I'ma hop on you like a spider monkey!

Tell me that is not adorable and I will reconsider our relationship, friend or family - no exceptions on this one folks!
The love of my life, Kika. This little spider monkey loved me as much as I loved her!
Another view of the village coming from the river.

Getting off the boat we took to get to the village.
Volunteers around Panama.
Two of my amazing roommates, Ayla and Valeria. Ayla is from Southern Louisiana and in the Enviro Conservation program, Valeria is from Miami and in the Agriculture program.
Two other amazing roommates Becca and Katie! Becca is in the Enviro Conservation program, Katie (my roommate in D.C. also!) is from Illinios and in the Tourism program with me.
Two other amazing roommates Natalie and Gretchen, oh that's right you guys know me... Natalie is from Oregon and in the Tourism program as well.
Our group of 47 making our way to Immigration.


Today was probably one of the best days I have had in quite a long time. We had a site visit with a current volunteer working in an indigenous community. He lives in a beautiful village an hour outside of Panama City, Empera Quera. The people are wonderful, the food was good and the sun was shining. People were laying in hammocks on their open decks (houses) and kids were playing futbol. He has a cat and I am going to get one as well. Most volunteers have either a cat or dog, I don't want to have to worry when I travel so I believe a cat is my best option...we shall see.
The art work the village makes to sell is gorgeous. It was really nice for my sector to be able to get out and bond like that. The people in my entire program are awesome.
I got to play with a spider monkey for about 3 hours. She loved me and I fell in love with her. You can buy them for under $20 because they are normally either eaten or sold on the black market. I really want to see where I end up getting placed....if I am able to I want to get one. I felt like a child again, so alive. One of the young guys in the village came up to me as I was leaving and told me to take his gift (a mango) because I am beautiful. It was really cute and my group got a good laugh out of it.
Tonight dinner was great, so much energy in the group as we all came together after our separate days. Each sector loved their excursion and loves their assignment! Such an awesome feeling. Tomorrow we are going to head to our training site and it will be awhile until I can write again. I am very excited to get to live in a Latino community so I have something to compare the indigenous community with...
We get to travel a lot during training, so different from Georgia. We get a 3 days to go to a current volunteer's site on our own in May, a technical week where we live in a volunteer's village and a cultural week where we live in yet another volunteer's village! Awesome. The other two sectors, just an FYI, are Agricultural Sustainability and Environmental Conservation. I am thoroughly looking forward to doing cross sector work to better promote Eco Tourism. Every volunteer we have met so far absolutely loves it here. They all love their villages and their jobs, most of the time. haha. Let's be honest a job is still a job on some days! :)
I am praying my spanish gets better FAST. haha. I will try my best to find internet a couple times during training but I make no guarantees!
I love and miss you all.