The last two weeks helped to expand our horizons on what we might be experiencing when we finally get to our site. Isaac and I spent a week at a volunteers´s site in the western part of the Panama province, eating well, hiking a lot, working a little, and generally having a great time with the group of 8 other volunteers that will reside in our province of Cocle (next to the Panama province). We learned about the months long work gone into weaving one of the tipical Panamanian hats. We planted yuca, which I learned is tapioca (or casava or manioc- I had a conversation recently-at least 7 weeks ago- with someone in the states about where tapioca came from). We had the freshest coffee I have ever had- grown processed and roasted at the house where we were staying. We swam, watched leaf cutter ants on their great journey and did a little environmental ed in the local school. A really great week!

Here are some photos from ¨culture¨ week and ¨tech¨ week.