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 :)