IST, the passage of time, and upcoming adventures

My how time flies!  Last time I wrote was sometime in July, probably about a month ago.  But time is funny.  Somehow, it feels like I've only been in my community for a couple months, and in Panama for a month or two more than that, when in reality, I've been in my community for 5 months- nearly a quarter of my service is gone!  At the same time as that perception of time is quick, trying to remember IST, our 2 week training session at the end of July, feels like reaching back into the mists of time.  In short, by some means, the past 2 weeks were longer than the previous 7 months.
And then, of course, you have the complete lack of seasonal markers here.  Ok, that's not technically true, but they're a good deal less clear here than in the good old EEUU (Estados Unidos, or United States- and I have no idea why they double the letters).  It's incredibly weird to think that it was very much winter when we left, and now it's well into summer, which means that spring has come and gone, and it feels vastly different now there than it did in January.  But, it's pretty much the same here as it has been.  Occasionally we get rainstorms, and sometimes it sprinkles, but we still haven't had the daily torrent of “winter” that I was given to expect to start in April.  According to my abuelo panameño, it's starting now, but honestly, I'll believe it when I see it.  In the meantime, sweating doesn't mean anything anymore, and moments where I'm not sweating are really pleasant breaks.  As I write this, actually, it's actually pleasant, though I just watched a Panamanian neighbor walk by with a knit cap.    I'm wondering if, when I visit the States in December, I'm going to have become Panamanian in terms of temperature...hopefully not.  Last night, my familia panamaña walked me home, and my hermanito commented that it was so cold that it was nearly frozen.  We were all wearing sandals, short sleeves, all that stuff- a curious reminder of how foreign an idea like “cold” the way we consider it, can be.  Yes, among you, my lovely readers, there are varied ideas of “cold”, but we can probably agree that any time when most people have bare arms, legs, and feet, it doesn't qualify as “cold”.
Que más...the problem with this blog is that nearly every day I think of things to write, but it's always when I'm out doing them, and when I get back home, all I'm thinking of is dinner, and what I need to get ready for tomorrow, and deciding when to go to bed. (I hold out at least until 8).
Oh, our IST- InService Training.  Two weeks with nearly our whole group together for the first time since we swore in!  Unfortunately, a few of us 'Early Terminated', ended their service early.  And for the first couple of days, we had CEC (Community Environmental Conservation, the other sector in group 70) with us too, so it was truly our entire training group.  We had sessions from 8 AM to 5 PM, which is a longer work day than I think all of us had had since training.  Our presenters included the PC ET team of Jose, Joel, and Sonia, as well as some of the other TE volunteers, the ones who came last year, and Allegra I-don't-remember-her-last-name, but she's the English coordinator person for all of Peace Corps.  It was a lot of work, a lot of information, but really useful stuff ranging from assessment techniques, to activities, teaching strategies...but I think my favorites ended up being a great session on re-working the official MEDUCA curriculum to something that might actually work, and the various ways to develop reading and writing skills even on very basic levels, while still supporting very important vocal skills as well.  Intense, but good times.  Also, the place where this took place had TVs, so we even got to see the Olympics!  (Which led to time contemplations, thinking about how it was 4 years ago that I went to China and saw their preparations, before heading to the American Solar Challenge 2008, and then seeing the massive spectacle that was the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics- that was a good year...)
Of course, since it was our whole group together again, and our group has a well-deserved reputation for having ridiculous levels of solidarity/friendliness, every night was hanging out, games, dance parties...so, long days, and full nights.  We did have a couple days off, one of which we spent at the beach and most of us went into the city for the other, where we shopped, saw the new Batman, and went out dancing.
On a side note, our group dynamic is really a fortunate thing- we hear from other groups that we  have this reputation, and it's true- while of course there are some groups who are closer than others, they aren't exclusive, and pretty much everyone hangs out with whomever else.  It'd be a hard thing for nearly 30 people to all be close friends, but we all more or less get along.  Sometimes it's a detriment, when waiting for a critical mass of us to get heading the same direction at the same time...once there is a direction...but that's an infinitely preferable problem to have to having political/social drama problems.  
After I got back from IST, I went to spend my 2 weeks with my third Secondaria teacher, who has 2 8th grade classes, and 4 9th.  It was pretty painful overall, with her barely talking to me in class, and chatting with other teachers in Spanish in her free periods, but I got to have some fun helping kids practice pronunciation for presentations they were preparing (read, memorizing the sounds of) for the second week.  (Haha, woohoo alliteration!)  On my second Thursday we finally had a conversation that I sincerely wish we'd had at the beginning of my time with her, and I think it's possible that we can actually make a lot of progress when I'm with her again for the next school year.
Even before these 2 weeks, before IST, I'd pretty much decided that I was going to split my time between my mumblemumblefavoritemumblemumble Secondaria teacher and my Primaria teacher because they're the readiest, most fun for me to work with, and the 3rd trimester is effectively the shortest, because almost all of the last month is consumed by holidays, including independence days from Spain and Colombia, Flag Day, and 'First Shouts of Independence” from a lot of cities and towns around the country.  Culturally interesting, horrible for academics.  (It doesn't help that the Panamanian attitude towards education is that it's important, but doesn't merit too much actual effort from the teachers, administration, or students.  I suppose, though, that it's hardly fair to compare rural Panamanian school attitudes to my school experiences, which weren't quite standard even for the US.)  So, it should be an interesting time in all sorts of definitions of that word!  Incidentally, that being November, that should be the intensely ridiculously rainy part of the year, and also Thanksgiving, which I understand involves a PCV extravaganza out in Chiriquí.  And then there are a few other random festivals and events thrown in for fun.  Should be an interesting few months!  And I'm having my first visitor from the States in September- welcome Cecily! :-D

P.S. If you'd like postcards or the like, I would be happy to send them, but I left my address book in the States, because I was smart and prepared like that...so, if you'd like something por correo, send me your address :-)