Things I miss about the US

washer/dryer

Blanquita

Revelation. I am white. No shit. Men of Chitré have made that very clear. No, they don't call me "blanquita." They call me "mi amor" and tell me, "I love you" when I walk past. It's like when you go running, and you pass a house with a dog in the fenced in back yard. It's fenced for a reason--the dog has this natural tendency to chase and bark at things/people that pass. That's what it’s like when I walk past a restaurant or some group of men here. I get hisses, whistles, mi amors, que bonitas, and I love yous. Once in a while a "vamos a mi casa." It’s not because I'm anything to look at, other than white. I have worn make up three times in the three weeks I've been here. I wear my hair back in a ponytail and a headband holds my hair off my enormous forehead. I took a picture one day when I passed a particularly obnoxious group of what I was wearing, but for some reason my computer is rejecting my camera today. Description, though, is cargo-esque green shorts to my knees, a beater tank top, my satchel bag, sandals, sunglasses, and the aforementioned hair-do. No makeup. Hot and smelly. Everything any man ever dreams of. Today I am working in the NIDA office. There is a restaurant across the street. Having eaten something fishy (or something) last night, I needed to get food to replenish around lunch, and decided to walk to the store. It may have been my hunger, the fact that I don't feel the greatest today, the heat, that it was truly more obnoxious than usual, or any combination of these, but when the dogs barked, I took the liberty of lifting that pretty little finger of mine. (I have seen Amanda do the same, and given the time of day I didn't feel it was too risky.) Public Service? Well, I think it would be one if someone could tone down the machismo half a notch.

Torrential Downpour

I am in Panama during the rainy season, but this year was an el nino year, I'm told, so my first couple of days here were spent in grueling, unforgiving heat.

Since about day three, there has been rain nearly everyday. It lasts about twenty minutes, and pours from the sky. I love it. The temperature drops like 5 degrees afterward. And on really lucky nights, like last night, the rain falls for an extended period of time. It is cooler outside today than it is in the house (okay, thats an everyday thing, too, since there is no A/C and houses tend to heat with the day, but the difference is quite dramatic today). Anyway, as I write this it is pouring outside and there is no more beautiful sound to me this summer.

Also! Yesterday went back to the bar and met with the girls. It was an amazing experience. It started slow, and they weren't terribly receptive at first, but there were only like two missing for a voluntary session, and about a half hour in they were asking plenty of questions and engaging in the conversation. I learned some crazy things that some people do, and there is a reason for this work. I worried they wouldn't care or were already well versed, but there is plenty to do and they were interested in meeting again. Next Tuesday I have only a half hour but am excited, knowing now 1. that they are receptive, and 2. some specific issues they may want to know more about.

I am now awaiting the opening of a hamburger joint next to the office. (yay!!) I will compensate by visiting the gym that opened yesterday for a little martial arts with Amanda. (fingers crossed)

I almost fainted at the vet today. This would have been a better post if I had, but instead I sat down and waited for it to pass. Sorry guys.

HEY JUDE!

Dear Judy Watts,

I present to you my latest work:



This was obviously done with a good amount of wine (it would be blasphemous if my Cab were not invited to the party), and remembering how great our music selections can be with art, thought it absolutely necessary to post this along with my creation:



Hope you enjoy!!!

LA PLAYA! And More...

Time for an update? Yes.

I went to the beach today! And it was gorgeous!!! I have super intense sunscreen (come one, do people even buy SPF 85 for their kids?), which does you no good when you completely miss a spot. So, my arms, face, and chest are completely fine. My back is fried. Gotta be smarter than the sunscreen can.



And just so we’re clear that I’m still me, I went off on a couple of dudes today. I know some people dig it, but seriously, I do not appreciate a guy fawning/pinching my stomach/pawing all over me. No. Not so much my thing. So, today Debbie entered bitch mode. Dudes (plural—yes, brothers) were having so much fun with this game! They took engagement photos for Amanda and Franklin, for free, which was very sweet. However, I was sandwiched in the back seat with them for two hours each way. Fortunately, none of the absurdity started until we were at the beach. Also, dudes speak English. Not that well, as when I used the word “jerk” I received a baffled, “What is jerk?” However, this is just to say that Panamanian Debbie still has spunk.

Also, loooooving speaking Spanish with the Mama of the house! She doesn’t speak any English, but I try to tell her stories about my life sometimes, and fiddle through the words I know to try to get my point across. She’s so sweet and even if I don’t make sense, she acts like she understands.

Also also, went on George W. Bush rant the other night. In Spanish. Used my outside voice inside and the word “estupido” a lot.

Ok, and I suppose it’s important to mention that I did get to have my first visit with the sex workers the other day. I will be going back for a discussion session (using my lovely STD book—see: Accomplishment) on Tuesday. I don’t know how much I want to say about that. I mean, I know this is my work while I’m in Panama, but I didn’t know what to expect when I went there, but what I saw was nothing like what I could have imagined. I’ll take questions, but refrain from further discussion.

Me encanta Panama.

SO MUCH SPANISH!

I miss my English-speaking Canadian friend!

Dear Judy, I have a picture for you. I brought my paints, brushes, pencils, and paper to Panama, and painted postcards with wine the other day. Bueno.



Amanda and Leah went on a little resort vacay, and in the meantime, I went to a conference put on by the Alliance of Panamanian Women. I tried sooooo hard to get everything they were saying the first day. I did alright (except when people talked at me specifically—not sure if it’s a dialect thing or a speed thing or an I don’t speak Spanish thing—I think it’s a speed thing, so I now feel pretty bad about speaking quickly in class when people tell me the international students have no idea what I’m saying…karma). Anyway, it was an interesting experience to see what issues Panamanian women see as pertinent and what they want to do about them. However, by day two, when they were sharing ideas I had kind of checked out of the Spanish and decided to daydream and concentrate more on how to make my headache go away.



We got a sticker in our packet at the beginning that is super sweet!



My body, my territory.

Chico feministo.



At the end of the first day, I kid you not, they got out nail polish and did everyone’s nails.



Big deal here? We also got a little pouch for attending filled with a mirror (that every Panamanian, I swear, got out and started fixing their face with before the conference started), a nail file, a pen, and a wash cloth. Hilarious.

But seriously, I could not have been more happy to be in Chitre afterward. That was a long couple of days. Now to return to my specific project.

Accomplishment

Yesterday I compiled a bunch of pictures of STI secretions, and wrote notes about them to compile into a booklet. (Be impressed. I did it all in Spanish. I know. Amazing.) The booklet is for identification purposes to use at the different brothels, as a way to engage the sex workers in the conversation about what different STIs look like. It should be a starting point to finding out what kind of interests they have in talking about further…expanding into more sexual health and beyond the time they will spend in the sex industry.

I went to a copy shop today to make the copies. We printed them, contact papered them, and bound them all at the shop (during the sporadic torrential downpours).



There are some GREAT pictures in there, let me tell you!



Oh, and just so you are all jealous of my IPSP, we did this a tad hung over. The aforementioned Swedish girl and her novio are moving to Sweden and had a going away party last night, where I practiced mucho español. Toda la noche! Creo que mi español es mas mejor después de algunas cervezas.



Oh, one more thing. Amanda rescued a dog. He needs a home. There is a possibility I will bring him to the states.



Can’t leave out the other dog. Amanda’s dog, Barack (after the profit, so I don’t know if that’s spelled correctly):