Thursday, April 30, 2015

Life is Small Time

1)  Post-COS Plans --  my plans after I COS in a few months:  traveling, naturally, and looking forward to seeing some of my fellow agros from Cameroon:


2)  Stop Harming the Community -- a fellow volunteer sent me this list of 25 Tips for PCVs.  Its actually a few years old, but still a good list of suggestions on how best to do development work.  One more tip that could be added to the list:  "Just stop paying for things,"  courtesy of Jeff, RPCV Cameroon.

3)  Feliz Cumpleaños, Extraño -- someone was having a late night birthday party in Colombia and while it was a little annoying because I was trying to sleep, their rendition of Happy Birthday was nonetheless quite catchy. 


4)  Una Misión a la Montaña

 
offroading to a few schools in the mountains


5)  Channelling Greg LeMond -- fellow PCRV William and I biked for 3 straight days when he visited my post. 

 
Getting chased by a dog in the process

A bit scary biking these roads since they're often winding and there aren't exactly any bike lanes. 

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Heading North to Go to South America

Highlights of my trip to Cartagena, Colombia:

1)  Sightseeing

Castillo de San Felipe


2)  A Tale of Two Hostals -- stayed at two hostals in Cartagena.  The first hostal was more popular and kind of a party hostal.  The second hostal was cheaper and, well, kind of run-down, but more relaxing and the people were friendlier. 

3)  The Starbucks of Colombia

Juan Valdez Cafe

4)  Watching Chess in the Park


5)  Watching dolphins from the ferry...
Took the ferry from Panama to Colombia and caught sight of dolphins

A great trip.  Wish I could go back and travel to other parts of Colombia, including Bogota, Cali and Barranquilla, the birthplace of Shakira.  Viva Colombia!

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

La Resurrección …

...of my blog, in honor of Holy Week.

1)  Boquete De Nuevo -- My sister was kind enough to visit me recently.  Aside from Panama City and visiting my post, we also did a hike in Boquete:

The Three Waterfalls hike in Boquete

2)  In Work-Related News …

 
PCV Kelsey and I helping out our counterparts with a reforestation project.  
Where the biodegradable polypots at?

 
What's being planted - guayacan, cedro amargo, cocobolo

Teaching Kelsey's youth group how to make a cellphone case from potato chip bags

3)   Remember those Silly Superlatives? -- I don't remember who got 'Most Likely to Become Director of Programming and Training' back in training or COS Conference, but there's an opening

4)  99 Little Victories -- Found a supermarket in Santiago that sells bulk items and that also doesn't require me to accept their supposedly biodegradable plastic bag.  *cough* Schmachetazo! 

5)  I Think That Was an Earthquake, Therefore it Happened --  according to a report from NPR, student-athletes at the Univ. of North Carolina were steered to take so-called 'bogus' classes like geology and philosophy in order to be eligible to play.  What?!  Those are hard classes!  I'm now on the side of the athletes on this discussion.