Buenas!!!
We left Fort Clayton on Sunday to start our 10 week training in Santa Clara. As expected, I was so nervous/excited to meet my host family. All 36 volunteers split up onto 3 busses, and we strategically packed our bags in the order we would be getting off.
Santa Clara was only about a ½ hour drive. I was the 3 third stop. The community of Santa Clara is a relatively wealthy community compared to where our sites will be. I have running water, electricity, and an indoor flushing toilette. There is not much of a town though; we have one very small store, a park and some churches…. That’s pretty much it.
Buenas is the most popular Salud (greeting) in Panama. However, the Panamanians (especially the women) like to add a little extra flare to it. They basically hold the “e” as long as possible so it sounds more like Bueeeeeeeenas. In the smaller towns like Santa Clara, you say hello to everyone you see on the street.
My family is wonderful. Even though we can’t say too much to each other (yet), they have been very welcoming and patient with me. There are 3 little girls, Ilka (12), Ilsa (11) and Christy (7,pictured below) the mother is Janis (31) and the father is Cristobal (51). Cristobal works as a repairman for varies companies in neighboring communities. They are such a loving people to each other and to me. You can tell that family is very important to them. One of the first things I had to explain was why I don’t eat meat. I used some good advice that a current PC Volunteer gave me, and told them that I was allergic to meat and it upsets my stomach. They think Americans are crazy anyways, so it really wasn’t a big deal. We all eat lunch and dinner together as a family, which is actually pretty rare in Panama. Most of the other volunteers have to eat alone. Janis is a pretty good cook, I have no complaints other than the fact Panamanians in general like to fry everything in a lot of oil!!! But I have been eating lots of fruit, rice, lentils, beans, eggs, salad, garlic soup and bread…not bad. Mi Madre has a garden where she grows tomatoes and cucumbers, and they are delicious!!!
The first night I was here, we were all sitting out on the patio watching the rain when an old, half clothed drunk guy carrying a large stereo came stumbling to the house. The girls all started giggling and mi padre just shook his head. The man came onto the porch, they chatted a little, mi padre gave him a quarter and then he went on his way. My family told me “welcome to Panama.” Apparently this happens often.
My day’s kind of look like this:
6 am wake up (to a rooster) -shower/study/etc.
8am-noon= Technical class
Noon-1= lunch
1-5=Spanish class
5 on = Dinner/study/sit on the patio with my family and watch the rain/ hang out with other PCT’s
I have been learning sooooo much already. All “CED ers” go to the Tech classes together; the classes are very well structured with a lot of group discussions. Our classroom is a thatched roof hut with no walls, a dirt floor adnd chickens running all around (kinda distracting) . I have Spanish class with only 3 people so I am getting a lot of undivided attention, which is wonderful!!! Hopefully I will be able to carry on a conversation with my host family soon. Or at least say more than just what I want to eat.
So I had to start taking my Malaria pills last week, and PC warned us that they may give us crazy dreams. I have already had a few “vivid” dreams, none of which are good enough to share, but I will keep you updated on that =)
Wednesday was our first day learning how to use the public transit system, which the locals call “Diablo Rojo”, or “Red Devil.” We split up into groups of 4 and did a sort of “Amazing Race” around 2 different neighboring cities. There were PC staff members waiting at each check point and the whole thing took about 4 hours. Our team could have won, but one of the check points was at a grocery store and we were all so excited to see “normal” food, we decided to shop for 45 min. I got peanut butter and crackers!!! What I concluded from this adventure, was that the buses are extremely overcrowded and hot, the bus drivers drive a bit fast and break really hard, and I need to practice my Spanish!!!! It is very important I become comfortable with the bus system because that will be my main mode of transportation for the next 2 years.
We spent the entire day of Friday in a neighboring town. We got two more shots and then listened to lectures on local virus and diseases and sexual assault and rape, kinda depressing stuff. We had 2 hours in the afternoon free, So we all went down to a local hardware store to buy our Machete’s… yes, Matchets! Could you picture 36 “Gringos” all in the same tiny hardware store buying Machete’s? And then walking around the streets as a huge group wielding them ? The boys we all soooooo excited (every little boys dream, right?)
So Saturday morning we had an Agriculture walk, where we learned about different types of trees, birds, insects etc. Ones that we can eat or use to build, and what we should stay away from. After that we made a compost out of a Banana tree, Balbo leaves, manure and ash. Then it was time for the Machete training with the environmental health group. After all the safety precautions we covered, we worked on clearing an area for us to make a garden in a few weeks. Working with a Machete gets tiring really fast. It is still something I am going to need to get use to.
After machete training five of us decided to attempt to find this nearby waterfall that we had heard about. We all asked our families about it in an attempt to try gain some insight as to where to go and how far it was. We got very mixed answers; one madre ever told us it would take a day to walk there. But, we decided to try anyways. Turns out it was only about a half hour walk down the road. We spent a few hours playing around in the water. It was the best shower we have all had in awhile!! This waterfall will for sure be a weekly or by-weekly or even daily hangout spot.
So this is cool, next week (Aug 26th-sep 1st) we are doing “site visits.” This is where PCT (trainees) go stay with current PCV (volunteers) at their site. This gives us a chance to really get a better understanding of what a CED volunteer actually does, living conditions etc. While most trainees are going solo, I have been partnered up with another woman (I think because we are going the furthest). But I have to say, I think we got the best site visit =) We will be going to the Province of Bocus Del Torro (there are 9 provinces in Panama). We have to leave Wednesday afternoon (everyone else is leaving Thursday morning) . We take three different long bus rides to end up in the Bocus Del Torro Province. Then we have to get on two different water Taxis and go way out to an island in the Caribbean ocean……Sweet huh? Our hosts name is Piper, just like my cousin =) I will report next week on how that adventure turned out.
Today, we are in panama city. We went to Casco Viejo for a few hours, Pretty neat out there. It was amazing to see the difference between the ¨Campo¨ and the city. The umfare distribution of weath is very apparent.
I forgot to mention this last time, but if any of you may be worried about my health/safety (Pop), you should know that Panama is the Peace Corps Medical “hub” for all of central and South America. Meaning, if anything happens to a volunteer in another country they fly them to the Peace Corps Panama medical office, and since I am already here, my chances are good (knock on wood) =)
And a few more things.
1.It rains every day…. Once a day, usually in the afternoon. Hard, but not long.
2.There are many many insects, enough said.
3.I hope everyone knows about Alonso Edward and Irving Saladino If you don’t, google them!!! They have been a pretty big deal around here!!!
4. It is really hard to type in english on a spanish keyboard.
Miss you all!!!
Until next time,
Miche
We left Fort Clayton on Sunday to start our 10 week training in Santa Clara. As expected, I was so nervous/excited to meet my host family. All 36 volunteers split up onto 3 busses, and we strategically packed our bags in the order we would be getting off.
Santa Clara was only about a ½ hour drive. I was the 3 third stop. The community of Santa Clara is a relatively wealthy community compared to where our sites will be. I have running water, electricity, and an indoor flushing toilette. There is not much of a town though; we have one very small store, a park and some churches…. That’s pretty much it.Buenas is the most popular Salud (greeting) in Panama. However, the Panamanians (especially the women) like to add a little extra flare to it. They basically hold the “e” as long as possible so it sounds more like Bueeeeeeeenas. In the smaller towns like Santa Clara, you say hello to everyone you see on the street.
My family is wonderful. Even though we can’t say too much to each other (yet), they have been very welcoming and patient with me. There are 3 little girls, Ilka (12), Ilsa (11) and Christy (7,pictured below) the mother is Janis (31) and the father is Cristobal (51). Cristobal works as a repairman for varies companies in neighboring communities. They are such a loving people to each other and to me. You can tell that family is very important to them. One of the first things I had to explain was why I don’t eat meat. I used some good advice that a current PC Volunteer gave me, and told them that I was allergic to meat and it upsets my stomach. They think Americans are crazy anyways, so it really wasn’t a big deal. We all eat lunch and dinner together as a family, which is actually pretty rare in Panama. Most of the other volunteers have to eat alone. Janis is a pretty good cook, I have no complaints other than the fact Panamanians in general like to fry everything in a lot of oil!!! But I have been eating lots of fruit, rice, lentils, beans, eggs, salad, garlic soup and bread…not bad. Mi Madre has a garden where she grows tomatoes and cucumbers, and they are delicious!!!
The first night I was here, we were all sitting out on the patio watching the rain when an old, half clothed drunk guy carrying a large stereo came stumbling to the house. The girls all started giggling and mi padre just shook his head. The man came onto the porch, they chatted a little, mi padre gave him a quarter and then he went on his way. My family told me “welcome to Panama.” Apparently this happens often.
My day’s kind of look like this:
6 am wake up (to a rooster) -shower/study/etc.
8am-noon= Technical class
Noon-1= lunch
1-5=Spanish class
5 on = Dinner/study/sit on the patio with my family and watch the rain/ hang out with other PCT’s
I have been learning sooooo much already. All “CED ers” go to the Tech classes together; the classes are very well structured with a lot of group discussions. Our classroom is a thatched roof hut with no walls, a dirt floor adnd chickens running all around (kinda distracting) . I have Spanish class with only 3 people so I am getting a lot of undivided attention, which is wonderful!!! Hopefully I will be able to carry on a conversation with my host family soon. Or at least say more than just what I want to eat.
So I had to start taking my Malaria pills last week, and PC warned us that they may give us crazy dreams. I have already had a few “vivid” dreams, none of which are good enough to share, but I will keep you updated on that =)
Wednesday was our first day learning how to use the public transit system, which the locals call “Diablo Rojo”, or “Red Devil.” We split up into groups of 4 and did a sort of “Amazing Race” around 2 different neighboring cities. There were PC staff members waiting at each check point and the whole thing took about 4 hours. Our team could have won, but one of the check points was at a grocery store and we were all so excited to see “normal” food, we decided to shop for 45 min. I got peanut butter and crackers!!! What I concluded from this adventure, was that the buses are extremely overcrowded and hot, the bus drivers drive a bit fast and break really hard, and I need to practice my Spanish!!!! It is very important I become comfortable with the bus system because that will be my main mode of transportation for the next 2 years.
We spent the entire day of Friday in a neighboring town. We got two more shots and then listened to lectures on local virus and diseases and sexual assault and rape, kinda depressing stuff. We had 2 hours in the afternoon free, So we all went down to a local hardware store to buy our Machete’s… yes, Matchets! Could you picture 36 “Gringos” all in the same tiny hardware store buying Machete’s? And then walking around the streets as a huge group wielding them ? The boys we all soooooo excited (every little boys dream, right?)
So Saturday morning we had an Agriculture walk, where we learned about different types of trees, birds, insects etc. Ones that we can eat or use to build, and what we should stay away from. After that we made a compost out of a Banana tree, Balbo leaves, manure and ash. Then it was time for the Machete training with the environmental health group. After all the safety precautions we covered, we worked on clearing an area for us to make a garden in a few weeks. Working with a Machete gets tiring really fast. It is still something I am going to need to get use to.
After machete training five of us decided to attempt to find this nearby waterfall that we had heard about. We all asked our families about it in an attempt to try gain some insight as to where to go and how far it was. We got very mixed answers; one madre ever told us it would take a day to walk there. But, we decided to try anyways. Turns out it was only about a half hour walk down the road. We spent a few hours playing around in the water. It was the best shower we have all had in awhile!! This waterfall will for sure be a weekly or by-weekly or even daily hangout spot.
So this is cool, next week (Aug 26th-sep 1st) we are doing “site visits.” This is where PCT (trainees) go stay with current PCV (volunteers) at their site. This gives us a chance to really get a better understanding of what a CED volunteer actually does, living conditions etc. While most trainees are going solo, I have been partnered up with another woman (I think because we are going the furthest). But I have to say, I think we got the best site visit =) We will be going to the Province of Bocus Del Torro (there are 9 provinces in Panama). We have to leave Wednesday afternoon (everyone else is leaving Thursday morning) . We take three different long bus rides to end up in the Bocus Del Torro Province. Then we have to get on two different water Taxis and go way out to an island in the Caribbean ocean……Sweet huh? Our hosts name is Piper, just like my cousin =) I will report next week on how that adventure turned out.
Today, we are in panama city. We went to Casco Viejo for a few hours, Pretty neat out there. It was amazing to see the difference between the ¨Campo¨ and the city. The umfare distribution of weath is very apparent.
I forgot to mention this last time, but if any of you may be worried about my health/safety (Pop), you should know that Panama is the Peace Corps Medical “hub” for all of central and South America. Meaning, if anything happens to a volunteer in another country they fly them to the Peace Corps Panama medical office, and since I am already here, my chances are good (knock on wood) =)
And a few more things.
1.It rains every day…. Once a day, usually in the afternoon. Hard, but not long.
2.There are many many insects, enough said.
3.I hope everyone knows about Alonso Edward and Irving Saladino If you don’t, google them!!! They have been a pretty big deal around here!!!
4. It is really hard to type in english on a spanish keyboard.
Miss you all!!!
Until next time,
Miche
