First Week of Training

Buenas!

We took two busses to our host family community and boy did we need it with all the luggage I brought! Though we were each dropped off at our new homes, I still had help carrying my bags from the roadside my house. Packing was pretty easy, as I don’t have any drawers or a dresser, so all my clothes are pretty much in a mess on the ground. I do have a table, but I basically just keep my hairbrush and a backpack that I don’t even open on there. I should probably change that…

My host family is great! I’ve got a mom, dad, 12 yr old brother (Mario, aka Piro), and 2 month old baby sister. (She doesn’t cry at all though!!!) I also have a 10 yr old brother (Juan) but he doesn’t live with us. (I still haven’t figured it all out.) And I’ve seen the 15 yr old brother only once. I have no clue where he lives, as I don’t think he lives with all of our neighboring uncles, aunts, cousins, or grandparents. So basically everyone who lives nearby is related to our family. That means that I hang out a lot with the other volunteers in those families which is nice.

I’ve got my own room with a light (yep, I’ve got electricity!!!), a FAN!, and a DOUBLE bed. I still haven’t set my mosquito net up but don’t tell anyone! My house has an indoor bathroom complete with a flushing toilet! We’ve got a shower with a showerhead and everything, but we only have water for a few hours everyday. I can never seem to figure out when, so I usually end up taking a shower by pouring a cup of water over my head from the bucket, lathering up, and pouring another cup over. I definitely invested in a bottle of Pert Plus to cut half the time out of washing my hair. We also have a minifridge which is great because I get ice in my drink for lunch and dinner. (Breakfast is of course coffee.)

Speaking of meals, did you know that you can fry baloney? That and fried hot dogs are perfectly acceptable for breakfast along with fried cornmeal, or fried dough, or fried (you fill in the blank). Some of it is quite good, and I especially liked the lunch of fried platanos (think French fries) and fried egg with ketchup!

Training is going well. I´ve learned how to properly sharpen my machete, limpiar el monte (cut down everything in sight to plant crops), and start a fast compost. And it´s only been the first week! Today we met in the bigger city for our weekly training on culture and general PC matters. Tropical diseases was probably the highlight of this one. Yes, a lot of us will be getting Dengue, so we have that to look forward to!

Last night I played soccer with my extended family (brothers and cousins). Man, I seriously never gave enough credit to those who play on the dirt with sharp rocks BAREFOOT! I could barely run as it hurts so much. By the end of these two years I´ll be an expert though! Then again, most of the kids only come up to my waist, so perhaps it´s not too high of a goal to reach. Hehe

That´s about it for now. I should be getting on the internet each week after class in the city. I still need to figure out a way to charge my computer as the pealing electrical extension cord hanging from my ceiling for power does not like my charger. (Popping sounds and melting plastic smells are NOT a good sign when dealing with expensive electronics!) Once I figure it out, I´ll try getting some pics up.

Also, the address is game to send me things. Mail is really slow coming through Panama City, so nothing big is needed at this point. (Letters may even take multiple months to get here.) Once I move outside of Panama (as the province is called), mail should be better.

First Steps in Panama

I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

Landing in Miami, I found some fellow volunteers at luggage claim. Ha, a guy on the plane (not PC) mentioned how it is rediculous not to travel light on an airplane anymore. Little did he know that in addition to my backpacking pack carry-on, I also had another, bigger pack in addition to a rolling duffle that I checked! So I definitely brought more than necessary, but do I regret it? No. In fact, I already snuggled in my sleeping bag as everyone in my villa froze when we couldn't find where to turn off the AC. Perhaps I'll never use it again, but at least it served me well. (I probably won the prize too on the first day of introductions our partners had to introduce us to the group with the weirdest item we brought with my taxidermy kit!)

I've had people come up to me not only asking if I was the one with the weird stuff, but also thanking me for setting up the facebook group. Little do they know, until now, that I wanted to find out who was in the group too! Everyone is really cool though. They come from all different backgrounds and have some type of experience in their program area.

After hours and hours of lectures, group work and presentations, we loaded onto two busses for a ten minute trip back to the airport. A couple hours later we boarded the plane and a few more after that we landed in Panama. As we approached Panama City, the sets of waves made perfectly straight lines across the coastline. The buildings of the city rose out of the surrounding lowlands accompanying the famous canal. An egret on the tarmac greeted me as my first Panamanian bird. And the humidity didn't waste any time with its welcome.

Beside the Miraflores locks is where we are currently staying along with PC headquarters. We are still being oriented to the country and PC with full days of presentations and interviews. Our country director is an amazing guy and even jumped into the pool after our swim test with all of his clothes on to teach us how to make a floatation device out of our pants. Yes, that means he stripped down in the pool too. All the girls had a bloodtest to check if we were preggers. (Some of the guys got a kick out of thinking how big a surprise that would be now that we've made it here!) Then we had out language interviews where I didn't spit out all of my conjugations. I've still been placed above the level I need to be sworn in as a volunteer, so I'm happy. In my medical interview I found out I only need one shot (Hep A booster). That is great news as one guy needs eight shots!

And finally I had my project interview where I probably confused my director more than helped him in placing me in a site. I started out by saying that I would prefer to have a primary project other than environmental education because I feel I could always pick it up as a secondary project and combine it with other things. But then I got really into talking all about EE for the rest of the interview, so who knows! Truth be told, I'd be fine with EE as a primary project. So what happens, happens. :) During the medical interview I found out that you have to take Larium if you are in the eastern part of the country... So as neat as living in the Darien would be, I don't know if I want to do that. (Mom and Dad probably wouldn't be too happy about it either! hehe) So tomorrow everyone goes to get Yellow Fever shots while just a handful of us get to watch. Then we meet in our Spanish groups, have some more presentations, and head off to the mall for dinner.

I'm still really excited and any nerves I may have had keep drifting away day by day. We'll be moving in with our host families this weekend. Boy does time fly!

Too Much!

So I am just finishing up packing and have way too much stuff. To my credit, I am bringing less than I did to Alaska or Florida or South Carolina. It's probably about 1/4 the amount I had at UCLA. I am probably bringing the same amount I did to Argentina. But I still feel like it is too much for the Peace Corps, as it's much more than recommended on the Panama Welcome Book. But alas... I think what matters most is if I will regret bringing too much, more than not enough. I doubt it.

I'll bet that I won't end up using quite a bit of what I bring. Perhaps I still won't use my tent to camp out on the beach. Perhaps I won't really be chilly enough to use my sleeping bag. Perhaps I'll never need to sew anything or feel the need to try my hand at taxidermy again. But what if I do? Granted I could have the over abundance of socks that I am taking sent by mail to me once I get there. Or I could have more shirts sent. Or my Carhartts. But what if I just brought them now? From experience in Argentina, by the time it arrives by mail (IF AT ALL), I might not need it anymore. True, I could probably purchase things in country. And if you know me, I probably will. (Definitely will: I'm keeping my rubber boots here and buying new ones in Panama already.)

The way I figure it, I know I'll have to move quite a bit within the first few months. I'll need to fly it to Staging in Miami (1), get it to Ciudad del Saber for the start of training (2), move into a home stay (3), move to site home stay(4), move into my own housing (5). I imagine I'll still be able to roll things for the first two moves. Then when we go on volunteer visits, technical training, and cultural training, I am praying that we only have to pack for that week and not take everything we own with us. And when I move into my own house, I figure I'll be in the same general area, so I can make a couple trips if need be. So that really boils down to just two moves (aka two days of my entire service) that I could potentially be moving everything at once, on my own. If I had to, I could do it... even if that means that I'll be taking Tylenol the next day. Hopefully I'll make friends and get helpers. Perhaps I'll wear a pink shirt on those days, as I seem to always get more offers of help when I am wearing such a color. lol. All my luggage is a type of backpack, so it is semi-manageable. Plus I'll be bringing locks for my luggage in case I need to leave one bag behind for a bit. We'll see!

So what exactly am I bringing? Here's a list. Okay, so it's not exact, but that's about it. Some things I want to bring but just can't for the life of me find them. (Binoculars??? They've gotta be around here somewhere!) And undoubtedly, I'll throw in some things last minute. Last minute? Me? lol