The Past Few Weeks, and my close brush with Fame and Fortune

     It's been a while since climbing Vulcán Barú, and about a month since my last post.  In the first couple weeks of November, I visited my schools, discovered that the recycling program was on hold, did some English stuff, such as my community classes, and kept busy in the usual sort of way.  With a couple First Communions, and Anniversarios, and the like.
At the end of the month, however, things got interesting again.  As usual, soon there will be pictures posted.  Probably.
     So, the week before Thanksgiving held English Week at the University of Panama- Aguadulce Extension.  Nate, Julie, Catherine, and I went out to Aguadulce, which is the town near the western border of my province, an hour and a half or so away, on Tuesday to act as judges for a Speech Contest.  In truth, when we arrived, we found that we were to judge the 5 contestants on their speeches, in English, and their talents.  We were to crown a Mr. and Miss English.  The speeches were quite impressive, and some of the talents were as well!  If I recall correctly, we crowned a singer who seemed to know her song and interpret it with body language and dynamics, and a clarinetist.
     I also got to be friends with Gilma, the Profesora who put the event together, and on the following Friday, went back for the "Get Together/Values-Oscar Night".  It was an excuse to get dressed up and play interior designer (sort of, it was an outdoor space, but I ended up helping a lot with decorations, table arrangements, and centerpieces).  There were awards for "Best Friendship", "Hardest Working" and suchlike, as well as a couple of the usual "choreographies", which are self-choreographed, generally hip-hop pieces that pop up at most secondaria and apparently university level events.  There were also a couple scenes from a thespian group, the first a display of an abusive relationship, which the table behind me seemed to find quite hilarious. Oy.  The other was about 2 sisters, one of whom was telling the other about this oh, so fabulous guy that she's hooked on who was eventually revealed to have been a complete jerk to the other sister.  It wasn't as entertaining as the one with the abusive husband/boyfriend, but up there...according to the table behind me.  All together an entertaining evening :-)
     After a few days back in site, I went back out on Wednesday for Thanksgiving in Cerro Punta.  8 hours or so of busses later, I arrived, signed in, signed up for the Talent Show that night (belly dancing!), and got out to my cabin waaaaaay out in the woods.  Beautiful birding spot, and about an hour walk up from the main lodge.  As I was waiting for my turn in the Talent Show, a volunteer I'd never met before asked me if I'd do a salsa dance with him, so naturally I said yes.  It was an entertaining surprise, although belly dancing costume and salsa dancing don't mix too well.  The salsa was very well received, as was my solo.  Several volunteers among my friends and others complimented the dance throughout Thursday :-).  I have a video that'll make it online eventually as well.  Maybe.
     After a day of hiking, hanging out, playing with fire, fresas con crema, hanging out, and a Thanksgiving Dinner That Couldn't Be Beat, I helped clean up.  Hey, 2$ discount!  All in all, they were a very enjoyable couple of days.
    Friday brought me back to site for about 15 hours before I turned around and headed back out to the City for our flashmob rehearsal for World Aids Day on Sunday, Dec 1.
Enjoy: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151731925801673  So much fun!!!
     Monday was a friend's birthday, so we went out to eat and had a bit of a party at the hostel, and on Tuesday, all of Group 70 trooped out to Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge), location of the PC HQ for our COS Conference.  Our Close-Of-Service Conference, aka, all we need to know about leaving our communities and country, and the last time our whole group, or nearly, would all be together.  After our first session, on Tuesday night, there was a fellow from casting for "Hands of Stone" who somehow got the inside scoop that there would be a gathering of gringos, and took a bunch of pictures and phone numbers.  It was a very informative conference, and on Thursday night, we rented a Party Bus, which was honestly, much more fun than I'd been anticipating.  On Friday I skipped back home for a Carol Sing at a University English program and over the weekend visited the annual Agricultural Fair, though this year I skipped the evening dances.  There were produce vendors and a few artesanias, as well as some folclorica dance presentations.
    The following Monday saw me back into the City to be an extra in the movie!  I showed up (a bit early) and with a group of other extras, was carted out to the stadium where they're filming, got signed in, costumed (Amy Evans, RN, complete with white cap, white dress, white stockings, white wedge loafers), hair-and-makeuped, and was herded hither and yon to wait, until eventually we were told that our scene was shrunk and that the extras were cut.  But I was minutes, or yards, rather, from being IN A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE SCENE with ROBERT DE NIRO.  But that would be the "close brush" in the title.  It was a lot of fun seeing the process, and getting hair-and-makeuped, and seeing the ring (it's a boxing movie), aaaaaaand...I'm going back on Sunday, but that'll be as a face in the crowd during a  boxing match.  Probably.  But, still fun, and I made a new friend, a woman who was at the mall with her family when she was accosted by a movie person to be in the scene from which we were cut!
   Now, I'm back in Santa Rita for a while, at last, except for day trips and meetings and the like.  AND IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS, TRISTAN AND JENNIFER WILL BE WITH ME IN PANAMA!!!!! And that's more exciting than being in a movie with Robert de Niro anyway ;-)

Climbing the Volcano

Vulcán Barú is an active volcano in Panama, having its most recent activity roughly 500 years ago, although the last eruption was 1000 years before that.  Or something like that; actually, some people say it's dormant, but there still are earthquakes and a number of popular hot springs, so there's still hope ;-)
One of the peaks is the highest point in Panama, at 11400 feet or so.  But before we get to the top, we must start at the bottom!  There are pictures, by the way, but I'm cheating.  Instead of illustrating this story with interspersed pictures, I've attached a link to all of my pictures at the bottom of this post.

This is a very well-known hike, and very popular among PCVs.  We'd all had it in our minds as part of the Peace Corps bucket list.  It's reputed to be a 5-7 hour hike, and a great part of the appeal is the possibility of seeing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by one moving ones head.

On the last Sunday in October, my PCV friend Julie, her boyfriend Tommy, PCV Katie and PCV Nate drove out to Cerro Punta, Chiriquí with the intention of walking up the volcano.   Tommy had rented a car for his visit, and so we were spared the hours on crowded buses, and the trip passed much more rapidly in such company.  We hit a literal pothole and had a bit of a delay in the form of a bent rim, but with the help of a friendly fellow victim of the same pothole and an accommodating fellow who came out to his tire repair shack to bang the wheel back into shape.

Julie and Tommy stayed in a suite, since they were staying after the hike as well, while Katie, Nate, and I stayed in the dorms.  For dinner on Sunday night, we'd bought a variety of veggies and fixin's for a stirfry, but before long discovered that there was no stovetop in the suite.  So, being resourceful Peace Corps Volunteers, we chopped everything up, and fire roasted veggies in aluminum foil packets, since there was a fireplace.  We hung around, chatted, enjoyed being in weather cool enough to appreciate a fire, and played Cards Against Humanity, before heading to bed.

Bright and early at 6 or so, we met for breakfast and met our guides, Jorge and Maikel, a couple of local fellows who have been up and down the volcano 20 and 16 times, respectively.  I think.  Bastante (enough) times, at any rate.  We took a quick taxi ride out to the trailhead, and started hiking on a beautiful clear morning.

At first, we walked through a field, which turned to forest, which turned to thicker forest.  This initial part was much like many other hikes I've been on, through trees and bits of scrambling over fallen trees, around root structures, and everything was growing.   Trees were growing, 20 varieties of ferns were growing, mosses, lichens, orchids, other flowers, leafy plants in greens and reds and yellows (but not falling).  We could hear birds and bugs, and the wind blowing.  It was nigh magical.  In this section, it did feel rather like a autumnal hike back in the Frozen North.  Here and there we stopped to catch our breath, drink water, and have a snack, and were attacked by clouds of mosquitoes.  Like I said, just like an autumnal hike alla (there).

As we continued on, the grade became steeper, and we spent more time climbing than walking, though still mostly over tree roots, but with sections of rocks.  After 4 hours or so, we reached a rocky space which was more or less a halfway point- more than halfway in distance, less than halfway in time.  BECAUSE, after a bit more climbing/hiking up and down and around the side, we left the trees for the most part, and entered the clouds.  It was a beautiful day, and luckily for us, it didn't rain at any point during our walk.

Leaving the trees, we entered a different sort of magical reality.  We climbed the volcanoside, and the plantlife changed from rainforest to scrub-type plants.  Eventually I realized what the plants reminded me of- San Diego.  A bit deserty, though more due to altitude I'm sure.  It may well have been similar to parts of Colorado, but my clearest memories of that are covered in snow.  Similar in the hardy grasses, stunted, twisted trees, and the occasional flash of some bright flower or leaf.  There were some fantastically picturesque mushrooms, straight out of Mario Bros., according to Jorge, and the clouds blew in and out and between the peaks.  At one point, we can see for miles, the towns we came from, and then 5 minutes later, everything was shrouded and we were alone in the world.

Continuing to climb, we left even the stunted trees, and everything was rock, gravel, lichen, grass and clouds.  We spent several more hours climbing, and I began to worry that it was 4 miles, however it was rather longer.  I don't remember the distance, but it may have been around 12 or 13 km.  However, Jorge did tell us "2 more hours" on more than one rest break.

Our energy was fading, and it seemed as if we would never reach the end.  Eventually we did make it to the rim of one of the 3 calderas, from which we could see the field of antenna towers that marked our final destination.  We could see the cross on the tallest peak/pile of rocks...at the top of yet another grade that appeared more wall than path.  But, we gathered the last of our energy, and made our way, much less talktatively than at the beginning, to the top.  There, we found a police station where solitary officers are stationed for 2 week stints, and a brisk 5 deg. Celsius air temperature (about 42 F).  We set up our tents, but the officer who was stationed there at the time, Jose, invited us into the station/apartment where he made rice, fried up plantains and chorizo, and best of all, gave us hot chocolate.  The sunset in the clouds, as you can see in the pictures (I hope, let me know if the link doesn't work), was AMAZING and entirely worth the climb.  After sunset, the sky was again clear and we went out to look at the flickering lights of David, which is the capital of Chiriqui, and the border towns of Costa Rica.  Come sunrise, Jose went out to check the view, and reported back that it was cloudy and rainy, so we stayed huddled in our sleeping bags in the bunk beds in the station.  At around 8 we actually got up to look, and it was  beautiful.  We could see, as advertised, the Atlantic Ocean to the left, and the Pacific Ocean and the islands of Bocas del Toro to the right.  Katie, Nate, and I scaled the last bit of trail and rock to stand on the Highest Point In Panama, and I maintain that I saw 2 snowflakes.  They were white, small, and floaty more than fall-y, so I stand by it.  It was cold enough for a couple!

As Tuesday marked the end of Jose's 2 week stint at the top, he offered us rides town on the truck that was coming up the "road" from Boquete.  Some of us were in favor of that, others were not, so we compromised and walked down the "road" instead of climbing down the way we'd come up.  In parts, it was a rough gravel road.  In parts, it seemed impossible for any motor vehicle to pass...until the truck which held Jose's replacement passed us, and it became clear, as it was essentially a monster truck.

We walked and walked, and eventually reached the edges of civilization, where we found fields of calla lilies, and picturesque flocks of sheep at whom we baaaah'ed, and even got a couple baaah's in return.  There were lambs, including one that was 5 days old, according to Jorge's guess.  It was all very pastoral and lovely.  Particularly the parts where the road was fairly horizontal.

Eventually, we reached Boquete, and took a couple of buses back to Cerro Punta, calling en route to order dinner.  We arrived late, but they kept our dinners ready, and a waitress who was clearly ready to go home, but still provided commendable service. We all went to sleep pretty quickly.that night, and on Wednesday, we sat around, and did not much of anything.  Well, not much physical activity; we hung around, relaxed, recharged, and generally enjoyed ourselves.  I got to skype with Cecily, had some fun internet time, games, and a hot bath in the suite.  All in all, a lovely, though very taxing, few days.

Back in town, I had a day to get refocused before a weekend of parades and celebrations for the fiestas patrias- the 3 day affair of celebration for Independence from Colombia, Flag Day, and Patriotic Stuff.  Coming up this month as well, a number of other patriotic holidays (I recently learned that regardless of the actual dates, the patriotic days were consolidated into November for convenience or somesuch), and at the end of the month, I'll be heading back to Cerro Punta with most of my fellow volunteers for our Thanksgiving celebration! Woohoo!

Vulcan Baru Pictures!

Santa Rita Sports and Leadership Camp! And coming attractions...

And now, you can all relax and sit back from that position on the edge of your seats that you've been maintaining for the past month, because Here It Is! A peek at the Sports and Leadership Camp that I hosted at my Primaria at the beginning of September.

First of all, if you haven't seen the album because you aren't on facebook, don't care to use facebook, or just haven't seen it, here's the photographic evidence: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.556128133732.1073741827.113100113&type=1&l=59ca637b16

It all started in late July when I went to help a friend's English Day event with about 10 other volunteers. One of those other volunteers is one of our GAD coordinators, GAD being the volunteer board that focuses on gender development, AIDS awareness, youth programs, and suchlike. Her name is Whitney, and she was looking for someone to host a sports camp. A third party connected us as my having a site of suitable size, and so I agreed to host a sports camp. Which I thought for a while was slated for the summer vacation in December through February, but was actually for the trimester vacation, at the beginning of September. I connected the dots on the actual dates before long, don't worry.

Over the month of August, I scurried around town talking to the Padres de la Familia to get some mothers to cook for the kids, talking to the vice-principal of the Primaria about using the grounds and resources of the school, and getting kids signed up and registered. Towards the end of August, the PE teacher at the colegio (secondary school) proved invaluable in helping to recruit students from that school, and later in using his sports equiptment.

In the last week of August, you can review what I did in my previous blog post :-D That is the same Whitney, by the way, in San Blas/Comarca Kuna Yala and in this lovely youth opportunity.

On that tragic final Saturday of August when my vacation ended and visiting friend Andrew left, it was back to work for me. Whitney and I put together workbooks for the kids, and on Sunday went to the mall to pick up supplies and prizes, because prizes are awesome and supplies are terribly useful.

The rest of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday flew by in a whirl of preparations that included buying out a vendor's supply of certain produce, making final arrangements for lodging of facilitators, who were other PCVs from all over the country, reviewing seminars and organization, and suchlike.

Over those few days and the rest of the week, I got to know Whitney and another PCV named Julie really well, in the way that only a week of practically constant company can do, as they were the ones to help with preparations, and stayed with me at my house from Monday to Friday. Ish. The other PCVs slept on mats at the school where we held the camp, because it would be very uncomfortable for 12 or so PCVs to try to cram into my house. To the kids' disappointment, we did not have a real, overnight camp for them.

What we did have were fun, interactive presentations on leadership, setting and achieving goals, following dreams, decision making, nutrition, sexual health, physical fitness, and more, in the mornings, and after a delicious lunch prepared by local madres, they had dance and basketball on Wednesday afternoon, Ultimate Frisbee and soccer on Thursday afternoon, and “Olympics” on Friday afternoon, which was a combination of the other 4 activities plus whatever other games we felt like inflicting on them. All in all, the kids had a fantastic time, and all got certificates and prizes at the end.

In the days and weeks following the Camp, kids and parents asked me when I would hold another such camp, or if I could offer something for kids under 12 (this one was for 12-18 year olds), and one kid asked when the other PCVs would be back again.

Of course there were challenges that arose throughout the camp, but it was a remarkably harmonious experience. Difficulties were resolved and/or navigated, and good times were had by all. And choreographies were begun for a flashmob which will be coming in late November/early December, so watch out for a youtube video...in a couple of months.

Since the camp, I had the surprise, spur of the moment opportunity to return to The City almost immediately to visit with my sister-in-law's sister and family who were there for a conference. In addition to letting me enjoy A/C and running hot water, they showed me a few of the Smithsonian research facilities around Panama City, and I saw my first SLOTH! Two-toed variety, in case you were wondering. I didn't have my camera (spur of the moment trip, remember; I was heading into Penonomé for an errand and went to The City when I would have returned home), so no picture, but just imagine a shaggy, rough-furred grey ball way up in the top of a tree.

After that was preparing for Seminar 3 of our Traveling Seminar Series, which is a seminar for Panamanian English Teachers that the Coclé PCVs are carting around to reach as many teachers as possible, and getting the ball rolling on the recycling program, at long last. Incidentally, the recycling program has somewhat catapulted out of my hands, but into Panamanian, so hopefully that'll be a good thing! And I attended our trimestral meetings, a presentation on seed preservation and garden bed preparing...oh, and went down to Pedasí, Los Santos to see a new part of Panama, visit a friend, and help said friend facilitate a couple of Elige Tu Vida seminars to her students. Elige Tu Vida, or Choose Your Life, is a seminar that some past volunteers put together to teach youth about dreams, goals, and sexual health. If it sounds familiar, it's because we used almost all of Elige Tu Vida in the Sports and Leadership Camp.

Now, heading into October, I'm working intermittently with my co-teachers, still teaching roughly once a week at my Friday Primaria, trying to help advance the recycling program, and researching school codes of conduct for my main Primaria. Also, 'tis the season for school festivals (one or two schools every week has their Dia del Campesino, or Farmer Day, which amount to cultural exhibitions) and bigger festivals. This weekend isn't anything here, but next weekend is the Feria del Sombrero Pinta'o (Painted Hat Festival, a celebration of the true Panamanian hat, not the Panama Hat), and following that is the Feria del Torito Guapo (the Handsome Little Bull Festival, and I don't know the story behind that one, but the “bull” is very stylized and involves lots of colors and shinies). And then is a PCV Halloween party, and then to finish October, I'll be climbing Vulcan Baru, aka, tallest peak in Panama and a dormant volcano! And some other stuff...a presentation at an English week for a teacher who attended one of the Traveling Seminars, Santa Rita Foundation Day, Santa Rita Independence from Cabuya Day...fun times. Regular school doesn't really happen from here on out, because of all of these Fun and Exciting other activities, and the marching bands and folclorica dance teams travel to different events.

And then it's November, and that's couple of Independence Days, Flag Day, a few other holidays, plus Thanksgiving for us United Stateans...it's going to be a busy last 4 months or so!!

Btw, I'll either be coming back on February 28 or March 14- I'll let you know in December. :-D 

El Valle, San Blas, the City, and a tiny bit of work update!

Actually, I'm the 4th-time lucky winner of a Visitor from the States!!
This past week was pretty amazing.  A wonderful friend from Prin by the name of Andrew came to visit, and excitement and adventure ensued!  While Cecily's visit almost exactly 1 year ago had a Westward and slightly Southern adventure, Andrew's headed to the Northeast.
Of course, we started by heading into my familiar haunts.  There was hammocktime and dinner by my host mom, and a hike in El Valle along the India Dormida (the Sleeping Princess).

On the Sleeping Indian's Eyebrow!

He also got a taste of Peace Corps life- when walking around my town, some neighbors gave us bollos (polenta sticks? still working on how to accurately and succinctly describe them in English), and ample hours of nothing much, in which there was chatting and movie watching.

After seeing normalcy, we headed back into The City, because as you recall, there is only one city in this silly little country, and wandered along the Cinta Costera, which is the greenspace with park-y-ness that follows the Pacific Coast.  Wednesday saw a very early morning, as at about 5:45 we were collected from the hostel with my friend and fellow PCV Whitney (with whom I'm organizing a Youth Leadership and Sports Camp), to spend a couple of days in the islands of San Blas.

San Blas, and the Comarca Kuna Yala (I don't know what each name specifically refers to), is much of the Caribbean coastline east of the Panama Canal.  It is home to possibly the most insular, literally and figuratively, of the indigenous peoples.  The Kuna used to host Peace Corps Volunteers, but some time ago requested that no more be sent, and are controlling of who comes into their region, and are picky about what pictures can be taken.

Worth protecting, I think!

However, we went on a tour program suggested by another friend, and had a wonderful experience.  We lived for 2 days on Isla Diablo, about 30 minutes from the mainland.  We were essentially hosted by our guide's family, who provided us with a cabaña/rancho with mattresses, and all of our meals.  Breakfast was pretty American, pancakes one day, and scrambled eggs the next, but lunch and dinner were catch-of-the-day seafood and fish! There was a little restaurant on the island which had solar panels for a smidgen of electricity, but there was nearly none, so the bedtimes were early, the mornings were early, and the stars were fantastic.  Also, there were little glowing spots in the water that were really cool!!

After a couple days in the Caribbean Island Paradise with snorkeling and coral brilliantly colored fish, we came back to The City for another evening, which was spent in a hotel with a Pool and an (unheated, but colorfully lit) whirlpool.  

By the way, snorkeling is awesome.  This trip was my first time trying it, and it's rather disorienting, but it's incredible.  And disconcerting.  But fascinating.

Saturday morning were the last few hours of wandering in the City, and then we headed over to the airport where I got to be diplomatish, and wait on the gate-side of security until boarding.  And so ended a fantastic visit!

Saturday afternoon brought a return to life, as Whitney and I got into working mode for the Sports and Leadership Camp that I'm hosting this week, from September 4-6 for youth in my community.  Here's hoping it all works out!

And a brief summary of other bits of the job.  The Coclé TE volunteers are coordinating a series of seminars with MEDUCA (the Ministry of Education) for teachers around the province, and we have completed 2 of 4 proposed seminars.  Next week is the beginning of the 3rd Trimester, which, if I can pull it off, will include the inauguration of a recycling program, and a papier-mache art project to make models of endangered animals with selected students from the Primaria.

I always said I'd start to think about the future in July...

Over the weekend, I successfully grilled two chicken thighs with garlic, onion, broccoli, and green pepper. I made grilled pizza, with a cobbled together pizza sauce made of tomato sauce, Panamanian oregano that I'm growing and barbeque sauce. I splurdged on a block of colby jack, and some mozzarella sandwich slices. Oh, and sourdough crusts. Now, I won't lie that there wasn't definite room for improvement, like putting more coals on at the right time (whenever that is) so that there's enough heat to cook the pizzas completely, but it was pretty delicious!

Tonight's dinner featured more of the grilled chicken mix, reheated with honey and Thai curry sauce, and chunks of mango that one of my co-teachers gave me, and served over tri-color penne. In case you haven't heard, curry + honey, at least this variety of red curry, is AMAZING. And easily adaptable to different levels of heat tolerance; just adjust the ratio.

So, obviously, Peace Corps continues to be a rigorous challenge to body and mind. Mostly yours, as you fight the urge to run to the airport to come visit me and have non-Panamanian cuisine in the middle of rural Panama.

In other news, I am down to 8 months left! 8, by the way, is my favorite number, ever since I was 8 years old, in the middle of a very formative experience of my life, which was the forever known (at least to me) as The '94 Trip. This trip was a courageous venture was a road trip undertaken by my mom and grandmother wherein my brother and I were introduced to the western ¾ of the United States, visiting a slew of relatives and friends and people whom I unfortunately don't remember very well, as well as stopping all sorts of canyons, national parks, landmarks, learning all sorts of things, some accurate and some things, less so. We saw prairie dogs. About 8. On this trip, my brother informed me that I only said that 8 was my favorite number because I was 8 at the time. I don't know if I was determined to prove him wrong, or if the comment was immaterial, but 8 has remained my favorite number consistently from that summer.

(Side note, as I'm writing this in my doorway, I just looked up in this lovely 80ish degree evening, and the sky is entirely a uniform slate blue with minimal cloud definition except for a brilliant magenta streak in the middle of the sky.)

On one hand, 8 months is still quite a while, particularly when I think about how my longest international experience prior to this one was 10 weeks, and that seemed like a long time, and now I feel like I'm on the home stretch with nearly 3 times that remaining. On the other, generally more convincing hand, it seems like an eyeblink, in comparison to the ~18 months I've already had in country. And so, despite my efforts to stay in the present, my thoughts turn to the future, BEYOND THE PEACE CORPS. I suppose I'll have to find another organization/institution that can be abbreviated to PC, since Principia College and Peace Corps served me so well. Anybody know of another good one? ;-)

Seriously, though, as I look to the future, I wonder what to do after this. Here in Panama, I declare that I am not a school teacher. But, if a really good offer came along, something with lesson plans, or guidance, or something, well, I can't make a definite statement. However, I'm thinking I'd probably like to spend some time in the US. So, if you have any suggestions of organizations that make you think of me, or cities where I should look, do let me know. As small as the world is becoming, the US, and the future, are still crazy big. I only ask for a swing scene in whatever city, but happily, that isn't a terribly limiting factor!  For jobs, something non-profit, preferably with an eye on the international scene would be nice ;-)

I'm not looking for an immediate job; actually, I'm looking to start working again in a bit over a year from now. First, I want to honor the memory of that fantastic '94 Trip with another cross-country exploration. Although there are some people from that first trip whom I'd like to include, unfortunately the limitations of this world prevent my seeing them, I have added many wonderful people to my life in the past 19 years- 20 next summer. Yeesh, seriously 20? Woohoo 20^th anniversary trip!

I am particularly in the past 8 (8!) years, as I found friends who have been invaluable in my life since our paths met. Some have continued with various intersections, some have separated into different directions, but each one has contributed positively to my life experience, and I am so grateful!

So, although it's a year away, give or take a few months, I want to visit the various corners of the USA, and invite you to invite me to visit you. Preferably with a couch or floorspace where I can sleep.

P.S. In case you're wondering, yes, I am still working in the schools. I'm working with 7^th and 8^th graders again through next week, and then I'll go back to 8^th and 9^th graders for 3 weeks, before returning to the Primaria, where (si Deos quiere), we'll start a recycling program!

The Coclé volunteers are also coordinating a series of travelling seminars with MEDUCA (Ministry of Education) to take place in each district of Coclé, the first coming up at the end of July. My Fridays are still devoted to the Primarita Arriba, where I'm sure I'm learning much more than the kids are...but they're learning too...I hope. And on Saturday, I'm holding a meeting to plan future community classes. This meeting will determine whether I will continue having free-form time, or will become ridiculously busy running community classes for all of the various needs in town. Exciting, no?

In the 3rd trimester, I'm going to take more time outside of school, try to get a book grant to share between my schools, work on recycling, ballroom dance classes, getting re-educated, continuing the MEDUCA seminars, and running a couple life-development seminars for the 9th graders (they're great pre-packaged seminars called Elige tu Vida, or Choose your Life, and cover goal setting, and personal and professional life choices).

The necessity of necessity.

The first week of the second trimester has come and gone in a few classes, with a flurry of meetings, rainstorms, and a little bit of getting stuff done.  And the downtime that accompanies Peace Corps life.  Oh, and the zero attendance at my new attempt at community English classes.
After spending an hour and a half in the Community Center (Casa de la Cultura o Casa Comunitaria), with a nice big whiteboard that an actually helpful community member arranged for me.  Not that he came to the class, despite repeated interest in the class.  HOWEVER, despite how this may appear, despondency only lasted a few hours.  Ok, one more complaint; I've talked to a couple community members about the class afterward, and was told that the class time was too early (9:30am) on Saturday morning, which is when my potential students would be cooking.  Except that any time I can think if would be right before a meal (cooking), right after a meal (clean up), that brief time in between clean up and cooking, which is occupied by laundry, cleaning, tv, and sitting around on plastic lawn chairs.  Actually, sitting around and shooting the breeze, as it were, is pretty fun, but it's frustrating when I know that some people who've asked me repeatedly about when I'm going to have English classes don't show.
Now I'm done.
So, after I got home, it soon began to rain, and I proceeded to watch 4 or 5 movies, and make random shapes out of some random wire, including a couple rings, an armband, a kitty, and a thingy.  Some of it may get shown in public!  Unfortunately, my internet being what it its, you don't get pictures- sorry.  More's the pity that I can't do pictures, because in one interval in which the power went out (it was off and on from about 3-5), I got some neat rain-splashing-into-puddles shots.  Yay messing with my camera settings!  With luck, I'll be able to upload them before long.
In the midst of my messing around with random stuff, it led me to contemplation about the rampant boredom which seems to be an inherent part of Peace Corps.  Also, leads to the gratuitous consumption of...no, I'm done complaining for now.

Aaaanyway, I was sitting around doing nothing in particularly, I was thinking about the wonders of modern technology and the conveniences of grab and go, easily prepared meals.  Particularly on how having all of these fabulous things stymies creativity.  Not that convenience is a bad thing, but having to make do with what you've got can lead to novel and exciting creations.  But free time and raw materials aren't necessarily enough.  Without any training on how to think creatively, a newspaper is just for reading, plastic bags are just for carrying things home from the store, and rain is for ruining outside plans.  Training can come from parents, friends, siblings, acquaintances, classes, and occasionally, personal inspiration (but that one is hardest, at least for me).  Once started, I can keep going, but it's challenging to sit around and look at the various things and stuff that I've accumulated here, and I have to wonder, what can I do with that.  And sometime, maybe I'll figure out how to make something useful.  In the meantime, I'm newly inspired to teach recycled art classes here - so if you have ideas, send them my way, particularly if they use things like plastic bags or 6-pack rings.  Maybe someday.
But about the subject of this post, I ended up thinking about "Necessity is the mother of invention", and how lack really is inspiration.  Now, I had ramen noodles for dinner tonight, and it was good.  But it isn't nearly so rewarding as cutting up the random vegetables I have in the fridge and frying them up with honey to mix with the chow mein noodles that I'm slowly figuring out how to fry without half of them sticking to the pan.  A little necessity is a good thing, but only once you have an idea on how to make something happen; otherwise, in my experience, we'll just sit around and gripe until something happens to us.
Tangentially, I had my 1-year meeting with one of the TE office staffmembers, and she encouraged me to spend more time out of school and work on some secondary project(s).  So, I'm looking at continuing to work with my teachers, but less intensively, and see what else I can get myself into trouble with.  Crafts, dance classes, strongly considering a book grant for my schools...still currently brainstorming, but I'll probably let you know what I end up doing.

In conclusion, it's kinda entertaining to hear the chorus of groans up and down the street when 'se fue la luz' aka, the power goes, and the corresponding chorus of cheers when it comes back.

On returning to Site

Last week, I had the very great pleasure of visiting home for about a week.  I got to hang out with friends,  my immediate family, and extended family, including some semi-extended family that I got to meet for the first time!  There was silliness and swing dancing, and games and galavanting.  We touristed with out-of-town visitors, and celebrated my cousin's first step into her next stage in life in her gorgeous, lovely, perfectly suited wedding.  Also, it was freezing until the last day in which we went to a Reds baseball game, which didn't get rained out, and culminated in a win for the home team!
After a brief 6 days on the ground, it was time to come back to real life.  Side note here: It amuses me to think of taking a vacation from the beautiful tropical paradise of Panama to go to Cincinnati, Ohio, Midwest.
Here is Tuesday, May 28th.
4:30AM: my dad and I got up to get me to the airport for a 7AM flight.
               Mental state: ughhearlyyy.
6:30AM: everything is in order and on time, and lots of sleepy people start boarding.
               Mental state: goal- find seat and sleep.
8:00AM: starting to approach Miami.
               Mental state: commence sinking feeling- "I'm not ready to go, turn around!!"
9:30AM: ish, at least.  In Miami, find new gate, find food, wait.
                Mental state: "Oh hey, this is the same part of the airport where we took off last January!  That was so different...oh, for the days of ignorance"
11:00AM:  getting on the plane to leave the country.
                Mental state:  "Please don't make me go.  It's nice and cool and clean here, and people pay attention to meeting times!  I don't want to go back to work!"
1:30PM: (After time change), find out that my Colombian seat-neighbor is in the Panamanian sugar business, and learn about the random things that sugar cane can be used for.
               Mental State:  decidedly sunken feeling in my stomach, turning to resignation that I need to prepare myself for the flying bugs, ants, wall lizards, spiders, heat, humidity, communication issues, and job challenges coming.  "Wargh."
2:30PM: Going through immigration and customs (woohoo diplomatic lines!)
               Mental state: "Is it really too late to get on a plane back to the States?"...but with less sincerity.  I'm way to proud to willingly admit defeat and surrender.
3:00PM: Made it out of the airport, and start walking THROUGH THE RAIN to the metrobus stop.
              Mental state: "Ok, I'm here, may as well make the best of it."
5:00PM: Somewhere in between the City and Anton: still rainy
              Mental state:  "Let's do this!  9 1/2 more months!  It's on!"
7:30PM: A selection of busses later, I arrive at my house.
             Mental state: "No water.  no food.  Too late to go to the store.  Mrarg."
Next day: got water back; "Let's go!"

And since, I made bread with a couple other PCVs for a fundraiser, finally met the owner of my house, went to Regional Meeting (trimestral provincial meeting), met the new Coclesanos/as, went to the beach, and now, getting ready for the afternoon session of school, starting work with a new Teacher!

Some assorted thoughts that aren't about Panama/nians

First, who I am.
I am an English Teacher with short red hair and bangs.
My birthday is the 31st of February, and I was born in Neverland.  I have seven brothers, and their names are Grumpy, Sleepy, Doc, Sneezy, Happy, Bashful, and Dopey.  My favorite subject in school was recess, and my hobbies are driving taxis and drinking water.  My favorite vacation was to the End of the Universe.  While dining there, I met Darth Vader who was still alive and just chilling, Sith Lord style.  One interesting fact about myself is that I have x-ray vision, and three words my friends would use to describe me are devious, uncanny, and bootylicious.
(my biography from an activity during Pre-Service Training last year)

And this part may turn into a bit of a rant.  I'm aware that my audience is more on my side than not, but I have to get some of these thoughts out of my head, as they've been accumulating for some time.
Since I have internet, I have an incomplete-but-existent peephole into current affairs in the world outside of my town.  There have definitely been positive notes- the first intimation I had of the bombing in Boston was the on how the immediate reaction of those in the vicinity was to come together and help.  As time went on, I saw other people making references to the bile that one might expect after such an event, but nearly all that came to my attention was wonderfully heartening.  Unfortunately, then I did start to see the filthy underbelly of knee-jerk anger, ranging from 'bomb the entire Middle East' to 'the Czech Republic is out to get is' (I mean, really?!?) to 'conspiracy by US government.'  Anger is understandable, but wantonly lashing out at anything that bears a slight resemblance to a target (including personal grudges) isn't productive.
On lashing out, I also have gotten to see the a short film entitled "All You Need is Love?" which is set in a world in which homosexuality is the norm and heterosexuality is regarded as disgusting and unnatural and follows a girl who discovers her heterosexuality, and the reactions of her family and peers.  It's quite well done, and creates a decently believable reality.  Apart from the homo/heterosexuality point, it makes me wonder: Why on Earth are kids still learning that physical violence is still the best way to communicate disagreement?  When has it actually addressed and solved a problem to the point of non-recurrence, and I do mean solved, not "ended" or "swept under the rug" or "eliminated the opposition"?
And the first time I saw this video was on Upworthy, I think, which seems to be a very interesting collection, although frustrating because much of the time, I don't have enough internet to watch their videos.  But, I've appreciated those that I have been able to see, as well as the textual pages that I've seen.  However, I have a complaint for them; they have an annoying habit of using misleading titles, which makes me watch the media with the mindset of finding out what their angle is, and not really paying attention to the actual point.  It is an effective way to attract attention to their media, but gives the impression of their being liars, which is detrimental to the cause of winning the confidence of their audience.
Now, how to contrive a brilliant transition to my next point.  Let's use 'the significance of maintaining the confidence of one's followers and supporters.'  To the Government, specifically Congressmen, but really, it applies to all of you.  Selflessness is hard.  It requires that one puts the needs of others before one's own, to make decisions on that basis, not personal fulfillment of success.  To our Representatives: please take into consideration the people whom you are representing.  I know that job security is important to you, and well it should be, but I believe it would greatly benefit the country (aka, fulfill your job) if you put greater emphasis on the good of the country, and not on being re-elected.  What good is being re-elected to a position if you put more emphasis on being re-elected than doing your job?  I know that you're in office because you were elected, and perhaps I'm just too disconnected from Average American, but it seems like you're disappointing everyone on all sides.   To my understanding, fighting for a lobby or single organization from your area is not necessarily doing the best thing for your constituency, although it may do great things for your job security (again: job security at the expense of doing your job?)  Some of you are wonderful congressmen, I'm sure, but particularly those who haven't left Capitol Hill in decades- do you even know what's actually going on in the US (let alone the world) anymore?  Reports are well and good, but will never convey a complete picture.  And no, you can never have a complete picture, because the complete picture is enourmous, but you could help by at least getting a little closer to first person perspective.  If you can't get a real-live first person view, try for a few different unedited perspectives (not from 3 different white upper-middle-class college-educated interns), and don't let them get edited before you have a chance to see them.  Personally, I think that you should have mandated stints in something like Americorps, to get a taste of the effects of the policies you're setting.  The US is a great country, and I am proud to be a citizen, but you're a part of making that a really hard position to defend.
I love the United States.  I believe in the American Dream (the one that says that a person from whichever background can rise to whicher high position of power [limited by the rules like only natural-born citizens can be President]), and I fully intend to live in the US after I finish in Panama...unless I join the US Foreign Service, and still probably work on US soil ;-)  But seriously, America, like I said, you make this pride unnessarily difficult to defend.
We have the potential to be a great and glorious world leader.  We can guide other countries forward into peace and prosperity, with diversity and wildlife, and polar ice caps.  Yes, there are those in the USA who disagree with these as goals, but in order to keep myself going from day to day, I have to hope dearly and desperately that they are a tiny minority with disproportionately large lungs.  People, we have influence, if we want to use it!
I just watched "Food, Inc.", admittedly several years late.  I confess, I feel no inclination to become a vegetarian because of it, but I do have a stronger commitment to being a more conscientious consumer.  Hopefully it'll last until I get back to a world where I have options as to what to consume.  Hopefully, there will still be conscientious options by the time I get back, giant-gmo-patenting-what-formerly-a-really-cool-element-of-life-on-Earth corporations.  Honestly, how do you sleep at night?  I'll concede you have a wonderful, personally sustainable model, because as you develop resistant crops, bacteria etc develop resistance to your resistance and you then develop an new resistance, so you'll never be out of a job, always chasing down the next version of resistance, but that just really helps you, you (pardon me, but I can't find this sentiment in my usual vocabulary) selfish pricks.  Do you in the upper echelons eat the "food" that you produce?  I'm not convinced that it's still actually food.  Semi-animate abominations of science, perhaps, but that doesn't sound particularly appetizing to me.  Maybe I have weird tastes, but they aren't unique to me, and more power to the people who work with nature instead of trying to conquer it.  (Spoiler, nature wins.)  I think that capitalism and competition are brilliant, and you are more than welcome to do the best for yourself that you can...but within the limits of not actively causing massive amounts harm.  I do like a proposition from the "Food, Inc" which went something like, 'let's define success as having fewer people in the hospitals next year.'  With great power comes great responsibility- and that responsibility extends beyond a responsibility to oneself.
I know that there are a great many honorable, worthy, admirable people.  We hear about some of them, many go unsung.  The reasons for this are various, but include, I suspect in no particular order, (a) that it isn't sensational (PCVs spend 2 years working to results that might be evidenced 10 years down the line when we've moved on to other parts of our lives, and there isn't a news station on earth that would find an average day at all newsworthy), (b) good-deed-doers are more concerned with their work than seeking adulation, and (c) are frustrated with the blowhards and so go about their business trying not to be hindered by them.  And there are good people we hear about, important big names, and nobodies who see a need and work to fill it.  They fuel my hope, and my belief in the possibility of Onward and Upward.
I believe that the United States, and humanity, as incredible potential for good.  I believe that we can tap that potential.  I don't believe that capitalism and a concern for humanity are mutually exclusive.  I believe that we could approach each other with greater respect and an eye towards resolution instead of retaliation.  I believe that there are Powers that Be who are willing to use their power for the greater good.  (Yeah, it's hard, but that's KIND OF YOUR JOB.)
While I'm venting, on abortion: they already tried making it illegal, and it didn't work to stop it- how on earth are you going to stop it from happening?  If you're so pro-life, what about the desperate mothers who will not disappear?  Making something illegal doesn't make it go away, I'm sorry.  If it is legal, it can be controlled and regulated.  Also, homosexual marriage: what business is it of yours?  Where do you get off informing anyone else with whom they can or cannot form responsible relationships?  And I don't want to hear about the sanctity of marriage, because modern culture has already heartily defenestrated that one.  Unless you're going to address the divorce rate and so many ill-considered marriages between males and females, shut up.  Your church can decide whether or not to perform same-sex marriages, but that's not the government's lookout.
Moral courage, integrity, a sense of humanity, respect in agreement and dissent.  Communication and connection.
On a personal note, I'm a single white female.  This doesn't mean I'm a lesbian.  This doesn't mean I'm out to steal your husbands, boyfriends, or wives or girlfriends.  It doesn't mean I'm lonely.  I'm a Christian, and very religious in my way.  This doesn't mean that I will look down on you because you are homosexual, because you drink, do drugs, have an abortion, have premarital sex, hit on me, hit on someone else (though hitting me or someone or someone else will cause problems- prepositions are important!), or that I believe that all non-Christians are straight-up wrong.  I am an individual and I consider and wear my attributes with my own style and flair, not blindly wearing them in the stereotypical fashion, whatever that may be.  Please do me and whomever you encounter the respect of acknowledging that we are individuals and capable of making our own choices, even though an unfortunate quantity of people decline to do so.
I hope you, my actual audience now, made it through and that you understand that the vast majority of my usage of "you" doesn't actually address you.  For better or worse, I'm not too closely connected with people who disagree with me on these points.  Or they don't dare tell me that they disagree ;-).  Naturally, I don't know for sure how you feel about any of this, but thank you for your time and indulgence.  I hope I've expressed myself decently completely.  I'll probably wake up at 3 am with some other point to include that will be added in an edit or comment, or forgotten about.  We'll see, and I hope that in any event, you have a muy buen día!

***EDIT: So, it didn't take until 3AM for me to remember the other thing that I wanted to include.  Guys (warning, I'm going to start using "you" again, but gentle readers, I don't mean you), why do you insist on demeaning yourselves?  On a day-to-day business, it varies from laughably annoying to nerve-grating to walk around town and be greeted by whistles, confessions of love, "Hey baby", hisses, and a variety of other charming vocalizations.  I respond with Kat Stratford's line in '10 Things I Hate About You,' "I need you, I want you, oh baby, oh baby." With all of her heartfelt sincerity.  Granted some of those are regional, but similar things happen in the US and in waaaay too much of the world.  Now, you may think it's flattering, and maybe you think that that is exactly what will make us jump into your pants.  Alas for you, you are dead wrong.  Yes, there are some females who will follow favorably, but not too many.  One of the exciting parts about being homo sapiens is that "sapiens" part.  We have self-awareness and self-control.  We have developed fairly sophisticated language.  USE IT AND LISTEN WHEN WOMEN DO.  There are calls for women to cover up, and not go out alone at night.  I'm all for not taking stupid risks, but we could greatly reduce the number of risks with your cooperation, fellas.  Guys, regressing through millenia of evolution and acting like an instinct-ruled animal hurts your credibility more than it helps.  Why do you cede so much control to women?  Where is your integrity and self-respect as a human?  We can't telepathically enter your mind.  Surely you've encountered the idea that nobody else can make you angry, only you can; it isn't limited to anger.  You have a choice in how to react to a given stimulus.  Take control of yourself! (And leave the women in control of themselves.  Everybody is in charge of themselves and interacting like evolved beings!)  Embrace your humanity!***

Here's a pretty picture of Panama!

A day at un río in with mi familia panameña and friends

Santa Catalina- Site of Group 70 - 1year Anniversary!

Last weekend saw about 40 of the about 50 fabulous people in my Peace Corps group gathered to celebrate our 1-Year-In-Site.  It was a little late, but a month off isn't too bad, right?

Game: Spot the Surfer! (view from the hotel)

About half of the group congregated for a coinciding birthday celebration at the home of a PCV near Santa Catalina on Thursday, and Friday brought all concerned to a hotel right on the coast.  First, I will say that if you are into surfing, it is a fabulous spot.  Apparently internationally famous, and home to some big competitions, and the waves were great fun, but the beaches were very damp, and it wasn't too impressive for chilling on the beach.  Great tide pools, though, and tidal river thingies.
I'd seen a fair number of the group at the beginning of the month, when half of us trooped into the City to prove to the medical office that we were all alive and stuff, but it was great fun to see almost everyone!
The highlight of the weekend was a Talent Show on Saturday night- we had a couple of poets, an impressive rap lip sync to some well-known song that I'm unfamiliar with, a juggler, a meowed rendition of the American National Anthem (they were planning on performing the Panamanian Anthem as well, but weren't sure whether the nearby Panamanians would be offended...however all of us sang along with the American!).  And, in a performance beset by tragedy, I performed a belly dance to the Who's "Baba O'Riley."  It came through, but only after 2 or 3 false starts as we tried to get my hard drive, which held the song, to communicate with any set of speakers- we did eventually succeed, and with very slippery puddles of water from the leaking air conditioning units right above the "stage".  However, I'm told that it was great and wonderful and whatnot, and as I barely remember doing it, I'm taking the audience's word for it; they had a better vantage point to see how it looked.  Also, another volunteer, Stephanie, did my makeup, and did a marvelous job!  So, si dios quiere, here are some pictures!

The talented Stephanie, who did my make-up!

Aiiiyip!

Resident dog family at the hotel- mamadog, papadog, and puppydog- all very friendly, and full sized!

And in case you were wondering, if you come to visit, Santa Catalina may be the first Destination I've visited in Panama that hasn't garnered a definite spot in my "need to bring friends to see" list- unless you've developed an interest in surfing that you haven't told me about, OR if you want to go to Coiba Island and snorkel and do interesting things there (I hear it's great, but haven't seen it yet, and the boats out leave from Santa Cat.)

Hasta luego!

I am the Product of my Parentage, and it is fabulous!

One day, a day like many, many others, I went for a walk around town.  I'd gotten tired of hanging out with my roommates  in the house.  There are others, but they aren't as photogenic, so there you go.  This walk started out much like any other; it was a hot, dry day, and I don't remember for sure, but at that point I don't think I had a lot of running water (and by not a lot I mean a trickle that ran for a few hours/day).

     As I was walking along, admiring the colors of the plants and birds, the general Krohn Conservatory-ness that is my town, I noticed one tree in particular.  This tree didn't have a lot of leaves, but it had a number of odd green balls, a couple of which were opening to show something suspiciously fluffy and white!  Do you know what it was?

    A walk or two later, maybe a week, I passed the same tree, and what do you know, but there were more of these balls opening, and white fluffballs abounded.  I collected several clumps, and on the course of my walk, picked the seed-type things from the fluff, and started playing with the fibers that remained- before long, I had my first 4" of home-made, freshly picked cotton string!

     Well, that was just too exciting, so a while later, on another walk, I collected approximately a softball's worth of cotton, and spend 5 hours with a couple of movies, de-seeding my winnings.

     But, what to do with the fiber.  Some intervening experimentation with lesser quantities proved that manually spinning worked, but was rather uncomfortable, time consuming, and very, very lumpy.  But I haven't seen any spinning wheels here, and I believed it a bit above my skills to build...not to mention the fact that I'm running out of room in my house, and it isn't exactly a multi-purpose device, unless you have one that also houses VHS tapes...which still wouldn't do me much good, since as a developing country, Panama seems to have skipped from live performance to DVD.  Preliminary google searches for drop spindles were disheartening, as they called for specially made components, or at good quality 'common' things that would be easy enough to get in the US, but here in the Campo, not so much.  

Spindle, Thread, and COTTON

But then, my luck changed with a youtube video of a drop spindle made of a pencil, a piece of cardboard, and a screwhook.  I still had to adapt it a bit, but ended up with my very own, very non-aesthetically pleasing-yet-essentially-functional Drop Spindle!  And with that, here are a couple pictures of my de-seeded cotton, and spindle.  :-D

Pencil, tuna lid, random jewelry finding, and Homemade Cotton Thread!

Other recent achievements: Lighting and cooking chicken on my grill, and making it successfully through 5 of 6 classes at my Friday Primaria.  6th graders are still being difficult.  Still trying to figure out what to do with them...so, anybody have tips on how to maintain energy, interest, and enthusiasm in the last class of the day (12:15-1PM)?  1 student in particular is of the repeat-everything-I-say and not-listening-and-then-complain-of-not-understanding-instruction variety.  While I have you attention, any tips for a joint pre-k + kinder class would be welcome.  Or 1-5th grades too.. ;-)

Que tengan buen día! (Have a great day!)

It's Fall! But everything is still green, except where it's yellow...

In December, I went back to the States for what I called “Winter Break”.  Then I returned to Panama, and got into “Summer Vacation”, which involved the excitement of teaching summer school, helping at a PCV-run Dance Camp, a field trip by the fresh blood the new future TE PCVs, and my parents' visit in February (not in that order, and other than Summer School which I believe I already told you about, will be covered shortly).
First, though, as I raked my yard with my neighbor's rake, I realized that it was Autumn.  Well, sometime that feels like August, but acts like October...maybe September, which would logically be the option to fit between those two.  But, it's been “summer” (the dry season- everything that isn't a tree is turning dried-up-yellow) for a while now, since about mid-December I think, and the rainy season, hereafter known as “winter” is expected around April or May.  And I just spend an hour raking leaves around my house, although who knows where they came from since every tree I can see is full and verdant.  And have little mangos growing...:-D  Actually, a PCV friend has informed me that she already has ripe mangos in site, so nirvana is coming back!  Going by last year, there are a couple weeks where the ground is basically carpeted in delicious mangos.  That makes up for the fact that I haven't had more than a trickle of water in the single lowest faucet in my house for going-on-three-weeks.  Fortunately, the ~two weeks of too-hot-to-even-consider-physical-activity passed, and now it's just really hot, and it's even “cold” in the morning.  “Cold” means about 80 F. here; 60 is freezing.
So, “summer” is coming to a close (at a glacial pace, just like everything else that happens here), it's “fall” going by the leaves on the ground, and so on to tell you about the excitement that was February and the first half of March, although February was much more exciting.
The very last day of January brought my parents on their very first time to Panama!  After a noisy, brief night and an early morning trip into the campo, I sent them up to my house with my key, crossing my fingers that the bus driver understood my request to drop them off at my house while I went to a few hours of Peace Corps meetings in the Regional Capital of Penonomé.  (Isn't that exciting?)  We spent a couple nights at my house, but decided that it was Too Darn Hot, and spent the remaining nights in various hotels here and there, which had A/C (that is exciting- one even had a pool, but no hot water...win some, lose some).  Over the course of their visit, we walked around my community, and I made sure that they had some Genuine 100% Panamanian Hammock Time, and courtesy of my neighbors, fresh lemonade, with a lemon-ish fruit fresh from their tree, and fresh, home-made raspadura (cane sugar).  They also got to taste very fresh caldo, the juice straight pressed straight from the cane.  It tastes like sugar and grass- who would have guessed that sugarwater from an overgrown grass would taste like that?!?  We hiked (for a couple hot hours) to a pretty river and cooled our feet while eating oranges provided by my host mom and another local friend who led us to the river.  It's funny how similar parts of Panama can be to Colorado- reddish rocks, lots of dust, funny little scrubby trees, and very strong sun.
Away from my town, we went to see the Church at Natá de los Caballeros, which is the oldest church on the Pacific Coast (I believe), which was beautiful and impressive and really, everything I'd expect it to be.  Although we arrived with as little fanfare as possible, a scant few minutes after we arrived, a local woman rushed in to tell us about the church, history, and decorations, and answer any questions that we had.  I felt a little bad that she had obviously rushed in to help us, and was very pregnant, but she was very knowledgeable, friendly, and informative.  We also stopped at the Parque Arqueológico del Caño (the Archaeological Park at el Caño), which is a museum and current excavation of burial mounds in a town called, you guessed it, el Caño.  It's a nice little museum, and it has a mostly excavated burial mound, a second burial mound currently being excavated (with cooperation from National Geographic), a set of large volcanic rocks of which they've identified the mountain of origin, but not the mode of delivery, and a lot more unexcavated mounds.  One of the most interesting thing about the Park was to compare this ancient culture's burial mounds to those around Cincinnati and St Louis.  There are plenty of similarities and differences which would be terribly significant to someone who knows more about burial mounds than I do, but still, interesting.  The current theory is that these mounds are from the ancestors of the current Ngobe people, who've since moved further into the mountains from the plains, which is where the mounds are located.  The mostly excavated mound contains the bones of some guild heads, including a woman, and an artist.  Artists were special, apparently, and buried differently than the guild heads, royalty, or normal people.  The mound being excavated is thought to be that of a chief, and contains him, and his entire family except his main wife and his oldest child, who was left to succeed him.  There's one way to cut out sibling rivalry, no?
We spent a day in El Valle de Antón, which is the crater of a long-dormant volcano about an hour's drive northeast of my town.  We arrived by the grace of my dad's driving skill, as we went via my friend Julie's town, along a road that she assured us was in good condition.  And so it was, until we got to the crest of the rim, and began to descend via a series of cutbacks.  The straight bits of the road were fine, but at every turn, the road abruptly disintegrated into uneven, rough chunks of concrete and gravel.  With minimal seat-grippage, we made it safely down to the center, and didn't even damage the car!  In El Valle, we went to the little zoo, which is simultaneously impressive and depressing, the mercado where Dad bought his very own Sombrero Pinta'o, proving himself Coclesano!  We wandered over to see the Piedra Pintada, a huge rock about the size of my house with squiggly carvings that may be a map of El Valle, and a quintessential tropical waterfall/swimming hole.  We had a typical Panamanian lunch at a restaurant...well, Julie, Mom, and Dad had typical Panamanian, while I had a hamburger.  Panamanian food held its own, for the trip, I think, though it can tend towards the bland.  The best part of El Valle is arguably the climate- it actually isn't hot!  It was a refreshing break from the energy-sucking heat of my town, enough so that we didn't even use the pool at our adorable hotel, in which our room was our own little cabin with a shower grotto, and a little pond/river running through the open-air restaurant.
After El Valle, we went to Coronado, so my parents could experience the thrill that is...drumroll...a Panamanian Grocery Store!  For reference, think of any Kroger/Meijer/any big food-and-more variety of store that's essentially ubiquitous in the US.  However, it was exciting for me because it involved the procurement of a fabulous inflatable easychair and footstool from which I'm currently writing, and a charcoal barbeque grill, on which I'm still working out the operator problems.  We took the plunder back to my house, where I assembled the grill and my dad FIXED MY TOILET SO IS NEARLY FUNCTIONAL AT A NORMAL LEVEL!  Now, when I have running water in any quantity again, I can turn on the water to my toilet, and use the flush mechanism!
After such a wildly eventful day, we wound down at a cabin we rented right on the beach to relax and pretend that the ocean was cool enough to produce a refreshing sea breeze.  The water was chilly, but beautiful as always.  As one might expect when one is travelling without terribly much forethought, we arrived at the beach with exactly 0 towels between the 3 of us, because we're just that good.  But somehow, we still managed to enjoy ourselves (plus, the water was cold, which limited our swimming a bit).
For pretty much all of the aforementioned adventures, my parents had rented a car which we returned after our day at the beach, before heading in the City for the last few days of their visit.  Panama is a country roughly the size of South Carolina.  I think South Carolina has more than one city, but Panama just has one, and that one holds about half of the country's population, and might as well be in South Carolina for all City-Panamanians know about the rest of the county.
In the City, we got around with a series of taxi drivers of varying friendliness and economy, and I can honestly say that there were only 2 or 3 out of the double handful who I wouldn't recommend...if I'd gotten more names and numbers to give recommendations.  We went to the Old Town, current political center, called Casco Viego, or Casco Antiguo (Old Shell), and to the edge of the Business District, where the new Trump Tower keeps company with the Hard Rock Hotel and the other shinyshiny skyscrapers, expensive hotels, and office buildings.  On a walk along the Cinta Costera (a new project currently under construction, building a loooooong park with a walking and bike path along the coastal edge of the city, my dad wearing a non-indicative t-shirt and his Sombrero Pinta'o attracted the attention of several construction workers who were taking 5 at an entrance to the active construction zone.  Without a word in English or Spanish, one rushed over to my dad, his face lit like a child's at (wait for it), and he waved his compatriots over, and blurted out the word - “SANTA!”  (The word from before was 'Christmas')  He then orchestrated a picture on his phone of himself, his fellow workers, and the Panamanian Santa.  Incidentally, Santa had also been recognized by a family of Panamanians in El Valle, when we went on that mini-hike to see the ancient petroglyphs and waterfall in El Valle.  So, if you were wondering what Santa does in his off-season, he vacations in Central America.  Or, does some personal recon for those twice-checked lists...watch out!
We bussed it up to Colon where we received repeated warnings NOT to walk around, and so never took more than 10 unaccompanied steps in the city itself, visited the Duty-Free zone which is The Place to go for, well, duty-free items.  Most of the stores are bulk suppliers for other stores, but I hear there are some great deals to be had on electronics and the like.  After the Duty Free zone, we had another bout of luck with the taxi driver who took us on a brief tour of Colon, out for a peek at the Caribbean, and down to the Train Station.  He also told us a bit about the history and people of Colon, the Canal and its commerce- and spoke a bit of English, too boot!  The main reason we'd gone to Colon was to take the Canal Train back to Panama; in years gone by, it was the principle way to travel, but now it's primarily tourists, and the price has adjusted accordingly, but the view is still gorgeous.  Much of the ride is over Lake Gatún, which is most of the central portion of the Canal, and looks like a lake.  But, the train also passed through tropical jungle, and there is a brief glimpse of the locks and Miraflores and...well, the locks immediately north of Miraflores.
The next day we actually went to Miraflores, and went through the 5ish story museum which covered the entire history of the Canal, and an overview of the coming expansion, and when we reached the top, were in nearly perfect timing to see 2 cargo ships entering the first set of locks, and watch the water drain and drain and drain and drain, and the ginormous doors in motion.  The locks really are an incredible feat of engineering, with a mess of politics, economics, and suchlike thrown in- if you haven't read McCullough's book or been to the Miraflores museum, you should.  Preferably the latter, and visit me!  On their final morning, we went to the airport, and I woefully made my way back to town...on the first full day of Carnival, so I got to spend a lot of time in line to get on the bus.  Note for that visit to the Canal Museum- don't plan on travelling much around Carnival.  The roads get packed, although I did get to go through the tunnel under the future airport near my part of the country!
That's probably enough for a blog post- I'm closing in on 3 pages in the program in which I'm typing, and more than 2000 words- if only school reports were this easy!
But there's still Baile Tus Sueños, and the Field Trip! Oh, what the heck.  My parents are probably half my readership, and they already experienced most of the last 2000 words.
So, after my parents left, I hid from Carnival in my town and made faces at the Culecos (people who throw water in the traditional Panamanian Carnival celebration which was minimal in my town).  After about a week, maybe a week and a half, during which I made final arrangements for the 23 Aspirantes (hopefuls, aka, new batch of future TE volunteers) to come visit my site, talk to some of my teachers, tour around, and have lunch, I took off for Chiriquí to help with a dance camp, called Baile Tus Sueños, or Dance Your Dreams.  I arrived on Monday and left on Friday, and in the middle, we taught 30ish kids a couple basic hip-hop choreographies, had a failed attempt at a swing class (one hour, lots of kids under 12, outside on a hot afternoon, plus inexperience...), team building activities, environmental education, sexual health education for the handful that were 12+...it was fun!  The PCVs whose pet project it was were going utterly mad, but I think it went really well, and would fully endorse them to run it again- particularly taking into account the 20 million lessons learned over the course of this week.
I rushed back to my site on the Friday, to run around my site making sure that everything was in order for my 30 guests coming the following day (23 aspirantes, plus their PC handlers, driver, greeter volunteers, and Julie who came to help actually on Friday).  After a brief scare in that the chairs I'd requested from the town representante hadn't appeared, my host mom discovered that they were At That Moment being fetched, and sure enough, they arrived in short order, and my host brother helped me set them up in the Casa Comunal.  My co-teachers who'd agreed to talk to the group both arrived in good time, and wonder of wonders, everything went smoothly, and even on Hora Americana!  I didn't have water, to let the Aspirantes refill their waterbottles at my house, but my wonderful neighbors invited the whole group to their large, covered, tiled porch, where they provided cold water and fresh starfruit to everybody.  I like my town <3.  Once we had rested and cooled down, we went down to visit La Cascada del Río Antón, and the Aspirantes got to dip their feet in a real, live Panamanian river (they'd just arrived in Panama on the previous Wednesday, so it was nearly the first time they'd gotten to see anything).  The greeter volunteers commented that it wasn't quite fair, since my Teachers who came speak respectable English, and everything is perfect here (except the lack of water, and excessive heat).
Then came the beginning of the school year, and here we are.  I'm in the second week of working with my first teacher of the term, and started my Friday classes at the multigrado Primaria, and the beat goes on.  Happy Autumn!

Back to Back Winter and Summer Vacations!

Since my last post, the events of which I hardly remember such that they seem to have taken place months ago, there was another week or so of end-of-school-year festivities, a retirement party for the assistant principal and 2 teachers at the Elementary school, my going to help a fellow PCV with a program called "Elige tu Vida" (a program aimed at 14-17 year olds, with a split focus on decision making, in work and sex; popular program that I want to run in my site this year), and probably a few other things, but nothing that I haven't already covered to some degree or another.

On December 19th, something very exciting happened.  In case you weren't aware, I WENT BACK TO THE US!  It was a whirlwind trip which involved almost everything I could have wanted: a night of swing dancing, shopping, family time, the Festival of Lights, birthdays, Christmas, schinkenfleckerln, Skyline, Graeter's, hamburgers, and snow.  :-)  

Almost exactly a week after arriving, I once more boarded a plane to Texas.  This had some excitement as a couple hours before we were planning on leaving, I received an e-mail that my flight had been cancelled due to a blizzard that decided to smother everything north of Cincinnati on that day; after an additional scare of there being to available flights until Sunday (by which time I was scheduled to have moved on from Texas altogether), we found another flight from another airport, so all's well.  I landed around midnight, and was met at the airport by 2 of my most fabulous friends, one of whom came to visit me here in Panama (Cecily!), and the other whom I'd not seen since graduation- frankly, entirely too much time elapsed (Mollie!)!!!  

Having graduated from college and moved on to lives of responsibility (or something like that), we naturally went straight to bed in order to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for a full day of wedding prep- because Cecily and I were there for Mollie's wedding!

And as you probably know, that's a lie because naturally, we spent 3 hours covering years of catch-up and hang-out until we all started falling asleep mid-sentence in our positions sprawled around on the floor.

When daytime actually came, at a we got up not-too-late hour, and spent some time doing errands, a little more hanging out whenever possible, wedding rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and this-and-that.  It was great fun  to reconnect with the handful of other Prin friends who were there, most of whom I hadn't seen for too long :-D

So, after a brief just-over-2-days outside of Dallas, Saturday brought another plane ride, but this one was just a hop over to San Diego, CA to spend a little more than a day with another most fabulous friend, Lauren.  Our time together, though brief, was full of laughter, Broadway (specifically Wicked), near constant drizzle, a hailstorm, a couple rides on a carousel, cupcakes, North&South (a British miniseries that Mollie introduced to Cecily and me that I had to finish before leaving the country) and country-line dancing.  My visit with Lauren ended with meeting another fabulous friend from college, Joe, for breakfast, in a delightful quasi-last-minute contrivance. Yay!  

The last day of 2012 I got to spend with my grandmother Connie!  In another casual, laid back day we went kayaking on the San Diego Bay, with a fish-eye view of a couple aircraft carriers, then we rented bikes...I don't remember where, lunch by the Del with a view of the ocean, an imax movie, and we brought in the New Year with a concert by a delightful rock cover band...and although delightful doesn't quite fit the vibe of the band, I'm going to use it anyway, because it's true and better than any other words that come to mind at the moment.

Connie and I observed as much as possible of January 1st, 2013, by waking up at 5AM to take me to the airport for my final flight for a long spell back to Panama.  I'm feeling honest, so I shall confess that I was feeling decidedly reluctant to return to the Panamanian campo.  I don't know how it happened, but as much as I love nature and being outdoors, being out of sight and out of earshot of civilization, I do love to be in the city.  So, joyfilled from a stuffed-to-the-brim 13 days (including travel), I made my way back to Panama, to be blasted by humidity in the heavy summer city air.  In an unexpectedly fortuitous turn of events, there was a fellow on both of my flights wearing a shirt covered with birds and sporting the word "Panama", so I started chatting with him, found that he was flying down to visit his son, and through this and that, this father-son set were kind enough to give me a free ride to my hotel from the airport! For context, I'd been worrying myself about getting a reasonably-priced taxi by myself after dark, so it was a great relief.

Still dragging my feet, the next day I made my way back to site, and found my steps growing lighter as 'home' drew nearer.  By the time I got to my house, I was ready to embark on another year as a PCV, valiantly battling the educational system in a hopefully-not-in-vain effort to get some good TE -ness going on.  Although I spent the first several days, after an obligatory "I'm back!" visit to my host family, holed up hermit-style in my house watching movies with the blinds closed and all.  Over the few days, I slept and relaxed until that partial week passed, and I was ready to spend the next week reacquainting myself with Santa Rita and my neighbors therein, and preparing for my 2 week booster class for the incoming 10th graders

This 2 week class was at the request of the Director (aka, principal) of the Secondary school, and was a requirement for all students entering 10th grade (roughly equivalent entering freshmen).  However I was given no guidelines as to assessment or content, timing, length, nada.  But, with the help of a couple of my PCV friends in a hotel room and afterward, I pulled together the course, and even I felt that it went well.  And as much as I tend to try to interpret feedback as negatively as possible, I am compelled to take it as a compliment that when I asked for written, anonymous feedback, the most frequent suggestion was that the class was too short.  It was a rewarding experience, and I certainly learned a lot about teaching, teaching english, Panamanian students, 10th graders, and myself personally and as a teacher.  

I learned that to feel more or less confident in front of the class (2 class sessions, about 30 students in the morning about about 50 in the afternoon), I needed to script the classes nearly verbatim and actually have the script where I could read it throughout the class.  I learned that being a little silly, not to the point of clownishness, but just little hints of fun can relax and re-engage a class that may be starting to drift.  (For example, pointing out the pronunciation difference between "park" and "bark", and barking in class.)  I learned that these students, at least, are interested in learning English, but don't know how, and frankly, don't have good teachers...hence MEDUCA* requesting Peace Corps assistance.  And I learned that I still don't want to be a teacher as a career.  I have nothing but respect for teachers, but I still don't want to join your number; you are inspirational, invaluable, so often underappreciated, you share so much wonderfulness with your students, and have so many opportunities...but I don't think it's cut or for me, or I for it.  But, we can't all be teachers, and who knows how I'll feel at the end of another year of teacher training.  I have had marvelous teachers over the course of my life, interspersed with less laudable examples, and from them I will draw my inspiration.

Since ending that class last Friday, I've been working on coordinating a Peace Corps event (I get an early chance at the new group of TE volunteers who are starting in Feb- they're all coming to visit my site 3 days after showing up to Panama, so I get to pull together teachers and a lunch and basically all of the logistics for really what is their first look at Panama.), and cleaning my house for the next Very Exciting Event.  Actually, on Sunday I went to the beach with some of the City relatives of my familia panameña, but other than that, cleaning and preparing for this Very Exciting Event, in which My Parents Arrive in Panama!  In about 20 minutes from writing this, I'll be heading to the airport to pick them up for over a week here!  They'll leave as Carneval heats up, then will be a week of recovery, a dance camp in Chiriqui where I'll teach swing, beginning internet, and beginning Word, and then back into the school year- will the fun ever end...?

And no, you don't get any pictures here.  Like a very silly person, I left my camera battery charger in Panama, and so was reduced to pure enjoyment and direct commitment to memory of this visit instead of being distracted by recording it all.  And I was so busy enjoying and doing that I didn't even have time for the big photodump I'd been hoping for- and that one I am sorry for.  Maybe later.  For now, have a lovely night/day/morning/whenever...have a lovely time.

*Ministry of Education