vacation´s over

It’s finally back to reality after almost three weeks away from site. First was training, then the evacuation for flooding and then the visit from my parents. I’m on my way back to the islands now. I was able to return to the community for one day before the arrival of my mom and dad and during that day it was non-stop moving from my last host family to my new house. It’s hard to believe the day finally arrived after waiting five months.

I tried to organize things the best I could and the next morning I headed to the main island to meet my parents at the airport. It was SO good to see them and our time together went by way too fast. We spent three days in my site- the first working on my house (it’s still not quite done), the second at a beach nearby, and the third participating in Mother’s Day activities. I knew it was their biggest holiday of the year but I had no clue just how exclusively “mother’s only” all of the activities and meals were. Fortunately for me, my mom was there and because she doesn’t speak Spanish we were both included. We left that evening to avoid the night craziness and headed to the main island where the real vacation began with good food, hot showers, and electricity.

After telling them what a pleasant bus ride it is to David we had the most uncomfortable five hour bus ride the next day, but made it safe and sound. Once in Boquete, our next destination, we realized that the trail we were hoping to hike was closed because of the flooding, so we took a coffee tour- very educational even for a non coffee drinker like me- and we did a zip line tour through the trees. That was a blast. It was fun to have a chance to do some things I wouldn’t normally do on my PC salary. And finally we made our way to Panama City. We saw the sites, went to the canal, but my highlight was the mall J It’s hard to believe that leaving eight months ago I was always looking forward to their visit in December and now it has already passed. But my time here is truly flying with already a quarter of it complete. I am looking forward to getting back into my routine and I’ve still got the school’s graduation, Christmas (although I’ll miss all the good cookies), and New Year’s to look forward to. Merry Christmas! God Bless!

Stormy Weather

Wow, it’s been a crazy couple weeks here in Panama. It started off with a fun weekend with the November 16th parade. I went with a friend from the community, Rosa, and her family. We stayed on a nearby island with her inlaws. It was like being part of a mini family vacation- we had a really good time. Right after that is when the weather started to get bad and we had a tough time getting back to the community. Fortunately, work on my house was going really really well and they finished my bedroom! So, planning to move in, I put a 5 gallon bucket outside to collect the rain that was falling and unfortunately I fell really bad off the side of my host family’s house and thought I broke a rib. (There was also an earthquake that night, but I slept through it.) Because of the rain and wind I wasn’t able to leave for the hospital for three days and even when I did the sea was as rough as I’ve ever seen it. I got x-rays and the good news is that nothing is broken but the bad news is that it still hurts. After that I continued towards Panama City for our first in-service training. It was good to get together with the 40-some other volunteers in my group (#61). We sat in the classroom during the day and hung out at the beach at night.

The rains continued and there is some really bad flooding in the region. A few days later all volunteers in Bocas were pulled out of their sites and eventually consolidated in Chiriqui. I have been in contact with my community and it doesn’t sound like we have any damage but hearing the stories from other volunteers and the rivers they crossed and rescue missions they went on to save community members has been crazy. So many people lost everything, not just their homes but all their crops and therefore their income for the next few months. We’re here now learning about disaster response and what we can do to help. It’s nice to have electricity and internet, but we’re all anxious to get back to our sites to help out. Panama is not normally in the hurricane track but this is the closest to becoming a hurricane a storm has come. And the rains continue so we’re not sure when we’ll be able to get back. There were several land slides and the road we take was washed out in several locations. Hopefully I can make it to my site before my parents who fly in on Saturday! It’s been good to hang out with other volunteers but I do miss my community and hope everything is okay. Please keep everyone here in your prayers!

My first real break!!

I finally made the 6 hour trip by boat and bus for a little rest and relaxation. Well, if you can call running around shopping, printing pictures, typing Peace Corps documents, and using the internet and phone like a crazy R&R. But warm showers are hard to beat.

Recently I’ve been keeping busy in my site doing the same old same old. Unfortunately no work has been done on my house for weeks on end and it still sits sadly frame completed and ¾ roof completed waiting to be finished. I am no longer building it with hira (the “traditional” way they built houses) because everyone was waiting for everyone else to be the first to cut their part and as a result nobody cut the wood. So, now I am going with tablas or essentially 2x4s for the walls. Luckily my boss came for my four month visit and fanned the flame a bit so they say I should have my house done in two weeks.

On Wednesday, Pablo my APCD, aka my boss came to visit my site. I was a bit nervous not really having a whole lot planned but it went really well. HE BROUGHT ME ICECREAM! Even though by the time we ate it, it was more like ice cream soup, it was delicious and will probably be the only time I get ice cream in my site. He also participated in my English class where I taught about clothes. I had lots of fun games planned and my students didn’t let me down. They really are a smart bunch and Pablo was highly impressed. Then we had town meeting. I hadn’t planned it in advance but still had a pretty good turnout- although as usual it started over an hour late. Basically he asked the community to evaluate me, how I’m doing, if they’re satisfied with the work I’ve done, etc. And as we say, my “tanque” was filled. They said I’m very hard working and always participating in whatever activity, cleaning up the school, fishing, etc. They even asked how it would be possible for me to stay longer than two years. Which is kind of ridiculous considering I haven’t even been there six months. But never the less it made me feel pretty good. Then Pablo showed off his mad skills in volleyball and it was back to my host family’s house. It was good to talk and get his advice, especially for the tourism part of my project.

The next day, because I wanted to leave, I went with his boat on the way to visit another volunteer and I was dropped of at a beach to hang out for the day. I do lead a tough life here… Unfortunately it was raining and COLD!! I was wearing pants and a fleece and my fingers and toes were COLD! It was exciting. I chatted with a hotel worker for most of the day and went on a 2 hour walk along the coast. Panamanians are truly friendly people. But it’s annoying to be a blond and have your phone number asked for by every guy you talk to for more than 30 minutes. Yesterday in my travels everywhere I went people would chat with me, but it’s neat that some how I stand out as a Peace Corps volunteer because they all ask, Cuerpo de Paz? I was even invited to the woman’s house that I sat next to on the bus. Anyways, I made it to the hotel safe and sound.

So, that’s pretty much what’s going on in my life right now. There are lots of holidays in November so English classes won’t be as regular. Hopefully I’ll get moved into my house and then it’s more training for a week at the end of the month before the big Thanksgiving celebration. The pictures are of a birthday party I went to and my current host family...

well...this IS Panama

So, of course things didn´t go all sunshine and butterflies as I had hoped... We´ve had one more meeting with the tourism group since but nothing has changes. They say they all agree that work should begin at 9am every day, but they already know they aren´t going to be there. And someone is taking the entrance fee the tourists pay and not turning it in to the women but rather keeping it for themselves. drama drama drama. And no work has been done on my house for about three weeks now. So as you can see there are ups and downs and times when things just stand still. But I continue to play volleyball, sew, fish, and yesterday I even tried working a bit with a machete. I´m not very good. It is a long slow process when a community has lived and worked they way they have for all their lives and are accustomed to doing things the way they want. Change is hard.
Today I had lunch and a brief Ngabere language lesson with some of the other volunteers in the area and a volunteer who will be finishing here service in just two weeks. Hard to believe that day will come for me too. Time for icecream. Chao, Jessica

Three months- check!

I´ve finally passed the magical date which is three months in site. Where has the time gone? I honestly love my site! The transportation situation is a bother, but other than that (and maybe a beautiful beach) I couldn´t have asked for a better community. I´m still teaching English three times a week, doing a language exchange with one of the teachers, and now I´m finally going to get started on some real business work. As a result of the tourism seminar, the tourism group got together and had their first real meeting in months. It was decided that we will put together a business plan, which will hopefully start more great discussions and changes for the better. I´m really looking forward to it!
Yesterday was my first regional meeting. We were up in the mountains and it was cold! I also got my first warm shower in months. It was nice to finally meet all the other volunteers "near by" but a group of them is already finishing their service in a few weeks. And in less than a month a new group will start their service. I´ll be getting a couple new volunteers "near" me. Hopefully they can help me build my latrine :) Well I think I´m off to get a pizza and some icecream. Later!

ice cream and abono

Hiya! I just finished up with a three day tourism seminar with six members of my community and all of the other Peace Corps TEA volunteers from my group. The seminar was good, boring and long at times but gave some great basic ideas about what a business is and some of the planning and work that goes into starting a tourism business. As usual I had fun joking around with my community and the topic of choice was abono aka poop. I am really hoping to do a composting latrine project as right now the only latrines are at the school. I´ve been spreading the idea around whenever I can and it always creates a smile as collecting your poo in a large concrete box and waiting for six months before scooping it out and putting it on your crops to help them grow is somewhat of an awkward conversation. But it made for some good times this weekend and showed me that there really is interest in the project. It has also been great to see the friends I made during training. Strange being together everyday for three months and then not seeing eachother. It has also been a good time as there is a fair here. I went the last two nights and ate some traditional fair food like cotton candy as well as some not so traditional (MN that is) fair food like fried noodles with chicken. I´ll be heading back to site in about 30 min, but it was, as always, a good break. Ti ni gira/ya me voy/I´m off. Later!

transportation shmantzportation

In need of a break I sat at the port yesterday morning hoping a boat would pass by heading to the main island. I finally hitched a ride to some nearby restaurants on another island then waited there until a boat hauling cargo passed by. It took about 4 hours total but ended up being free! After a little rest and relax and good conversation with some other peace corps friends hanging out at the regional leaders house I am attempting to head back to my site today. Easier said than done. I was planning to meet my ex-host family at 1pm and have been waiting ever since hoping they show up. Finally I got through on my cell phone and found out we are atleast in the same city so hopefully I can get back with them. OK, they just called, gotta go! BYE! PS things are still good :)

Buenos Dias! Ñontoro Dego! Finally another day of electricity and internet! Unfortunately I didn’t prepare appropriately for the rough sea and got here completely soaking wet as if I had jumped in the water- and when it’s salt water that’s really uncomfortable. So the first thing I did was buy a new skirt to wear for the day.

I feel extremely busy lately. There has been lots of work on my house- we cut the palm last Friday and I got to go with. Now I understand why nobody wanted to do it. They climb the tree and chop down huge palms and then carry them through the jungle- mud and water and all- to load them in the boat. There was lots of laughing though whenever anyone fell in the water and got wet. Then, a feast of 10 pounds of rice and 15 pounds of fish with boiled bananas. They have also worked two days putting up the palm to form the roof of my house. We’ll need to cut some more palm to finish, as well as cut the wood for the walls and floor, but we get a couple weeks of rest until the moon is right again.

Last week I got to participate in a volleyball tournament with 5 other women from the community. Sadly, we were the only women’s team to show up. We played with some men that where there but they clearly had never played volleyball before in their lives, so we won! We even got a trophy. We had a lot of fun- I enjoyed wearing the team uniform.

I moved in with my third (and hopefully final) host family. It is a little far away in the jungle so I have to return home earlier than usual each night because the snakes come out. Luckily I have yet to see one. I really like the family and have a giant room all to myself. There is a 22 year old woman, her 3 month old baby, a 14 year old girl, and sometimes the husband of the 22 yr old is there too when he is not working.

Adult English classes have begun! I have 8 students- small, but the same students have come back each class and many more have said they want to enter. I’m happy with the number and they are learning much faster than I expected. It’s fun because I know everyone in the class so it’s like teaching friends- we have a good time. Now I need to come up with something for the kids that keep bugging me for English classes.

I pray all is well with you who are reading this! Hasta luego from Panama!!

Update

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to update and I can’t even remember all that’s happened. Time seems to fly and stand still all at once. Somehow I fill my days with visiting houses, working with the women- sewing and making bracelets, playing volleyball, and acting as a nanny for my current host family (I’m living with a single dad so he takes advantage and I end up cooking and taking care of the kids most of the time).

Recently I had the opportunity to join two women from my community in an artisan seminar where we along with about 25 other women sewed for three days straight until our fingers were sore and thoroughly punctured with needle wounds. A famous designer in Panama was in charge of designing and we were in charge of making. I came out with a pretty sweet bag. I’m currently inventing other projects using the Ngabe design to sell at the provincial fair in September.

Every Saturday (well sort of) there is work building my house. They have finished the frame and will cut the palm for my roof hopefully sometime this coming week (while the moon is right). Unfortunately enthusiasm for giving their day to work for free has dwindled and work this weekend was cancelled. We’ll see what happens with that.

My adult English classes begin in just over a week! I’ve planned three weeks worth of lessons and hopefully have all the logistics taken care of- now all I need are the students. I’ve set up a town meeting for this Monday to discuss the details. I’m sure I’ll have a full class in the beginning and I’m hoping at least a few people will stick with it for the two years.

As my days start to become busier it’s hard to believe I’ve only got 22 months left- I have so much to do! I feel as though I’m always saying this (which is a good thing), but overall things are going great. I’m starting to feel at home and adapting well (including some bad habits such as talking with food in my mouth and peeing wherever nature calls J ) Those of you in MN, enjoy the state fair for me and eat an extra pronto pup in my honor (thanks mom and dad)! Love, Bichochi

I'm on an unexpected 3 day "vacation" from my site. I've been somewhat sick for over a week now and I finally decided today that it was worth a trip to the clinic, so 1 1/2 hours in boat and 45 min in bus later I made it to the clinic where I received an IV injection, a shot in my butt, some pills, and I get to stay for the next two days for more butt shots. But I can already tell a difference and it will be nice to be healthy again. And having internet and air conditioning for a couple days isn't so bad. Tonight I'm going to have a little me time and watch a movie on my laptop- I also bought skittles, oreos and cheetos! I'm horrible I know!

For a little more insight as to what life is like for me, I'm going to share a journal entry I wrote a few weeks back that I rather like...

I hate that:
-The nearest bathroom is a 10 min walk that involves mud, squating, and BYOTP.
-Burping is not rude.
-Babies pee and poop on the floor and it's only the second that gets rinsed with water.
-People have so much Pena.
-I'm seen as a walking dollar bill.
-I'm used for my "gringa" status.
-I can't understand what people are saying 65% of the time because of Ngabere.
-Kids don't have all the opportunities I had in school.
-There isn't an inch on my arms or legs that isn't overed in bug bites.
-I'm discovering new gigantic bugs everyday.
-There's not enough time in a day, yet half the time I'm bored.
-There are ants in my bed.
-I have to do diagnoses for Peace Corps.
-There's always a radio on when God's jungle music is so much better.
-I can't solve all their problems.
-Nothing dries.
-I'm condemned from the church for wearing pants, having short hair, wearing a watch and jewelery, listening to the radio, playing volleyball, and playing Bingo.
-Because of many things mentioned above, so many people in the community are condemned from the church (ex. my host brother-in-law likes to play baseball, my host sisters like listening to the radio)
-I have pena to pasear.
-I don't eat fish scales or heads.
-Bochinche exists.

I love:
-That I'm living on an island in Panama!!
-When I remember they're Indians and how proud and strong their culture is.
-When I realize that worlds apart dads still put on their reading glasses to read to their sons and big brothers help their little sisters with school projects.
-That I get to play volleyball.
-That I'm starting to feel at home.
-That I get to bathe naked everynight under the stars watching lightning in the distance.
-That I really am living in a house on stilts with a palm thatched roof.
-That people are so excited about English classes.
-I know I've got great friends and family back home rooting and praying for me.
-The simplicity of life.
-Hammocks.
-That I'm actually speaking Spanish all day everyday.
-The prospect of changing lives for the better.

Alrighty then, I'm going to start my movie now. Peace out for now!

Sloppy Joe

Wireless internet, electrical outlets, public phones, flushing toilets and a sloppy joe- today has been a good day! I was definately in need of a break and today has fit the bill. Life on the island is going well. Some days I feel overwhelmed with the tasks ahead of me, but taking things one day at a time, and playing lots of volleyball makes things seem do-able. The most exciting news is that work on my house has begun. On Satruday 14 men and 8 women showed up for my work "junta". The men cut and carried the wood that will become the posts and frame of my house while the women and I cooked 10 pounds of rice and chicken foot soup. And the fun will continue next Satruday when we will work again. I can't wait to cook for myself and have a space to call my own. Athough the prospect of having to face giant spiders, cockroaches, scorpians, and blood sucking bats on my own isn't all that thrilling. On Thursday I'll move in with my second host family in the community. It will be a big change moving from a house with 17 people to one with only 4. A change should be good though. Posted are some pictures from my site. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts! Someday I'll have time to write a more detailed post, but for now I'm off to buy nails for my house. Hasta luego, Jessica

Island Life

Ahh, Ive only got 4 min left in this rediculously expensive internet cafe so heres a super short update. Life in my new community is a rollercoaster of emotions. Each day I head out from my host familys house (which includes the parents, 9 children, 3 spouses, and 3 grandchildren) and hope to find good conversation. Ive had many great experiences including fishing on the sea, playing volleyball everyday, making bread on an open fire, hosting community meetings, and much much more. There are times I think back to my office job and cant believe where I am now. Its going to be an extremely challenging time but Im looking forward to it! Love from Panama to all reading this! Love, Jessica (Bichochi)

I'm a real volunteer!

I'm currently sitting at a restaurant on the beach relaxing before I head to my site on Monday. Sipping pina coladas and swimming in the ocean before reality hits. Thursday was our big swearing in ceremony and we're no longer trainees but VOLUNTEERS!!! It's still very surreal- especially with our night out in the city and vacation weekend, which are completely opposite from what I will be living for the next two years. Once I get to my site on Monday I'm not supposed to leave it for three months. I won't be seeing the other 45 members of my group until November. (I'll also be bathing in a well- shown in picture below, and using a bucket for my latrine.) But, I'm very excited for the adventure that awaits me! Posted is a picture of the 46 VOLUNTEERS in group 61 with the worldwide director of Peace Corps (he's from MN!). It will be a while before I get internet access again but I'll do my best to keep in touch! I love and miss y'all back home!

Pictures of Host Family, Farewell Party, and Early Birthday Cake!

My Site!!

ALMOST THERE

Less than a week until the swear-in ceremony and I become a real volunteer, and 10 days until I head to my site and start my service! Yikes! Last week I visited my site for five days. It is far... It takes two buses, two boats and two days to reach the island from Panama City. Bien Metido as we say. The community has about 300 members all of which are part of the indigenous group Ngabe Bugle. They are shy at first but I can already tell that after the inicial awkwardness of getting to know everyone and how things work I will have a great time. They are very excited for me to work there and eager to start English classes. The site already has great resources for tourism including a cabin, a trail through the jungles to see the tiny green frogs, and crafts to buy from the women's group. Unfortunately, the things we consider necessary as Americans don't really exist. For example, I will be bathing in well, or better put, a hole they have dug in the ground with some muddy water in it. Toilets don't exist. There are two latrines at the school, but the community either does their thing in the sea or in the small stagnant creek. Nasty. It will take me a while to adjust (and to construct my own personal compsting latrine aka bucket) but needless to say it will be an adventure! We're all ready to end training and get to our sites!

Time is FLYING

Buenas! I just returned from two weeks of traveling around the country. The first week was “cuture week” where we split into groups and traveled to the region where we will be working to learn more about the specific culture in which we will be living, and the second week was “technical week” where we split up by sector to learn more specific skills that we will need for our work. Here’s what I had to say after culture week:

Ñontore! I’m writing to you from the Coaster (or small bus) on my way from culture week to technical week. Seven trainees took the long trip across the country to Bocas del Toro. We stayed in a Ngabe indigenous community where a current volunteer is working. We each stayed with a host family- mine was nice but really quiet as Ngabe tend to be. It was a busy week. We helped teach classes at the elementary school, hauled dirt and collected seeds with the Panama Verde club, visited a finca (or farm) to see cocoa and other various products including pineapple- we even got to help clear the land with machetes!!- we went on a two hour hike through rivers and mud to see a waterfall, and we danced some traditional bailes with the community. Each day we had a few hours of language training- a mix of Spanish and Ngabere. It’s a bit overwhelming to learn a third language when I’m still working on Spanish, but it was interesting. It was a very exhausting week but we had a good time and are feeling more confident to get to our own sites in a month.

OK, back to present time. Yesterday I returned “home” to my host family near Panama City. It was nice to unpack my bag and hopefully my laundry will get washed soon. It’s always an adventure when I don’t actually have control over daily things like meals or laundry. Technical week was a blast!! We stayed in a volunteer’s site on an island on the Pacific side of the country. I had the nicest host family there and we talked for hours every night. During the week we taught English at the school and put on a three day “taller” or workshop for the members of the community that are interested in tourism. The island’s main industry is watermelon but they are one of only five places in the world where sea turtles go in large numbers to lay their eggs on the beach. We helped create their very first tourism brochure- pretty awesome. We also got to walk the beach one night and saw three turtles laying eggs!! Swimming in the ocean wasn’t too bad either!

After tech week we had one free night and a number of us from the training group went to El Valle in the province of Coclé. It is beautiful there with mountains surrounding the city- and talk about some huge houses. It’s pretty crazy to see the two extremes in living style. We got mud masks at the thermal pools and went horse back riding. Having my second warm shower in two months was also a highlight. It was a nice relaxing trip after two weeks on the road.

Only about three weeks left until I swear in as a volunteer and the real adventure begins!! I must give a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to my wonderful sister!!! I hope this message finds everyone well! I will also try to post some more pictures on facebook so check those out if you can. PS I bought a cell phone and it is free for me to receive any calls or texts so please e-mail me if you would like my number! A phone call would make my day :) Hasta luego for now!

Hola!! I’m half-way through week 4 of training and we just found out where our sites will be for the next two years!! I´ll be on an island near Costa Rica!!!

We’re definitely getting excited to start the real work, training keeps us very busy. On Sunday we had our first free day. My host sister, Iris, and a couple of her friends took me to Panama City. (The picture on the left is Iris, me, and a PC friend, Amy in front of the canal.) It was a great day that didn’t feel much like Peace Corps. We got to see the city from the 38th floor of an apartment building, walk around Casco Viejo- the historical part of the city, see the canal up close, and go to a movie. It was “bien nice” as they would say. My host family is great and they have already insisted I return for Christmas.

This coming weekend we leave for two weeks of travel, one for culture week- to an area similar to where we will eventually live, and another for technical week- the TEA group is going to an island where there is sea turtle tourism. It’s a pretty sweet deal to be in the tourism group because we get to visit lots of tourism sites for our training!

In training we’re currently learning more about teaching ESL and on Friday I’ll start language classes to learn Ngobe Bugle- the indigenous language spoken in Bocas del Toro.

Mi casa / My house

Mi cuarto / My bedroom (note the fabulous mosquito net... I feel like a princess)

El Rancho- where we have most of our classes, it´s fun to dodge the leaks when it starts to rain!

Pepe el mono

Host Family Number 1

We´ve now been with our training host families for one week. It´s been quite the transition from our relatively nice villas we were staying in when we first got to Panama. We´re staying in two small towns about 45 minutes (by public bus) outside of Panama City. Houses are made of of cement and it´s about 50/50 latrine versus flush toilet. Fortunately I´ve got the nicer of the two and because of it have yet to see a cucaracha (cochroach). I share a bedroom with my 59 year old host mom- Gloriela. Two of her four children live with us, their ages are 36 and 37. They both work in the city so they aren´t around during the day. Lots of extended family are coming around the house- my favorite is 5 year old Jossmar. Yesterday we were playing in his casa de arboles (tree house). My host family is really nice and they give me my space, but sometimes it´s a bit too much space as we don´t do anything but sit and watch tv. It doens´t matter much as we are kept very busy between technical and language training which are from 8 to 12 and 1 to 5 everyday. Not to mention the homework. I think I have an advantage having just graduated from college, it´s not too much of a transition from that.

Today we had a mini tour of Panama City, how the buses work, and where the grocery stores and hotels are that we might need to use later on. I´ve also had a chance to experience Panama´s health clinics. I think I´m one of the optimisic ones in the group, but as I´ve said before, things are still going great. They are getting a bit more stressful and the workload has picked up, and we´re all anxious to find out where our sites will be. We´ll find out in 3 weeks. I think that´s all the updates for now. Chao!!

¡Panamá!

I made it to Panama and I've got internet for the moment (although it is pretty hit and miss). It is very green here compared to MN- and MUCH more hot and humid. Things are still going great! We pretty much have training from 8 to 6 for the next few days. We’ve had some sessions on safety, money, and computers, learned how to make flotation devices out of our clothes and done a few language interviews to find out what level our Spanish is at. Today we visited a current volunteer at his site about an hour and a half away. We had a chance to see a waterfall and see what the indigenous community was like. It was neat but we’re all a bit freaked out about the living situation. I put a few pictures below. I’ve learned that I will probably be in an indigenous community (w/o electricity or water) working mostly with ESL. Sounds pretty exciting!! I also have discovered that this is the first TEA (Tourism and English Advising) program they have ever had in Panama. So we get to really develop the program and make it what we want. That's pretty neat- if it goes well for us then they will continue to have the program.


On Sunday (tomorrow!!) we move in with our host families that we will be with for the next 9 weeks of training. So far everything is going great and I feel extremely blessed to be in Panama. All the PC staff are great and they really care about the volunteers and want to make their experience the most enjoyable it can be. I most likely won’t have internet access for the next few weeks so I’m not sure when I’ll have another chance to write…

Chao

Welcome to Miami!

I made it! I'm finally in the Peace Corps. Tomorrow I officially become a Peace Corps Trainee and I become a PCV- a volunteer on June 26. Hazah! I'm having so much fun. It's been a bit exhausting but the group is great. We are the largest group to ever go to Panama at 47 people. Staging has been a good transition and a great opportunity to get to know the group. I believe there are 11 people in my TEA group. There are also people here to work with agriculture and others for community economic conservation. We all head off to Panama together tomorrow and on Sunday we'll be with our host families! I can't wait!

the time is near

Only two more days! I've said most of my goodbyes and my bags are packed, so that must mean it's time for me to go. Hopefully I've got everything I'll need. I'm still 24 pounds under the weight limit which is nice. I am bringing my laptop so hopefully I will be able to use it.
At this point I'm really excited and will save my worries for later. I'm already looking forward to cinnabun in the airport :)

Two Weeks

Hello friends and family,

I'm not much of a journalist, but I've created this site to keep you updated as I venture into the jungles of Panama for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I'm not entirely sure how often I'll have access to a computer once I reach my destination, but I'll try to update as often as possible. Two weeks from today (April 14th) I'll be on the plane for Miami for "staging" where I'll get vaccines, a little pre-training and meet my fellow Panama volunteers. Then I'm off to Panama on the 16th. My program is called Tourism and English Advising. I could be doing any number of things but I will work with a tourism organization on the business/leadership side of things as well as teach English to students of all ages. I hope you enjoy hearing about my experiences, I know I will enjoy hearing from you while I'm away.