot with them, namely power outages), not writing my impossibly intense history investigation, like I really should be. This week, along with the Thursday and Friday of last week, have been entirely exams, which is nice in the sense of getting out of school at 10:30 am but not so nice in the sense of being forced by the principal to complete tests in subject material I haven´t learned (the 16 or so types of conscience) or have completely forgotten (organelles... yeah Heather, shoot me) in a language that I am just starting to get a handle on in a conversational sense (technical vocabulary? forget it!). I did get a 5.0 (perfect) in Informatica Aplicada, aka write out equations in the right format for Excel class, but that didn´t surprise me. Today was the only day where the exams really made me want to shout expletives, for entirely different reasons. Half of the Ethics and Morals final was about the innate differences between man and women and why they should be paired in marriage at all times.... Well, you can see how much I liked that.
Things have been mostly good. I am cutting my hair tomorrow at a really good (and not bank breaking) salon tomorrow with my friend Roxana, if all goes well. I tried the most amazing drink on earth, chicheme, and all I want is more. Also, at my uncle´s birthday party I got to try a bunch of traditional panamanian food that nobody makes in my house, which was both very tasty and a refreshing change.
Maru is still a little ridiculous, but I´ve been learning more about my host grandma and she is fascinating... she has been through so much crap and continues to go through it, and she has the best attitude she could have while still accepting the bitter facts.
Love,
Laurel
Things have been mostly good. I am cutting my hair tomorrow at a really good (and not bank breaking) salon tomorrow with my friend Roxana, if all goes well. I tried the most amazing drink on earth, chicheme, and all I want is more. Also, at my uncle´s birthday party I got to try a bunch of traditional panamanian food that nobody makes in my house, which was both very tasty and a refreshing change.
Maru is still a little ridiculous, but I´ve been learning more about my host grandma and she is fascinating... she has been through so much crap and continues to go through it, and she has the best attitude she could have while still accepting the bitter facts.
Love,
Laurel
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