By 7 a.m., the roosters have been cock-a-doodling for three hours, the neighbors next door are blasting Mexican pop music, and our two sisters are practicing ballet, as we sip our coffee on the front porch and watch the baby chickens scamper to keep up with momma hen. You breathe in the fresh air, shoo an ant off your foot, and life is tranquil.
In the mornings it seems crazy to think that we are planning on packing up our bags and heading out of El Valle tomorrow morning. Yet, as Amanda and I have recently discovered, life should be written in pencil. For ideas change, and what was first envisioned does not always pan out as hoped.
While we would both love to stay in this quaint town – despite sleeping like Houdini to avoid the puddle on my bed, and despite Amanda's ant nest that expands daily outside her door – work at our non-profit is not what we had hoped. The small organization currently has five volunteers, four too many. In a desperate attempt to find us a project, Amanda and I have been assigned, due to our communications background, to expand and improve the website. While we initially thought we could manage this project well, each hour it seems more and more sinister to spend our time in such a gorgeous country on a computer. Instead of plunging head first into Panamanian culture, we are instead remaining connected to the technology, the stress, and the emotional ties we were trying to get away from in the States.
Thus, we head out tomorrow. To where? Not really sure. Yet one thing is certain: when you have six months to live your life to the fullest, a month online is not the way to begin.
Your skills in technology and communications will probably put you in these situations again. I support yours and Amanda's decision to move on and do something more in tune with your journey's purpose.
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