Service Begins

Tomorrow I begin my Peace Corps Service for real. I'll arrive in my community to my new home, and start integrating into the community and figuring out my work for the next two years. We had a good swear in. It was in the Ambassador's Residence and happened to also coincide with the 45th Anniversary of Peace Corps in Panama, so a lot of returned volunteers also came. So, it was pretty nice and formal. The (world) Director of Peace Corps, The Ambassador, and two Panamanian agency heads were there presiding. The only problem was that while reading through all of our names, the guy forgot me. The mistake was remedied, but it was pretty funny, and I got a lot of apologies and pitty comments. Right now we're in celebration mode. We went out that night and currently all of us (new) volunteers are at the beach enjoying some last moments of luxury and togetherness before we take off to our respective sites. Tomorrow will have some sad goodbyes, but I am looking forward to beginning my service.

as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly....

I'm back in Panama City, staying in the same place where we started when we arrived in country and attending a few last sessions of information as a trainee. That's right. Tomorrow is our Swear-In ceremony, which will be at the Ambassador's house. The Ambassador, as well as world director of Peace Corps will be at the ceremony. This is where we change from aspirantes (trainees) to voluntarios (volunteers). Then, a couple of days at the beach as a last hurrah, and then off into the real world of our sites. Hanging out with the other 45 volunteers will be coming to an end, and the trial by fire of speaking Spanish all the time and trying to integrate into my new community will begin.
We've been having our final interviews and final assessments. I got to Advanced High level of Spanish (very generous grading in my opinion). Really, I'm ready to go. I've enjoyed training a lot, I've gotten to see lots of the country, learn lots of new techniques, and meet so many cool people (American and Panamanian). But, I'm ready to go. It's time to start putting everything to work and get the feet on the ground. It's intimidating, but I want to get started.
It was hard leaving my host family in the training community. We got a long really well. They told me (didn't ask) that I was going to come visit them, and they're still convinced that I will marry their nephew and stay in the family (likelihood, very low). I know its going to be hard to say goodbye to the other volunteers, also. Tomorrow will be the last time we'll all be together. Enough of that, these are happy times...

Site Visit

After a community entry conference to meet our community guides and prepare for site entry, I finally visited the town I’m going to be living in for the next two years. It’s a really nice town. High enough in the mountains to not be hot and humid, but not so high as to be rainy and cold. Almost the whole time I was there it was sunny, clear, and a good temperature. Apparently, it usually rains a lot, but I didn’t see that. Overall, it seemed a little bit more like the American Midwest than a tropical paradise. Its pretty flat, not too many palm trees, plus its Big Ag country. As opposed to small subsistence farming, there’s two big companies (see logos in picture) that employ a lot of people, bring in money, and use up the land. There’s about 400-500 people in the community, plus I should also be working in a nearby community of about 250. That was the most intimidating part for me: walking by all the houses and knowing I needed to go meet and talk (in Spanish) with all those people. I’m not totally sure about work, but there should be potential. There’s already an environmental group in the community, and a women’s group, so I’ll probably work with both of those groups. Also, I should teach environmental education in the schools. I met both the school director and the representante (local leader). Both were really enthusiastic about raising environmental consciousness. I even got invited as a guest of honor to the Father’s Day celebration at the school. The director talking about how I was “solita” and “jovencita” so they should welcome me with food and open arms.
One surprising thing was that, being Chiriqui and near Boquete (or Gringolandia), I ran into some older retired American gentlemen. Married to Panamanian women. Living much cheaper than they could in the U.S. Panama (and Boquete in particular) is supposedly one of the hotspots for retirement. So, I did have some conversations in English, though it was sort of like listening to your grandpa talk about the good old days.
In other news, I finally got my cell phone from the U.S. to work. Yep, rather than buy a new phone, I managed to get a SIM card and unlock the thing. Having a Cell phone: Peace Corps isn’t what it used to be. So, I’m going to need people’s phone numbers (sadly erased). Also, please send me some kind of message and I’ll give you my phone number. And you should get a plan that lets you make cheap international phone calls (hehe).

back from the road

I have finally arrived back “home.” After two weeks on the road, my training community was a very welcome site. First, we had “culture week.” The 7 of us trainees that are going to the province of Chiriqui went to the mountains of Chiriqui for one week to learn about its culture.

It was a pretty relaxed week in the district of Boquete right below Volcan Baru. Despite the downpours and the cold, the area is absolutely gorgeous. Plus, it’s a part of Panama that still has lots of trees and dark volcanic soil.

I I didn’t get to visit my actual site, but I’m looking forward to it. Some highlights of the week include, milling sugar cane, drinking really good coffee, teaching in the schools, and walking back from a neighboring community in the pouring rain.

I didn’t get to visit my actual site, but I’m looking forward to it. Some highlights of the week include, milling sugar cane, drinking really good coffee, teaching in the schools, and walking back from a neighboring community in the pouring rain.

After a free night in Chitre, we arrived for “tech week,” to practice technical skills in the field. This week was in the beautiful mountains of Herrerra, which after the rain stopped, were very beautiful and enjoyable.

We taught in the schools, helped with a youth group meeting, visited some farms, and did some more hiking. I also learned how to pilar corn (picture shown) We also had a going away “despedida” on our last night, which included the selection of a king and queen.

For our free night returning from tech week, we went to a “surf camp” in Rio Mar. There ended up being about 20 volunteers there, including all of the CEC group (just proving how much we like each other). After two weeks in the mountains, it was nice to be on the beach. I finally arrived back at my house in time for a big party. I’m exhausted and starting to realize that there isn’t much time left in training