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 :-)

Double post day!

So, my counterpart (Primaria co-teacher) let me borrow his magic internet stick to see if it gets signal in my house!  AND IT DOES!  Inconsistently, but hey, it's more than I've got otherwise.  So, you get 2 posts today (this one and the one about Independence Day), and we all get hope for internet at my house for the future! Isn't that exciting? Pictures still seem to take an eternity or so, but we'll see how long it actually takes when I have my own stick.

       In both the United States and Panama, preparations for Presidential elections are in full swing.  The candidates of the opposition party are being selected, and running mates bandied about.  I don’t know about the US, but lately I’ve been seeing increasing numbers of cars and trucks with various candidates names’ and parties driving around my town and the towns nearby, and I’m sure commercials, yardsigns, and billboards are popping up in the US, and probably here.  I don’t know about TV commercials here as the TV in my house doesn’t work, but I’d be surprised if there weren’t bastante (plenty/enough) commercials here.  The difference is that in the United States, the presidential election is in a number of months, and here in Panama, the election doesn’t take place until after I leave in 2014.  They certainly don’t waste time!...Except for all of the time that gets wasted waiting for busses that have imprecise schedules at best, for the time waiting to see if it will rain, for time just spend...sitting around.  Time spent waiting for meetings, waiting for appointments.
In the meantime, (haha, more time) I’m having a lot of fun in my house, although I’ve been rather anti-social now that I’m moved in.  But, I visit my familia panameña every few days, and am fully planning on getting out and walking more often, pasearing, visiting, all that jazz.
Now I have 2 weeks here, with my 10th grade profesora (the one who teaches English, French, Ethics, and Bellas Artes) before going to a 2 week “IST”, which is In-Service Training.  It’s unfortunate that it takes place in the middle of the most productive trimester of the school year, but oh well.
If I didn’t cover it before, here in Panama they have 3 trimesters in the school year.  They run late February-June, June-September, and September- December.  The first is largely spent getting the students, and teachers, back in academic modes, with a fair number of holidays, celebrations, recognitions, all manner of interruptions.  The second is the least interrupted, when the students and teachers are in gear, warmed up, and so it’s considered to be the most productive part.  Other than the 1st week of my Ciclo being out the window for the Aniversario festivities, another saint day at the Primaria, English Week at the Ciclo, and a variety of those little things that can come up in any term, it’s been much more consistent than last term.  Side note, substitute teachers don’t exist here, so if the teachers have family emergencies, official seminars, medical appointments, etc, their classes have free periods.  Technically, we’re are here to support our teachers in their teaching, and make sure that the schools don’t consider us to be unpaid substitutes, so I haven’t been stepping in when my teachers are out, but I might change my policy on that.  Particularly if my teachers ever have one of those 1 or 2 week MEDUCA seminars that I hear about other teachers disappearing to every so often.  I still don’t think I want to be a teacher for a career, but it actually hurts when I see the expectations for these students contrasted with the opportunities and situations offered.
Don’t misunderstand me, I think that my teachers are all above average (which is really saying all that much in the context of the Panamanian public school system), but they have a lot of room for improvement, and the MEDUCA approved books are so badly written that although there are decent parts, there are other sections that I have to read a passage 3 times to figure out, and yet others that are complete nonsense.
In addition, none of my teachers have their own classrooms, which makes usage of posters and other props more challenging, and technological limitations abound.   All of that being said, my teachers are very invested in their jobs, and generally devoted to their students.  And, they are ready and willing to work with me, which is marvelous for their students and the TE program, but a lot of pressure on me, which I feel particularly strongly when I think about my lack of formal educational training.  Oh well; c’est la vie!

And now, a bit of news of home life:  I’m sure that everyone will be able to breathe a sigh of relief- I’ve successfully identified and located cornstarch here, and although had to make some other substitutes, I made chocolate pudding from scratch.  So, in the end, all is well with the world.  ;-)

Independence Day

Today is, or is as of writing this, (because although I'm writing on the 4^th, who knows when I'll be posting) el Día de Independencia de los Estados Unidos, or Independence Day of the United States. A handful of people here remembered it to me, and a few more got it after just a couple of hints. I was fully intending to spend this week with my Primaria teacher, but he didn't go in yesterday, and after we did Kindergarten today, he basically kicked me out of classes because I “shouldn't have to work on my Independence Day,” which meant that I could go to El Valle with a handful of other volunteers from around here. The a lot of Panama PCVs went to a beach party in Chiriquí, actually where I went on my volunteer visit back in January, but I hadn't wanted to miss that much school...even though I am missing it anyway, with today, yesterday, and tomorrow my teacher is going to a ceremony/presentation in Los Santos to get our new Bandera Azul flag. As a reminder, Bandera Azul is the First Lady's program to motivate environmental programs in schools. My teacher wanted to invite me to the ceremony, but wasn't allowed to bring more people, so I have the day for...whatever I decide I need to do. Which will involve finding internet to post this!

Now, to the point: Celebrating Independence Day in the United States

I admit that I haven't always been the most fervent patriot in the Union, and that celebrating the 4^th of July was more for the sake of fireworks than the country itself, but I am very grateful to be an American citizen. Of course there are political problems, social problems, economic problems, energy problems, environmental problems, internal problems, international problems- the list can be endless of the problems.

But every time I spend time outside of the States, I learn as much about home as I do about whatever country I'm in.

And in that, I am reminded of how good we really have it. Granted, with the exception of bits of time in Austria, Germany, and Canada, my international adventures have been in less developed, less modern, or perhaps just less “Western.” Whatever the reason, for the most part, we have reliable access to running, potable water, and much of the time, even heated water. There's almost definite access to electricity across the board, and as annoying as the orange barrels are, someone is maintaining the roads. Not everyone has air conditioning, but most communities have some place they can go to enjoy it. To varying degrees of quality, we have neighborhood, city, county, state, and national parks, and a hefty percentage of the population is equipped with an automobile.

Beyond all of this, there are the less measurable things that are at least as important, if not more. The American Dream has gotten a bit tarnished over time, but having that idea that anyone can be anything is really encouraging. That's not to say they will be, or that it will be straightforward, or even seem possible, but knowing that it is possible for an individual to find and take chances and opportunities to make their life into whatever form they want to- is that not an idea to cherish?

Our educational system is beset with problems, but it does result in creative and productive engineers, scientists, librarians, teachers, leaders political and social, thinkers, inventors, writers, builders...people in every realm of activity.

The American ideals of opportunity, freedom, justice, accountability...despite the problems, there are throngs of people who still want to come to the United States so desperately that they will risk everything that they have, just to be able to start with nothing, in hopes that they or their children, or their grandchildren, will be able to improve themselves.

A few weeks ago, my 'uncle' asked me why there were so many immigrants want to go into the United States. I don't know an answer from surveys or studies, but I know it must be a strong reason for them to face the challenges that confront both legal and illegal immigrants.

Yes, there are faults to find, and counter-examples to everything that I mention as good and well-done, but they haven't proven to be as lastingly definitive of the US, and who doesn't have room for improvement?

And so, despite the the occasional 'declines into socialism,' debates on constitutionality of this and that, despite particular decisions and actions that I disagree with, and certainly at times a lot of frustration, I am and I will continue to be proud to be an American citizen.

(I do think it highly ego/ethno-centric that we have claimed the name “American”, which really belongs to quite a few countries on two continents.  Here in Panamá, they use "Estadounidense", which roughly translates to the sociological "United States-ian" more often than they use "americano."  However, I'm not going to change my opinion of the entirety of the United States on the basis of linguistic annoyance.)

My House!

I celebrated Father's Day by officially moving to my very own house!  Fine, not literally my house, but I'm renting it and living here solita, very likely for the remainder of my 2 years here.  It's odd to think, after anticipating this “2 years” for so long, that now I have less than 2 years planned, and less time every day.  Anyway, about My Casita.*  Ana calls it the Dollhouse, because it's tiny, although 'tiny' is quite relative.  There is a living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and an indoor bathroom!  There is even electricity and water...as often as anyone has water here.  It's quite closed- most of the windows have screens, there are very few unfilled gaps between the top of the walls and the corrugated metal ceiling/roof, so I've had relatively few bug problems.  There were some nests of a gross winged-ant-looking critter on the outsides of a few windows, but the neighbors knocked down most of the nests, and I attacked with chemical warfare as well, and I do believe I'm winning.  A rather ironic visitor showed up right after I sprayed my bathroom- some variety of spider cousin was chilling on the wall, a bit more than 2” across (counting legs, thankfully), but he and I sorted out our differences of opinion in his living situation fairly quickly.  There've been a handful of cockroaches, but they and I have also had our disputes.  So far, I've won all of our little disagreements.  Considering that the house had been unoccupied for, well, I don't know how long, I've had surprisingly few roommates.  I do have a handful of lagartija friends, who are the ubiquitous little squeaky gecko types, and I've heard that their droppings are toxic, but as long as there aren't too many of them, and they stay near the tops of my walls, they're free to stay and help with bug control.
My house is approximately a 20' square.  Coming in the front door, you enter living room, which is currently furnished with some white plastic chairs, a small/medium dining table with 2 associated chairs, and an end table.  This room has 2 windows, one to the front (facing North) and one on the side (West) which is lovely because those are the main directions for breezes to come through.  I'm trying to decide what kind of seating arrangements to get, because the plastic chairs just aren't cutting it for comfort.  There will be at least one hammock seat involved, I think.  There was a TV, but it just makes a turning-on-ish noise, without actually turning on, so I've relegated it to my storage/guest room.
There is a little window from the living room to the kitchen, which is slightly small than the Jo McNabb kitchen, for those of you who've seen it.  For those who have not, It's a rectangle, along the length of one side is a counter of about 16” deep, with a single basin sink that almost fits my pots.  There is a little wall cabinet, and a storage shelf under the counter.  On the other side is my refrigerator, a table with lower shelf, my stovetop, and my gas tank.  I was fortunate in that my house is almost furnished, and the appliances work and everything- even the blender!  I do want to buy a toaster oven (more on the oven side, than the toaster side), but there  isn't anything I've needed to buy to live here.  No, that's false- I did get to discover that the gas adapter that was in the house didn't fit the tank, so I had to get a new adapter.  And then there was a little adventure in which I thought I had to get a new tank of gas, but when I had my neighbor come to help me make sure I had the set-up right, we discovered that there is yet enough gas for now at least!  All in all, there's room in there for 1 person to work with just being slightly cramped, and I don't even have to move to reach something from the other side!
Moving past the kitchen, we come to my bathroom, which as I mentioned, is INDOORS!  There is a sink, toilet, and shower.  The room is about the size of the bathtub we put in the Roselawn house, meaning for most of you, about half the size of the kitchen...kinda have to sidle to get past the toilet to the shower, but hey- it's decently clean, doesn't stink, has light, and I don't spend all that much time in there anyway.
On the other side of the house are the 2 bedrooms.  The one towards the front of the house has a twin bed, and a folding temporary bed.  (Hint hint, plenty of sleeping space!)  This is my guest bedroom, aka, storage space for the dueña's** stuff.
Finally, we come to my bedroom, chosen because (a)it's further from the street and therefore marginally quieter, (b)already has 2 locks on the door, so Peace Corps only needed one more, and (c)has a full bed with a decent bedframe, along with a shelving unit and a dresser half occupied by the dueña's stuff.  There's a wire running over part of the room for hanging clothes and whatnot, and the walls are pink!  Actually, the walls of the kitchen and both bedrooms are pink, while the sala (living room) has white and the bathroom is unpainted and therefore cement gray.
Outside, I don't have much.  Some concrete slab things in the back yard, a good portion of the neighbor's guava tree (guava being the pod fruit that I don't believe is what we consider guava there in the US), and a lot of lovely potted plants, mostly roses.  In time, I want to get some composting going, as well as an herb garden if not some actual vegetables going either in pots or in the ground.
The most unfortunate aspect is that there isn't an ideal or even particularly convenient place for a hammock outside, but we'll see what I do with that.  Maybe at the back.  But, I'm planning on having some hammock action in the livingroom anyway, so...time will tell.  And my adoptive familia Panameña (my former host family) have made it clear that I'm welcome back there whenever, for a meal, hammock time, chilling on their porch, and so on.  I was very fortunate in having had Ana's family as my host family, because they really have become a family for me here in Panama, in Santa Rita, and some of her siblings that live in Panama City.
My new neighbors, who are of course somehow related to my host family, have been wonderfully helpful.  My actual landlady lives in Aguadulce, on the other side of Coclé, and my right-hand neighbors (looking from the street) have practical charge of the house, and have been consistently supportive and patient- and they're taking care of keeping the yard clean and cut for me!  On the other side, I don't know the neighbors as well, but so far have seemed very friendly as well.
So, that is my new house, and if you want to know anything else, well, you'll just have to come see for yourself!  I'll even get sheets for you, and maybe even a pillow!
Now, it's about 6:30 on Thursday night, so I'm going to make some sort of dinner involving vegetables (that's almost as exciting as having an indoor bathroom).  Last night I had grilled cheese sandwiches, with multigrain bread, mozzarella, and massaman curry paste.  (I went to Penonomé, the regional capital, for shopping- they definitely do not have any of those things here in town, and I rather doubt they'd have it in Antón).
Buenas noches!  (because it's night here as I write this, regardless of when I get it posted or you read it.)

*Santa Ritaños had a proclivity for adding the suffix “ito/a” to nouns and adjectives as much as possible- it's a diminutive, but seems to be used for emphasis as much as anything else.
**dueña means owner/landlady

random kitten who I met

 awesome clouds from in front of my house :-)

 some of my roses!

host family cousin and Rocky ('my' dog)

Carpintero!

I'm in my new house!

...and a full description with pictures will come soon...

In the meantime, here's a post from a few weeks ago, on Tire Toucans

~Bandera Azul, and How to Make a Tire Toucan~

The Programa Bandera Azul Ecológica is, I believe, and initiative by the Primera Dama, the First Lady, of Panamá NAME NAME de Martinelli. It is a program for schools, in which the schools take part in certain activities and modes, and in return, the schools get Stars. Currently, my Primaria has 3 stars, but there are high hopes for the 4^th coming soon.

The program puts strong emphasis on the same things as do similar programs in the United States. They advocate “reducir, reutilizar y reciclar”, conservation of endangered species such as iguanas, and home/school gardens. The context is a bit different, as many of the families here have flourishing fruit trees in their backyards, and the streets are lined with guava, marañon, and guineo (guava, cashew, and banana), and iguanas scamper about in the yards and trees in company with other lizardy friends, but the ideas are there. The program also supports ideas like non-littering and aesthetics a la potted plants and nature-themed murals.

So, enough general background. Today, May 29^th , a handful of officials from Bandera Azul came to my Primaria with a 2-person camera crew, and filmed some of the relevant successes of the school. One teacher talked about the fogóns they have, which are the among the most efficient model of wood-burning stove they have here, if not the most efficient (most heat for the wood, also very little smoke), which were built in cooperation with Cosecha, another environmental development group here. A 5^th grader had a chance for his 5 minutes of fame, as he showed the camera the various art projects that he and his classmates have made from recycled or reused materials, and they also took footage of some 6^th grade artwork, as well as the murals and painted tiles that are part of the schools general appearance.

The highlight of the future TV program, and their visit today at least for me, however, was the DIY guide to making Tire Toucans, and so I impart the instructions to you!

1. Get an car tire
2. Mark a section 2 handspands wide on one side- more or less about a third of the circumference
3. Mark a line about 2 inches from the inside edge, outside of the previously marked section
4. Cut along marked line, and make a parallel cut on the other side of the tire
5. Cut across the broad surface of the tire on one side, about 6” short of the end of the previous marked lines- this is the TAIL
   1. You should now have 1 unit, with 2 complete circles connected on one side of the tire by that 2-handspan-section, with a section of the tread hanging by one end (TAIL)
6. Cut the sides of that 6” section free, and cut it (parallel to the sides of the section) in the middle
7. Holding the tail in place, perhaps by stepping on it, turn the 2 circles and other area of tread inside-out
8. Take a hard piece of wood or plastic in the shape of a toucan's beak, and drill a hole near the upper corner
9. Drill corresponding holes on the inner corners of that divided 6” section
10. Position the BEAK in the divide, aligning the drilled holes such that the contact is between the BEAK and the tread-side of the tire; affix with nut-and-bolt
    
    
    
    
    I wanted to give you some pictures, but it's entirely too hot, and I want to go home, so, sorry...better luck next time!

Q: What's worse than finding a worm in your mango?

A: Finding half a worm! Ha ha ha ha ha.

El Murcielago, part 4

So, I thought that I was done with my friend Bat after that last encounter, but it was not to be. A couple weeks later, who should enter my room again one night when I happened to still be on the wrong side of sleep at about midnight? It was an unfortunate situation, because I was very near the right side of sleep, and frankly, the last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed and chase a panicked bat around my room in the middle of the night. And, I wasn't particularly concerned about a mess, or him eating my clothes, and if he ate some of the bugs in my room, so much the better, as long as he was fairly quiet about it. Señor Murcielago (so much more work to say than 'bat'!) however wasn't inclined to operate within this arrangement, instead preferring to hurl himself around my room, squeaking all the while. Occasionally he would find stop for a few minutes in the rafter, and I would almost be able to get to sleep...but then he would find something uncomfortable in his situation, and considered it absolutely necessary to find a new position, which he was incapable of doing quietly. By around 1:30 or 2, I gave up on him being quiet, and tried to drown him out by listening to music ...which trebly didn't work, as my headphones aren't designed for sleeping comfort, I kept trying to actually listen to the music, and it did nothing to cover Mr Bat's noise anyway. By 4AM (each time period passing with little bits of dozing and lots of tossing and turning and trying to force sleep), I'd given up the idea of letting him be, and decided to remove him. Unfortunately for this plan, he had become more adept at the art of flight than the last time, and spent much more time at the tops of my walls than at the bottom. You know, I'd always had a vague idea that bats were rather graceful, however, this fellow has thoroughly convinced me otherwise, as he would half land at his destination, and then have to scramble to secure himself, else he would land on a broad, horizontal surface and crawl around a bit. I will admit that he's a cute little nuisance, though not so much in the middle of the night. After some time spent chasing him around with my shoebox trap, eventually he flew into a shirt I had hanging, and I was able to catch him and take him outside. The following day, Señora Ana's brother-in-law Roberto stuffed more newspaper around the outside of my bedroom walls, as well as further blocking access to the preferred-bat-entry area at the top of my closet, the wall of which divides the closet from the front porch. (You're welcome to review the wonderfully artistic diagram from whichever previous post that was).

Speaking of wonderfully artistic diagrams, I've more or less decided to learn to draw, that is to say, teach myself to draw. At least, I've been doodling more officially in my officially-labelled 'Sketchbook' (it says such on the cover, and who am I to argue with that?) with colored pencils, pens, and most recently, some drawing charcoals that my friend and fellow volunteer Julie gave me. It's fun, although I've yet to produce anything satisfactorally representative of whatever I was trying to depict. But, fun times, and delightfully messy!

And as a segue from drawing, one of my attempted subjects has been the puppy which joined the family about a month ago- don't ask what breed, I don't know, but probably will be a medium sized mutt. He's absolutely adorable, quite intelligent, well on his way to being thoroughly confused from the mixture of messages he receives from my, Ana, the kids, and all of the other family and community members who come by. He's also very toothy, but I believe he's learning that fingers and ankles are not chew toys, He also loves to attack my skirts and pant legs.

One particularly clear sign of his intelligence is that he likes mangoes. I have no idea whether mangoes are healthy for dogs or puppies, but this fellow (Rocky Balboa) is definitely fond of them, and will chew the peel if that's all he can get, but prefers chunks of the fruit itself. And there is- dare I say it?- plenty of mango to go around! I don't know how it's possible, but I've actually found myself on more than one occasion, disinclined to eat a mango. As I right this, there are probably 30 mangoes on the ground around the nearest mango tree that have fallen in the wind and rain, as well as the 10 or so we've knocked from the branches. And they're almost all perfectly ripe. The other day, Ana had to have to kids throw a basket of mangoes away because they were too overripe. It would have been a terrible tragedy, but there are so many more! Of course, you should come visit me and help us eat them! I don't know how much longer mango season is, but going by the amount still in the trees, and the trees that still have the little bitty proto-mangoes, they'll be around for a good while. I hope that when I move to my house (which nothing will prevent, I sincerely hope!) I'll be able to fetch mangoes from here rather frequently, because that is one of the unfortunate aspects of the new place- no fruit trees... I do imagine that I'll find a way to survive, however.

I still need to get official Peace Corps Approval on the house, but I don't forsee problems with that. I have enjoyed living here, but the 3 kids (2 bipedal and the quadruped), and generally the amount of noise here is starting to get to me. I feel rude when I retreat to my room, but sometimes I can only take so much Spanish, or just so much bru-ha-ha. It sometimes seems that there's a civil war brewing between the kids and the adults here, and I am interested in avoiding such a thing. They're very intelligent kids, and tend to get their own ways in almost anything- I have no idea what a punishment here would be, because there never seem to be repercussions for disobedience. At least another month here, though, for better or worse, and although there have been some skirmishes, the war hasn't begun, and I am generally content.

Work has been going really well, overall.  This past week had its distinct challenges, but the 2 previous weeks were fantastic- principally due to the teachers I've been working with.  A couple weeks ago at the Primary, we spent Friday working in the school garden (in Spanish), and the following week at the Ciclo, I actually helped the teacher plan her next lesson, using strange and novel techniques such as building on the immediately preceding topic.  The students are very shy, but are as cooperative as their various ages would be generally expected to be...

And my explorations of the surrounding area have continued: 

Here's a picture of a pretty little fairyland waterfall in Los Gonzales

And a new activity, when it isn't raining, and we have time:

I'm not entirely sure, but I think that 'winter' has come; the mornings are fairly hot and sunny until 11 or so, at which point it starts raining until about 3 or 4. The rain usually brings some breezes and cooler temperatures, to the point that it gets down to the 70s at night, and I've been comfortable in jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt. At times it still seems to hot to exist, but these times are decreasing in both duration and frequency.

A sunrise in front (around 6 AM)













And a sunset, with the papaya tree (around 6 PM)

Semana Santa, Thoughts on Language Learning, and More!

It doesn't seem like that long since I last wrote, but I feel like I've accumulated a lot of things to say. In no particular order, here goes:

I apparently walk like a German. According to my host family, when Americans walk, they look at the ground 3 meters ahead, but Germans look up and around. This came about while the family was here for Semana Santa- Holy Week. I live here with Señora Ana, Marjori, Darió, and Ana's father- over Tuesday and Wednesday, 3 or 4 of Ana's siblings came out from the City, along with a niece, various spouses of relatives, and, well, generally a full house. More on that later. I was telling one of my “uncles” and Ana about how we eat a lot of Mexican food at home, and so they asked if my parents are Mexican, so I was explaining that my family was largely German (and other European), and they said that I seemed German- not because of my hair (which is still reddish, for the record), my skin tone, which my host family says will look Panamanian by the time I go back to the States, but rather because when we're walking around, I don't look at the ground. Funny thing, no?

Secondly we have “ahora.” In Spanish class in the States we learned that “ahora” means “now.” And when asked, a Panamanian may well say that “ahora” means “now.” However, here's an example of “ahora”: the other night, we were going to participate in a procession on Good Friday- the Most Holy Day of the Best Week of the year. I asked when we were leaving, and Ana's mom said “ahora.” An hour later, we're still sitting on the porch...and nobody was making leaving-type motions. Eventually we left, taking our sweet time. So, if you come to Panama, and who knows which other Spanish-speaking places, know that “ahora” means who knows when, and you actually want to hear “ahorita” or “ahora mismo”...assuming you actually want to know if something is actually happening now.

Thirdly, we have parts 2 and 3 of the bat saga- I thought that after my first adventure, that that was all. I was apparently wrong. A few days later, the bat came back. This time, Ana saw, and came in with a broom, and chased it out of my room. The next day, I actually saw it crawl in though the little gap between the corrugated roof and my wall. I went to get the broom to chase it out again, but Ana came again, and this time Darió and Marjori came too. In my room- which is about 10 ft by 15 ft, with 15 ft ceiling, we have a frantic little bat, frantic Ana with the broom, and frantic kids screaming and it was a little room full of noise and confusion. Oh, and my room is almost entirely occupied by my bed, my desk-table, and the two bunk beds that serve as my dresser, so in terms of floorspace, there's a scant 2 feet lengthwise in between my bed and the bunkbeds, and then about 6' square by the desk and entry. (illustration at bottom of post for illumination- proportions no more than loosely accurate)

Anyway, we have 3 frantic people, one wildly swinging broom, and a panicked bat in a fairly small space. After a lot of chaos, eventually the bat made it out the door, and Darió climbed up onto the shelf in the closet space to stuff more newspaper in the spaces between my wall and the ceiling. I think it will be very weird to go back to a place where inside air and outside air aren't the same thing. Anyway, I used to think that bats were really cool and nifty, and it was exciting to see them...now I hear them squeaking outside of my room, on the other side of the newspaper, and it's just rather stressful, thinking that they're going to squeeze in again...and it would be less so, but I'm very much not convinced about their ability to crawl back up the wall. But, other than being kept awake at night by the little scurrying and squeakings (plus the whatever-it-is/they-are that like to wander the roof and may be iguanas), all's good!

Perhaps I should save some of this for another day, when I haven't had anything to say for a while. Or not; I'll stay optimistic that life will continue to be interesting, which it does promise to be for the next while.

And so, onward!

A bit about Semana Santa. Panama is a very Catholic country, with the Evangelicals running a close second, but only in certain areas. Actually, there also are Jehovah's Witnesses (one of the teachers at the Primeria is a Jehovah's Witness, and he and his wife were actually going door to door, including where I live...some things are the same everywhere...), the occasional Mormon, and a couple others, I think one is “El Poder de Deos” or “The Power of God.” But, the vast majority are Catholic, and Santa Rita is no exception. So, Semana Santa is the biggest thing since November (my impression is that every other day is an independence day or somesuch in November- school's pretty much a joke). There were masses every other day, though we didn't attend, and Via Cruces processions Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights. Via Cruces, and I'm not sure what exactly it translates to, something like “Road Crosses” symbolizes Jesus' walk carrying the cross, with stops signifying places where Jesus fell each time, and some other things that happened on the walk that I wasn't quite able to hear. In these processions were half the town and 3 floats- the first was a figure of Jesus carrying the cross with a sign calling the neighbors to help bear it, the second of post-crucifixion Jesus in a 'sepulchre' which looked more like Snow White's casket with a little girl dressed as an angel who got to ride the whole way with her finger up her nose to her lips (it may have wandered up her nose a couple times, but it was a 2 hour procession, so these things happen), and the third was, I think, Virgin Mary, and by far the prettiest- she had sparkles and glitters! The people in the procession started out in silence, but then they would sing/chant things, and occasionally a guy with a megaphone would join lead a call-and-response thing for a bit before going to the front to talk about the next symbolic stop. All in all, very interesting. At the end of the previous week, there'd been a smaller, less formal Via Cruces by some of the Santa Ritans, at which they had me hold their cross when they came by the house, when they sang/chanted things.

And finally, well, penultimately, brief musings on language learning. Part 1: Learning a language is like learning to drive a car. At first, everything is a conscious decision and action. You're continuously trying to keep your foot with the right pressure on the gas pedal, doing everything you can to keep the steering wheel where you want it, while actively endeavoring to focus your attention on the road ahead while monitoring the rest of the surrounding area...not to mention trying not to stress out in response to the increasingly white-knuckled grip the poor individual in the passenger seat has on the door handle. In time, though more and more of those actions become automatic, and while you still have to be aware and vigilant, muscles and reflexes are trained to do at least some of the work.

Similarly with language, at first every word takes effort. You have to figure out what to say, what words to use, what forms those words need to have, and then to determine if it's even a logical concept when you've frankenstein-ed your thought together...and then there's getting it off of your tongue after all of that. Every step takes so much effort that by the time you have something put together, you've nearly forgotten what you were trying to say in the first place. But again in time, the words come more easily, the forms more naturally, the pronunciation more smoothly as the mind, the ear, and the tongue become increasingly accustomed to the new normal. Más fluidéz, as the language instructors say (more fluidity/fluency...not actually sure which).

I'm still very much in translation mode, but am getting much better, though my vocabulary is still minute. I still spend a lot of time in conversations with a blank look on my face as the sounds that were just spoken to me gradually sink into meanings, and sometimes whomever I'm speaking with has to repeat themself more than once, but progress is progress! Sometimes I can even catch side-comments now!

Now, on to part 2 of the actually not-so-brief musings, which is related to the transition away from translation, which is of course, still very theoretical to me. Now, perhaps I understood this back in high school and college (oh so long ago) when I was actually studying mathiness, but there's a kind of magic in how the height and length of a right triangle somehow shrink to become the hypotenuse.  (There's a picture at the bottom of the page which may now be helpful in understanding this.)

If A is the initial idea in your head, and B is the verbalized idea, to translate initially is to take the long road, by the legs; perhaps the vertical is forming the idea in English, and the horizontal is Spanish. As more words come and are more familiar, the gap-effort-something between the work and the product become less and less, but it's still translation, until eventually, like magic (this is the part that I may have understood before), the distance from A to B ceases to be the sum of the legs, and becomes the hypotenuse, which is shorter- and that convergence of the work and the short path is the hypothetical fluency. So, as translation becomes less labored and smoother, more words transition from meaning the English word to actually having meaning in their own right, the closer to fluency. I'm still working on the mechanics, and what parts actually signify what, but hopefully there's some sense to be had there. Thoughts, particularly other language and/or math people?

What was my last thought...ah yes. One other thing about Semana Santa- it was also a teaser for “Winter” aka, the Rainy Season. It rained every day for that week (starting that day last week when I said that there was thunder), usually starting around 11ish, and going off and on until 5 ish, though sometimes started earlier and continued later, sometimes pouring (really loud on the metal roof). We heard thunder more often than it rained, and once or twice it stormed late enough that we could see lightning! We lost electricity for the first couple of days, apparently it was out even in Antón, but had candles and the gas stove, so no hay problemas. And it's been back ever since.

And one more thing, since this thing is already a bit of an essay- Ana has continued to show me the area of the Corregimiento de Santa Rita, which is composed of 14 ramales, (yet smaller towns, so we have Panamá > Coclé > Antón > Santa Rita > Santa Rita Centro (where I live), Santa Ritas Arriba and Abajo, Las Peñitas, Los Aguilares, Los Peres...and the other 8. We still lack 3 or 4 of them; Ana decided, and I agree, that even though “Santa Rita” is my community, it wasn't really specified what Santa Rita they meant exactly, and students at my schools live in all of these areas, so I should know them (and they me). Anyway, on Sunday Ana, her sister, Marjori, Darió, and I went to Bella Florida, and over the course of visiting a few of the houses up there, accumulated a lot of guava, marañon curasao (kind of like a cross between a marañon and a pear), and a 6' piece of caña negro- a variety of sugar cane :-). While there, I also had a fantastic coconut, but we didn't bring any of those back down with us.

And now, I have spend my afternoon writing this, I am going to to chat with Ana and the Señor for a while before dinner. Oh, one more by-the-way- we had liver and onions for lunch today, and it tasted just like liver and onions (and peppers) anywhere- with the ubiquitous rice, of course.

Ok, Hasta Luego!

Pictures! Sorry they're small, but I'm out of time here!