Week 5

Just over a week until we receive our site placement. 1 month until swearing into el Cuerpo de Paz. Moving right along. Training has been going great. We have been learning a lot of cool teaching methods; creative games and activities; how to be resourceful with the limited resources we will have access to, lesson planning, etc. It gets dry and redundant at times but the information and training will be very helpful in the future, especially because very few of us TE volunteers have taught in the formal setting before, and we have to convince our counterparts that we have something to offer. Most of the English education in Panama consists of copying and repeating information (very little conversation and communication), and critical thinking skills are lacking and rarely encouraged in the current education system. I hope to bring the new techniques I have learned to help Panamanian teachers mix things up in their classroom and motivate the students to actively learn language. Also, I am very excited to have the freedom to develop secondary projects according to the needs of the school, whether it be a reading club or an after-school program, and cater to the needs of the community. I can't wait to get to my site and start assessing and integrating into my community.  On Sunday we are going to Penonomé  for tech week, where we will be working in the classrooms with teachers. We will be staying with host families for 4 nights. Finally, next friday we return to the PC office in Ciudad de Saber to get our site placements. Then, my 2 year adventure really begins.

Last weekend we had some down time to relax, have some fun, and adventure. Friday, a big group of us went to the house of our fellow aspirante Adam. His host brother Ronal moved their whole living room out onto the porch to watch the Panama v. Jamaica fútbol game. It was a blast hanging with a group of Panamanians and gringos. I also watched the Panama/Honduras game last night with my host family, as well as the U.S./Mexico on my friend Phil's computer (he has what's called a Claro stick, a USB modem that you can get decently cheap down here. I am holding out on purchasing a cell phone or other technological tools until we get our sites. Computers are clutch for us TE volunteers though, as well will be doing a lot of lesson planning.) It's awesome soaking in all this soccer excitement, even over a year away from La Cope Mundial, and Panama leading the qualifying group makes it even better.

On Saturday, some pals and I ventured to Panama City to check out Casco Viejo, the old Spanish colonial city near the bay.  The architecture of the old town was very neat. Lots of tourists and construction, but there were some cool shops and lots of vendors selling indigenous apparel, jewelry, etc. I especially love seeing the Kuna Yala women walking around the city. They are decked out in super colorful authentic clothing and wear colorful beaded sleeves o their arms and ankles. Ben, Jessica, and I hung out at a bar called La Rana Dorada for a bit. It's a Colombian-owned bar and they brew their own beer. Lots of gringos and I loved it. Watched some tourney college hoops also. 'Twas a good day, and got me thinking about future life plans, like brewing beer at an awesome Spanish-speaking spot near the Pacific.
I also was spoiled and was able to watch some hoops at my family's place because they have ESPN somehow. (I know what you are all thinking, "Peace Corps my a**."  First of all, development is a strange phenomenon in this 21st century world. Secondly, just wait until we get sent out to our sites : ))

Other notes:
-Food has been solid. Fried food overload. Rice and chicken rocks, and fried fresh fish a veces. and patacones (fried plantains) for days! Also, fresh coconut, mariñon (a crispy-apple-like fruit from the cashew tree),  and duros (homemade frozen fruit in plastic, like a popcicle), make me happy, esp. after all the rice and fried food.
-We have been doing yoga at the church during sundown after our long days of classes, led by a couple of yogis in the group. It has been awesome-- great exercise, very stress-relieving, and relaxing. I am hooked. Plus the curious responses from the kids and other Panamanians in Santa Rita are priceless.
- Weekly hikes with the gringos to the top of the nearby jungle hill have been amazing. Sundown is incredible and the scene looks like something out of Jurassic Park or The Land Before Time. Very difficult to capture the vastness of its beauty in still frame. The stars and the moon are dope too, slightly different view from down here. La luna llena está magnifica esta noche.



La Semana Santa is an interesting week here. My host-brother Carlos has been preparing for weeks now for their Passion of Christ display. This week they have been building a huge, lavish stage every night. They camp out on/under the stage to guard it from thieves (or maleantes, if interested in hearing about the escaped convict living in the hills, check Keara's depiction here...don't worry we are safe).  Still not sure if there is an actual mass here other than the three nights of the performance of the Cross, but everyone is off school/work for the rest of the week. Saturday I am going with the host family to the beach for the day! Not a bad Easter celebration eh? Hope all is well and a Happy Easter to all my friends and family. Peace and love yall! 








 

Volunteer (Freshman) Visit: Coclé

For my volunteer visit, I went to a mid-sized puebla called San Juan de Dios, located in the northeast part of the Coclé region. It was a great experience seeing the day to day goings on of a volunteer. Jessica is super cool volunteer who has completed her 2 years of service and extending for another 3 months. She had a flush toilet, shower, electricity, and a fridge, which was superbueno. (She also got her hands on the most recent episodes of the walking dead, so having some zombie time and catching up made me very happy : )) It was an awesome weekend meeting community members, and also spending time with other volunteers in the region who offered amazing advice and perspective.

Last friday was the Fiesta Patronal for the town of San Juan de Dios, so there were a ton of people out and about, celebrating the life of San Juan and the solidarity of their community. Viva San Juan!

We went to a special mass in the morning, and afterwords they had a bunch of bautismos (baptisms), so I awkwardly took pictures of other people's children (this little fella was stoked about his baptism, and was transfixed on the candle flame...until he saw a tall lanky gringo snapping fotos of him in his new white digs.)
 

After the mass, there was a fair outside with food vendors, community members selling vegetables, and oddly enough, political party representatives passing out free food. This político was dishing out free huacho (Panamanian beef soup, delish), and caught out attention saying, "Americanos!," so i snapped a picture of the good man.

Friendly niños having a blast in the river in the front yard.
 
Late in the afternoon there was a procession with the statue of San Juan. There was a ton of people, probably over 500. We slowly walked through the town together as people shot off fireworks overhead. Very neat experience.


On Saturday we hiked up through the hills to a great spot with an awesome view of the city of San Juan de Dios, and a 360 view of mountains in the region. These cheeky Panameñitos were our guides up through the misty mountains.



Our group of pals for the weekend: 3 current Volunteers, Alyssa, Nate, Jessica (and her pup, Royce), and my fellow trainee with the sweet 'stache, Logan.
That night we went to the town baile where I saw my first pelea de gallos (cock fight...it was fascinating and pretty violent, and yet I couldn't look away. 'Twas a dose of culture to say the least), and learned to dance to típico music of Panama (kinda). We all crashed at Jessica's on the floor volunteer style, it was a blast!




Great view of San Juan from afar. The Pacific ocean is also in the distance, and we could make out some tall buildings that sit on on the beach Santa Clara, where we visited on Sunday!


Chillin in a hamáca en la playa Santa Clara! A group of volunteers spent the day together, many with their visitors also, so it was super cool to see some volunteer vacation day time. Can't wait to check out the numerous beautiful beaches in this country! 

Walking Far From Home

One week has passed since i moved in with my host family in Santa Rita, yet it feels like a month. I already feel like a member of the fam and the generosity of the people in this community that has been shown to my fellow trainees and I is incredible. Last night, they was a birthday party for my fellow aspirante Aja, and her family provided a ton of chicken fried rice and potato salad, cake, ice cream, and some birthday music from her abuelo who plays the accordion. It was a blast! The hospitality that Panamanians display is natural and admirable. Despite the long days during the week, we have been able to spend time with our host families and other townsfolk, sharing laughs and provoking strange looks due to our desires to go for morning jogs, play frisbee, hang out at the church at night playing music, doing yoga, etc., and our general loud presence. Last week, some friends and I taught my host siblings how to play American football and ultimate frisbee. They loved it. Especially Alan, who asks me every afternoon to "jugar fris" o "jackpot." Alan and Alanis are typical younger siblings, causing trouble at times, but always trying to help me out with whatever and only wanting to be included/hang with gringos. Alan had a few of us rolling with laughter Saturday night when he performed his karaoke ballad "Me Voy" (seemingly an Panamanian song full of heartbreak). My friend Nick suggested we sign him up for the Panamanian equivalent of American Idol for kids. The older brother Carlos has been incredibly helpful, teaching me all about Panamanian food and culture and having tons of patience with me when I ask him a hundred times a day, "como se dice..." (how do you say...?). Carlos starts his second year at the University in Chorrerra in a week or so, so I probably won't see him as much because he has to take 3 buses an hour and a half each way to get to class. In other news in the host family, their perro Suzy has been in some pain lately because she is expecting puppies. I am nearly getting used to the loud animal noises of the day and night; dogs and cats roaming the streets, Suzy barking in pain : (, the 3 newborn parakeets chirping in their box in the kitchen, and even the damn roosters that never miss a crow at the top of every hour (at least).

   Our group was able to observe a little bit of the diversity of Panamanian culture outside the pueblo last week. On friday we had an assignment to figure out the bus system by traveling to Chorrerra, a nearby city. Transportation is super cheap and pretty accessible. They have a brand new MetroBus system in the city that goes throughout the country for about 1.25 usd per ride (impressive, they are air conditioned to the max and nicer than most public buses in the U.S.). However, there are lingering buses from the old system called "Diablos Rojos," and they rock. They are basically old school buses painted all colors with typical images such as topless mermaids and Jesus with a guitar. Inside, they are jam packed with people, with lights, streamers, and other decor at the front so the driver can barely see, and blasting típico, the popular music here in Panama. Not the safest form of transport, but I try not to watch when I any Panamanian is zooming around these curvy calles. Friday night I experienced my first Panamanian rodeo, followed by a baile. Twas pretty wild, the típico music was great, people danced closer together than at junior high dances (but with more style and step and less grinding obvi.), and I was quite awkward during my brief dance lesson with a local amiga. Trying to get my host mom and primas to show me some moves. I also went to a supermercado Chorrerra with Carlos on Saturday to buy a new fan for the family. It was basically a Walmart and kind of tripped me out. There were hundreds of people there and took an hour just to get to a register. Once I get to my site I think I will try to hit the smaller markets often for fresh food. That said, it's super interested in a partly developed country like Panama to see the disparity. Finally, yesterday we had yet another adventure on the diablos rojos to La Ciudad de Panama. The city is huge, full of palm trees and skyscrapers (many of them empty oddly enough enough). After we reached all of our required destinations, my group stopped at a Peruvian restaurant for some bomb seafood and a little sangria.

 This week training continues with language classes every morning and TE classes in the afternoon. Many volunteers say this is the roughest part of the PC experience because of how busy we are and how structured our days are. However, I am going to stay with a current TE volunteer for the weekend who lives about 3 hours from here, in the Coclé region. Very excited for the next adventure and a new place.

 Well, mi madre has my breakfast ready for me; fried plantains and eggs. Hasta Luego!

 P.S. I want to give a shout out to all my fellow aspirantes in PCV group 72. So many awesome people from different backgrounds who have done and will continue to do incredible things. Training wouldn't be nearly as bearable without all the laughs with such easy-going hermanos y hermanas!

 also, this song. chills e'ry time