A long way from home

Hello readers,

I apologize that I have been lacking good blogs to keep you all up to date on what I am doing here in Panama.  The truth is that its hard for me to blog at the local infoplaza, where internet is free in my town due to the fact that all the kids in town need to use the resources for their homework and very few people have home computers so facebook users (almost everyone) need it to keep the world updated on who they are dating and what they had for breakfast. 
However, all you loyal folks who care about what I am doing will be glad to know that Asella and Maggie came down here 10 days ago and brought with them my computer.  For $22 a month I can have internet, so I have made the decision to indulge and buy it in an effort to keep in better contact, work from home on Peace Corps stuff as well as use it as a tool to teach computer technology to certain people in my town who are interested and who I trust.  Thus, I will try and keep up to date with a weekly blog.

Well, what have I been doing for the last 5 weeks that you haven't heard of me?  My birthday came and went, I spent almost two weeks in a Peace Corps in-service training learning how to graft trees, for example mix an orange tree with a grapefruit, or combine a strong mango tree roots and trunk with one that has the best fruit, gaining the best of both worlds.  Of course more was to be learned on organic farming, and the most exciting part for me......   Naturally made tower stoves called bliss burners, or in Panama, fagones feliz!
This will be my first community project at a large scale.  Most families, especially the poor ones, cook on outdoor fires made in between 3 rocks.  These fires produce a huge amount of smoke and use a lot of wood.  Asthma and lung problems that the smoke cause to humans and the environmental problems alone are good cause enough, but the people really dig that less wood, more economical part as well.  I plan to build these with the families in an effort to improve the health of both the people and the outdoors.  All you need:  clay, horse poop, ash, molases, and a little hay! 


 Its easy its cheap and hopefully can be a sustainable project for the community members.

me and the cutest baby cow!

The kiddies wanted to help make the bricks for the eco stove

Other than that, life is good, I just spent the last 10 days hanging out with Maggie and Asella on a mini much needed vacation.  We spent a few days in the big city, then headed to the coffee farms of Boquete, they learned how to tipico dance, and last but by far not least we spend 5 days on the Bocas Del Torro Archipeligo chilling on the beach and exploring the different islands.  Before that got to spend a weekend with this handsome guy (pictured to the left) at the beach, so now its time to head back to site, face reality, and get back to work!  I am excited and ready though, its been too long living out of a backpack. 

Thanks for reading and hopefully all works out with my internet and the updates continue.  If you have skype and would like to chat, look me up I am the only Sina Szabados in the world.

xoxo!