busy, busy, busy

Fewh! It's been four weeks since the last time I used a computer. I've become very anti-internet but unfortunately Peace Corps always sends a million e-mails and it's reporting time so I've been forced to do some computer work. Fortunately I'm at a friend's house who has internet! Just like back home.

Recently I've been busy helping out with group 63 training. They are a great group and it's nice to have a break from site. Last week I was in Cocle for TEA Technical Week. They taught in the school, worked on a recycling project and helped update a brochure and webpage. At first I didn't think it would be much of a vacation, but after showering the volunteer whose house I was staying at asked if I wanted to use her hair dryer and I knew it would be an alright week. Yesterday we had our regional meeting. The meeting itself wasn't anything too exciting but it's always fun to get together with other volunteers an last night we went dancing so that was a good time. Today I'm getting in my much needed computer time and tomorrow I'll head back to site.

In site I'm keeping busy teaching my English class- which is going well, and as always working with the ladies. We recently finished getting four stamps made which we will use as our price tag. Now I'm starting to write up a budget and project proposal for the much needed fix-up of the restaurant and cabin. The weather is perfect. Sunny for the most part during the days and raining at night.

Recent saying I've become fond of saying: "Oh, Panama..."

Waa finally updating!

Hola!! It has been forever since I've had the opportunity to update so I'll do my best to fill you in...

First of all, over a month ago I ventured to Antigua, Guatemala to visit my friend, Krista. I had a great time!! I traveled by bus to Costa Rica and flew from there. I got to see the school where she teaches English, many old church ruins, beautiful Lake Atitlan surrounded by volcanoes, a huge artisanry market, and much more. My favorite was climbing a volcano, camping near the top overnight, and roasting marshmellows on the lava. It was an incredible experience and a great break from Panama.

After Guatemala I spent a few weeks back in site but getting re-motivated was difficult. The women's group that I work with is having some major power struggles and organizational issues. So I've been laying low, sewing lots and working on the relationship side of things with the ladies.

The rain finally stopped, but unfortunately it really stopped. When I was last in the community it hadn't rained for a month and people's water sources were running out. But the lack of rain meant lots and lots of volleyball in the afternoons. And me and a few friends have started playing cards, mainly rummy 500, everynight.

Last week we had an all volunteer conference where the over 150 current volunteers in Panama got together to share project ideas and information and talk about culture. It was great to get together with some of the volunteers I hadn't seen since training and meet many people I had never seen before. Bocas del Toro region won the Jeopardy game and Group 61 won the Panamanian challenges.

I'm currently in Panama City waiting to meet group 63 trainees who arrive in the country today. Because of that I had about five days to visit some fellow volunteers in between the conference and today. I visited two conservation volunteers, Ashley and Brandon, in Colon and a fellow tourism and English volunteer, Elena, in the Chagres National Park. It is always crazy to see how other volunteers live and what their daily lives consist of because they are all so diverse. In Elena's site I got my whole back tatooed (don't worry mom, it washes off in about 2 weeks) and got to go tubing down the river. It was really good to hear about their projects and it makes me excited to get back to my site and get working.

Yesterday I spend my whole day in Albrook mall! I got a manicure and pedicure, a haircut, saw a movie, and shopped at Zara! I'm feeling bad about so much time out of my community but this has been a really good break and I know I'll be better able to work when I return to Bocas.

I have now been in Panama for over a year! I arrived in the country April 16, 2008. CRAZY!!! It's hard to comprehend the passing of time when it is perpetual summer here. Time is flying by but I'm still wondering how am I going to fill another year, yet how am I going to finish all I wanted to accomplish! Well, I think that pretty much covers it, hope all is well with you. Chao!

rain rain go away

Helllloooooooo everyone. It´s finally time for another update in the life of me. As a Minnesotan the weather is always a popular conversation topic so I´ll start with that.

Weather: It won´t stop raining! We´ve had about two days of sun in the last two weeks so the volleyball playing has been limited, but the water is plentiful and the tanks are full. Which means I´ve gotten into the habit of washing clothes at home rather than making the muddy trek to the stream, and I´m liking the change. We were put on the "alert phase" at one point but we´re now back in the "all clear".

Business: English classes are marching along. I´ve got about six students consistently coming to class. It´s small but that means good participation. We´ve got three weeks left of this round of classes (aka until I go to Guatemala) and then we´ll take another break. Next Monday we have a test so we´ll see what they´ve actually grasped. Ay ay ay... working with the women´s group is always a challenge. Two weeks ago I took two lovely ladies (the secretary and president of the group) to a leadership and project management seminar. It was a great experience and I think they learned a lot or atleast had their eyes opened to some new possibilities. We returned back to the community with our minds full of ideas and hope for better organization, as well as lots of fabric and beads for the artisanry. The group meeting we had went GREAT! There was discussion and debate, which means change and the possibility for improvement. Finally everyone was in agreement that we would change some things around... and then a week later the president makes her own changes without informing anyone. ergh! If everyone were honest and working for the good of the group things would be SO much easier. But alas, I must work with what I have. We´re working on making a price tag for the artisanry and still trying to find a way to fix up our leaking "restaurant". The solution at this time seems to be Bingo, dominoes, and beer. We´re going to have "activities" once a month to collect funds, with our first one next Saturday. Hope all goes well. Aaaand I´ve got a girl scouts group with nine niñas ages 7-12. We meet once a week to play games and chat about things like washing your hands, leadership, conservation, self esteem, garbage pick up, etc. Last week we went swimming in the river after class. A little stressful for me the chaperone with two girls who can´t swim. But they had a blast.

Current Events: Where am I now? On my way to an English teaching seminar. I left a day early to get in some much needed computer time. And I already stopped by "El Rey del Helado" or The Icecream King. And tonight I´m going to go see a chick flick at the movie theater! Things in site are going well. I´ve made some really good friends and I´m staying busy with work. It´s hard to believe that I´ve already been in Panama for ten months! Time is really flying by. Hope everyone back home is staying warm! Love from Panama, Jessica (PS pictures are of the seminar and making a straw structure with my girl scouts group)

Update Time

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!! Big exciting news is that I’m finally in my own house and all settled in… and I LOVE IT! I think I have the nicest house in the whole community (which makes me feel a little guilty sometimes, but only a little J ). With a lot of help from my architect Ramon I think we finally have all the finishing touches and it’s better than I ever imagined. I’ve got a giant bedroom, a kitchen complete with running water and stove, an enclosed bathing room connected to the house, a large porch with a bench for visitors and of course a hammock. It is so great to finally have my own space (except for having to kill all the scorpions by myself) and finally being able to cook for myself after 8 months with host families is AMAZING! I’m getting into baking because once it’s dark and everyone heads home, there’s really not a whole lot to do but make brownies, lemon bars, m&m cookies, banana bread, or, sometimes I read. I’ve been in my site for almost three weeks and am just now taking a computer and electricity break.
I was invited over to a neighbor’s house for both Christmas and New Years and they were both very mellow but good. It didn’t quite feel like Christmas without the snow and cold. But I certainly still got a lot of presents when my parents came to visit.
Work wise, things will really start to pick up again starting on the 12th when English classes begin again and I’m starting a girl scouts group, and of course always throwing around ideas with the women’s group. We’re starting to use a “control de ventas” aka a spread sheet where they write down sales and expenses for the day, so we’ll see how that goes.
Well I think that pretty much covers everything. I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas, hopefully I’ll be able to make it home to visit for the holidays next year!

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!