Puppy Updates and Unexpected Parades

     Hello friends!  These past few weeks have been very busy for me.  I have finally finished up with my observations at the school.  It was a very enlightening experience, and I feel like I have a better understanding about how everything works and who's who in the school.  Now I'm working to put together my presentation for the 25th of July.  I have to give a 30 minute presentation in Spanish of my analysis of the community and school as well as what projects I'm planning on doing.  My boss from Peace Corps will be there, along with my 10 English teachers, the principals of the school, and possibly the Mayor and Representative of the community.  It's pretty intimidating, and I am getting a bit nervous!  I'm just focusing now on preparing for it and also looking for a house!  I can move into it at the beginning of August!  One of my counterparts is currently helping me look, so I'm hopeful he will find something.
     Last weekend I volunteered with a traveling spay/neuter organization called Spay Panama.  My friend in town, Luis, is a member of the group and invited me to go.  It was incredible!  10 veterinarians worked pro bono at this clinic from 7am-1pm constantly spaying/neutering dogs and cats.  I volunteered in the "taxi" station, where I would move the anesthetized animals from one station to the next.  I was so impressed at their efficiency, they must have operated on 300 animals that day!  The clinic was set up in a basketball court of a school, and the community attendance was great!  It was really reassuring to see how many people cared about their pets and understood the importance of sterilizing.  I would have loved to take the mom of the puppies, but I didn't think I could take her away from the puppies for so long at that point.  But this same group is coming to Parita in October, I am so excited!  I'm going to work to promote this event and try to get my community members to take advantage of this incredible opportunity.  It only costs $25/dog and $12/cat, and that includes sterilization, parasite injections, ear cleaning, and food/shampoo supplies!  I will definitely be bringing the mother dog to this event in October, I'm just hoping she doesn't get pregnant again in that time!
     Speaking of which the puppies are doing great!  They have seen some big changes these last two weeks!  I have moved them from underneath the bush to the patio, which is covered with a roof and closed in on 2 sites.  It is a much more safe and secure place for them, and they have so much more space to move around!  All of them have already opened their eyes and have started wobbling around!  They have started to form their own personalities too, which is really cool!  I told myself that I wouldn't, but I named them.  Let me officially introduce you to the puppies:

 This is Scout.  She is the brown female, and the most adventurous puppy by far!  Today, she managed to get up in one of the holes of a cinderblock and got stuck!  She is also one of the noisiest, but I think she is just exploring her voice now that she has found it.  She is such an attention hog, but also an amazing cuddler.

  Scout's male twin brother is called Zorrito.  Zorro, in Spanish, means fox, and so Zorrito means "little fox,"

which I think he looks exactly like.  He is such a chill little dude, always happy to be picked up and never making much noise.  He is also one of the biggest puppies of the litter. 

    The only black puppies name is Yin, because he is all black with a little white, the opposite of his brother Yang.   He is a talker!  I think he's like Scout and that he's just finding his voice and likes to use it!  He's a sweet boy though, and is always trying to lick the bug spray off of my legs which is NOT good!  He likes to push the limits sometimes but that's what makes him such a unique and funny dog.
  

  This sleepy guy's name is Yang, the compliment of his brother Yin.  He is all white with a black spot, and also one of the bigger puppies.  He is the lazy one of the group, just content to eat and sleep.  He is such an easy going dog!

    The second of the three white puppies is Bandit, for the mask-like markings around his eyes!  He is such a sweety!  Whenever I pick him up, he always has his mouth open like he's smiling. Some of his favorite things are eskimo kisses and belly rubs!  He is a really laid back puppy too, and hardly ever makes any noise.

   And the smallest one is Madeline :)  She is the other female of the group, and the smallest puppy of the litter.  She was also the last one to open her eyes and start walking around.  But her small size doesn't keep her from wrestling with her bigger brothers!  She is a feisty little puppy!  

   My Peace Corps friends Shaylee, Sam, and Grace came to visit this weekend to see my the puppies and my site.  It was a really fun day, and it was good for the puppies to be around other people.  The mom wasn't very happy, but I had my friends each give her a piece of a hot dog and afterwards she was cool with it.  My friend Grace might be taking one of the puppies, I would be so happy if she did!  I'm trying to promote them amongst my PC friends, and hopefully I can find them nice homes amongst them!  

Me with Zorrito and Bandit:

   Aside from the puppies, the other big news is that the Corpus Christi festivities are over for the year.  This last weekend, we finished with all of the Diablicos Limpios/Sucios and had other more interesting celebration... they had something called "La Danza de las Donas" where drunk men from the town got dressed up in drag and had a dancing contest on stage.  I was told that last year, one of the contestants was dancing so hard onstage that he fell off and had to go to the hospital.  He won this year, I think in part because people felt bad about what happened to him the year before.  It was such a fun night!

     It seems like Paritenos like to celebrate no matter the occasion.  Last week, I was sitting at the kitchen table working on my drawing, and all of a sudden started hearing band music at 10pm.  It sounded like it was going right by my house!  I went outside and was surprised to see a huge grouping of people around the road.  Apparently, they were having a parade to celebrate last years "Reina de Parita" aka the Queen of Carnival.  They had a big float with the marching band following.  It was definitely an unexpected surprise!