So much...

It´s been way too long without writing and now I have so much to write. So if I forget to write about anything, just comment on this and I´ll try and make an effort to reply or something. :)

Okay, school first. I go to a school called Instituto Adventista Panameño, which is the private school in Bugaba, where I live. It´s religious (Adventist), which I actually don´t really know anything about.. But I´m working on that. Besides waking up at five in the morning to get the bus, it´s really fun. It¨s hard not understanding so much because everyone is talking so fast, but it´s becoming easier. I have to wear a uniform, which some of you may have seen... I don´t like it but no one does so it´s ok. What else... Since it is religious, we have to sing songs in every class about God of course, which isn´t my sort of thing, but it´s actually kind of fun, and we also have to pray at the beginning of every class as well... Which is very odd for me.. School gets out pretty early, which is nice because we still have a long day to hangout, go to the pool, rest, eat at Pio Pio (a fast food restaurant which is only chicken.. It´s awesome) and do other random things. I think that´s it for school....

Next, Panamá City! SO fun, it was a blast, besides fitting four poeple in one room for a weekend.. Everything is super similar to Miami, except they just care a lot less and everyone speaks more spanish..

Umm, my spanish is coming along nicely... Better than before, but it is very hard still..

Next, MY HIKE TODAY! I think it´s probably the most fun since I´ve had here, and the most workout. It was the most extreme thing I´ve ever done probably. It felt like an adventure. We went to Cerro Punta, a mountainy town like an hour from us. It´s right next to a volcanoe, which I think is very cool... We started hiking up the mountain as soon as it started raining, I was wearing sandals.. Not a good call. Everything was muddy and wet and cold because of how high we were, and it made me want to die.. But we reached the waterfall and it was so AMAZING! (I´m putting pictures up after this) ONly a few of us made it to the waterfall, all of the exchange students from Bugaba, a volunteer, and some kid, I actually don´t know.. It was so cool, I ended up taking off my shoes because it was easier to grip onto the mud which was actually surprisingly nice. It was so fun, it´s hard to explain... But it was great.

Mi familia! They are so nice, my mom like makes food to DIE for, it´s so good. It´s just typical food in Panamá, but it´s all so new and yummy for me. I´m surprisingly not gaining weight, but I think it´s because of all the walking and such. My dad is rarely here, but when he is we try and talk which is a RIOT. It´s so sweet of him to try and speak English, but I really want to learn Spanish and he always says something in Spanish and than attempts to say it in English... We´re working on it. My little brother, Tito, is super nice and he reminds me a lot of Mainers... May or may not be a good thing. My older brother, P- Jean, is super nice and fun to be around, and his girlfriend, Kiria, is super friendly. They also both speak English which is nice occasionly, they live in Panama City though. My sister, Isis, is so nice, she´s older though, and more responsible... Haha. (When Tito and I went to Panamá City, we stayed with them).

I honestly don´t know what else to write, and I´ve been sitting at the computer for hours, so I´m going, but feel to contact me! I love you all!

In Panamà!

This is my third day at my host family and my fifth day in Panamà, so far I love it. It´s hot all the time, and humid most of the time but it´s great anyway and you get used to it. I´m uploading pictures to facebook right now, so soon you will be able to see all that I´m doing. The keyboard is different here, so it´s hard to have the right punctuation.. My host family speaks almost no english, so I´m learning spanish really fast and communicating in Spanish is becoming a lot easier. The past three days have been really fun, I´ve been hanging out with a few other exchange students, their brothers and Israel, one of the AFS volunteers. We´ve been talking a lot in spanish (and some in German) and having lessons from the Panamanians. Yesterday we went to David on the bus (only 70 cents or so for a thirty minute ride), went shopping, got uniforms for school and ate at McPato, a fast food place very similiar to McDonalds, (Pato means duck). At the orientation near Panama city I ate more than ten mangoes, you can just pick them off the trees here, and they are so yummy! The food is so good, and fattening. Everything is accompanied with rice, and all the meat is fried, as are the vegetables. I´m trying to eat more fruit, and not eat so much bad stuff, but it´s very hard when you know that everything is so good. I don´t really miss home, but I miss the people, it´s not bad though when I think about where I am. I´m sure it will get worse. Can´t wait to share more, I have to go do laundry! Bye, Hasta Luego!