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!