Happy Thanksgiving! First the good news... The standfast phase for our area of the Comarca was lifted shortly after it was placed, and Ben came down the mountain and joined me in David on Wednesday, along with other members of our group located in the Comarca. We are planning to go out and have a nice meal at a restaurant in town tonight to celebrate.
The not quite as great news is that I just finished up my rounds of medication to fight my parasites, and people say I should be feeling better soon. But the medications are strong, and it feels like there is a battle being waged in my abdomen between the parasites and the pills. I´m hoping my body and the pills are winning. So, I´m still not feeling great.
The worse news is that the rain continues to fall. The Bocas del Toro region and the Comarca portion on the Carribean side are devastated. Many people have lost everything. Several Peace Corps volunteers in those areas were stranded in their sites and had to be evacuated out by helicopter and the rest were consolidated. Today a small plane brought most of them into David, and they may be here for several weeks or up to a month while roads are repaired. Today we spent our morning unloading trucks of supplies - mostly clothing and medical supplies - to be sent to areas in need. The flooding hasn´t gotten much news coverage in the world (from what we´ve seen), but the situation is pretty dire in areas. Please continue to keep the people of Panama in your thoughts this Thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Parasites, Earthquakes and Flooding.. Oh my!
There are a lot of crazy things happening in Panama right now, so let´s get started.
First of all, we´re now approaching nearly one month in our community and we´re having a great time. We are BUSY! We have been meeting with countless community groups and businesses, as well as groups from communities up to several hours away from ours, to get to know them and how we might be able to best serve them. We´re also getting into a routine in the community and everyday feel a little bit more like it´s home to us. And, let´s face it, we´re still in the ¨rockstar¨phase in town. Kids and adults alike have taken to shouting our names as we pass by, and we´re asked to visit and stop in often.
Now, the other stuff...
1. Parasites. I (Lisa) have parasites. Lets just say that 9 days ago now, I started having diarrhea, which got progressively worse everyday. I also felt nauseated a lot, and would waver between having no appetite at all, or feeling like I was starving to death. My energy level was minimal. Last Saturday night was rough. I couldn´t stop going. If you get my drift. So, Sunday morning, we called the Peace Corps doctor, and I was on my way to David to go to the hospital. Yesterday morning I went to the hospital, and was immediately hooked up to an I.V. and they did a blood test and told me that I´ve got parasites! Now, I´m on medication to kill everything off and try to get me back to normal, but it´s got me feeling icky too. But, the explosive diarrhea is a thing of the past. I should count my lucky stars that this is the first bad thing health wise I´ve had to deal with (should we count the pink eye experience or falling down and hurting my back in the river) when other volunteers in our group have had issues from day one.
2. Hunger. I´ve never before felt hunger like I´ve felt it here in the past few weeks. I´m guessing that the parasites are mostly to blame. Anyone that´s done Weight Watchers can probably agree that the first week you´re on plan is hard, and you feel like you´re starving. That´s nothing. And really, I can´t begin to imagine what real hunger and malnourishment is like. But having my hunger wake me up in the middle of the night, and keep me up for hours because it´s consuming my thoughts, is a new level of hunger for me. To be fair, I should mention that the food just isn´t doing it for me. I eat tons of white rice. Tons of nutrient lacking, flavorless white rice. The vegetables that were in abundance when we first arrived have disappeared. We´re not even getting the boiled green bananas anymore, which I actually miss. And at times, we´re now getting canned fish, which is making my stomach flip right now just thinking about it. Before it sounds all doom and gloom though, I will say that it makes the prospects of cooking for ourselves soon seem so much better.
3. Earthquake! Last Wednesday morning we experienced the strongest earthquake we´ve been through, at a 6.2. We ¨woke¨up shortly after 1am to the strong shaking. I actually crawled out of bed at 1am to relieve myself, and came back in the shack and noticed that the dog from next door had snuck in our house. It was cowering against the wall and freaked me out. I shooed it out and went back to bed. At first when the quake hit, I thought ¨what a freakishly strong wind!¨ (People have shared that we get very strong winds in the summer here - which is nearly upon us) Then I realized it was shaking. This quake was different from my last big one (in Fairbanks, Alaska at a 5.8) because we were about as close to the earth as possible this time, and the last one hit while I was sleeping on the top floor of an 8 story building. Our host dad woke up and thought about getting us up, but told me the next morning that he knew we were sleeping. I reassured him the next morning, that if he thinks the zinc shack is going to fall on us, he´s more than welcome to scream and yell and get us out of bed!
4. Floods. We´re in the rainy season right now. There´s also a tropical depression hanging out on the coast that´s threatening to become a cyclone. That´s not a good mix. We´ve had no issues in our site because we´re living at about 4,000 feet, but all of the water has to go somewhere, and unfortunately it has caused really devastating flooding in the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui and ours, the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle. So much so that the Peace Corps Panama powers that be have declared that everyone in these areas has to stay where they are right now, until further instructions arrive. This means I am in David (see number 1), and Ben is still in our community. We originally planned to have a nice private Thanksgiving in Boquete, but Boquete is devastated by the floods. Then we thought David, or the beach, but as it stands, no one is going anywhere, and we may not even have the holiday together. Which brings me to my last point...
5. Giving thanks. There is a lot for us to be thankful for this year. I could try to list them all out and would surely forget some, but I´ll sum it up by saying that we´re thankful for this opportunity and experienceand we´re eternally thankful for family and friends. And machetes (which are great for killing roaches).
Please keep the people of Panama in your thoughts in this difficult time. Also, if you´re feeling like you´d like to help the Peace Corps, or our projects in Panama, please take some time to check out the Peace Corps webpage and click on Donate Now!. You can choose specific countries, projects or volunteers to help fund.
First of all, we´re now approaching nearly one month in our community and we´re having a great time. We are BUSY! We have been meeting with countless community groups and businesses, as well as groups from communities up to several hours away from ours, to get to know them and how we might be able to best serve them. We´re also getting into a routine in the community and everyday feel a little bit more like it´s home to us. And, let´s face it, we´re still in the ¨rockstar¨phase in town. Kids and adults alike have taken to shouting our names as we pass by, and we´re asked to visit and stop in often.
Now, the other stuff...
1. Parasites. I (Lisa) have parasites. Lets just say that 9 days ago now, I started having diarrhea, which got progressively worse everyday. I also felt nauseated a lot, and would waver between having no appetite at all, or feeling like I was starving to death. My energy level was minimal. Last Saturday night was rough. I couldn´t stop going. If you get my drift. So, Sunday morning, we called the Peace Corps doctor, and I was on my way to David to go to the hospital. Yesterday morning I went to the hospital, and was immediately hooked up to an I.V. and they did a blood test and told me that I´ve got parasites! Now, I´m on medication to kill everything off and try to get me back to normal, but it´s got me feeling icky too. But, the explosive diarrhea is a thing of the past. I should count my lucky stars that this is the first bad thing health wise I´ve had to deal with (should we count the pink eye experience or falling down and hurting my back in the river) when other volunteers in our group have had issues from day one.
2. Hunger. I´ve never before felt hunger like I´ve felt it here in the past few weeks. I´m guessing that the parasites are mostly to blame. Anyone that´s done Weight Watchers can probably agree that the first week you´re on plan is hard, and you feel like you´re starving. That´s nothing. And really, I can´t begin to imagine what real hunger and malnourishment is like. But having my hunger wake me up in the middle of the night, and keep me up for hours because it´s consuming my thoughts, is a new level of hunger for me. To be fair, I should mention that the food just isn´t doing it for me. I eat tons of white rice. Tons of nutrient lacking, flavorless white rice. The vegetables that were in abundance when we first arrived have disappeared. We´re not even getting the boiled green bananas anymore, which I actually miss. And at times, we´re now getting canned fish, which is making my stomach flip right now just thinking about it. Before it sounds all doom and gloom though, I will say that it makes the prospects of cooking for ourselves soon seem so much better.
3. Earthquake! Last Wednesday morning we experienced the strongest earthquake we´ve been through, at a 6.2. We ¨woke¨up shortly after 1am to the strong shaking. I actually crawled out of bed at 1am to relieve myself, and came back in the shack and noticed that the dog from next door had snuck in our house. It was cowering against the wall and freaked me out. I shooed it out and went back to bed. At first when the quake hit, I thought ¨what a freakishly strong wind!¨ (People have shared that we get very strong winds in the summer here - which is nearly upon us) Then I realized it was shaking. This quake was different from my last big one (in Fairbanks, Alaska at a 5.8) because we were about as close to the earth as possible this time, and the last one hit while I was sleeping on the top floor of an 8 story building. Our host dad woke up and thought about getting us up, but told me the next morning that he knew we were sleeping. I reassured him the next morning, that if he thinks the zinc shack is going to fall on us, he´s more than welcome to scream and yell and get us out of bed!
4. Floods. We´re in the rainy season right now. There´s also a tropical depression hanging out on the coast that´s threatening to become a cyclone. That´s not a good mix. We´ve had no issues in our site because we´re living at about 4,000 feet, but all of the water has to go somewhere, and unfortunately it has caused really devastating flooding in the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui and ours, the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle. So much so that the Peace Corps Panama powers that be have declared that everyone in these areas has to stay where they are right now, until further instructions arrive. This means I am in David (see number 1), and Ben is still in our community. We originally planned to have a nice private Thanksgiving in Boquete, but Boquete is devastated by the floods. Then we thought David, or the beach, but as it stands, no one is going anywhere, and we may not even have the holiday together. Which brings me to my last point...
5. Giving thanks. There is a lot for us to be thankful for this year. I could try to list them all out and would surely forget some, but I´ll sum it up by saying that we´re thankful for this opportunity and experienceand we´re eternally thankful for family and friends. And machetes (which are great for killing roaches).
Please keep the people of Panama in your thoughts in this difficult time. Also, if you´re feeling like you´d like to help the Peace Corps, or our projects in Panama, please take some time to check out the Peace Corps webpage and click on Donate Now!. You can choose specific countries, projects or volunteers to help fund.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Getting Started
We´ve been in our new community for a couple of weeks now and are really enjoying it. There are a lot of business opportunities surfacing with each new meeting and the people seem really motivated to try to capitalize on them. Of course, some people appear to be most concerned with the money that might come with our support, but we just explain what Peace Corps is over again. We get the random ¨give me money¨shout out, most recently (in site, since I was called out to on the street here in David when we arrived) while I was gathering firewood from a little kid claiming he was an orphan. Not knowing whether he was or not, and being the bleeding heart that I am, *snicker snicker* I talked to him and his two friends about Alaska and how poorly hand-outs have gone for the indigenous there over the past three decades. I´m not sure if it sunk in though; when I finished, he tried to negotiate it down from $1 to 50¢ and then 25¢.
Its assumed that we gringos all have money to give, and the culture here is strongly weighted towards hand-outs after a generation or two of the communist experiment. Although its a bit discouraging at times, you do have to stop and say to yourself, well, we do have money, don´t we? Nevertheless, it won´t help them out to continue to get a hand-out instead of a hand-up, or as I told the ¨orphan¨, by not giving you money, I´ll help you learn to take care of yourself and not rely on anyone else to live.
We live in a part of a house with the family that we visited during our site visit week. They have young kids that seem to have really taken to us, almost too much at times. We are not sure how much longer we are going to be staying with them, but we have made some basic improvements for our comfort so we could probably stay for quite a while. There are some other options to explore, and some minor annoyances provoking us to try something new, but we are having fun with them and they are very nice. Besides, we´ve had so much on our plate that we haven´t had much time to just walk around and talk to people...what they call ¨pasear¨here in Panama.
We´ve been holding meetings with groups and individuals almost every day. When we are not learning more about the businesses in town or learning their weaving techniques, we go out to the farms to till the soil, or chop and clear the weeds, or clean up the corn fields. Usually, we have to walk for hours in the mountains just to reach the farm, but they usually feed us lunch when we are out there all day. We have some wicked blisters on our suave office hands!
We have entered the rainiest time of the rainy season. Its awesome to see the clouds rapidly roll in, like they are a living thing. Occasionally the rain will last all night, and, a few times too often, we´ve been caught out in it while we are walking or farming. It can be a little chilly, but nothing that would threaten our health. We are really close to the equator here afterall. Although many people talk about how much it rains, its still not as much as Southeast Alaska. There is time to almost dry your clothes in the hot sun each morning!
We´ve gotten out of our site a couple of times now. Its been nice to have a period to settle in. We were supposed to have something akin to that through our training, but not much really prepares you for the poverty level of our site, or the pace of life. Our training site could have been a rural town in America (and I´m not the old person who says that!) It did work for our Spanish proficiency and for the basics Spanish culture (like the soap operas on the TV in the internet cafe right now) and, of course, for our understanding of our job and Peace Corps.
That not withstanding, its good to come to David. First, to see Obama win, as Lisa quickly posted last week, and now to have a meeting with the regional office of IPACOOP, one of the main agencies that we will be working with as business volunteers. A good many volunteers from the western part of Panama came into this city for the elections. We had kind of a party atmosphere, with the newer volunteers heading to the casino (where the operators had been persuaded to put up CNN on four of the dozen TVs) for food and beer while the seasoned volunteers had themselves a much cheaper pre-party in a larger room of the hotel, cheering each new breaking news as a state was called. I believe that everyone of us here (not surprisingly) was rooting for Obama and hoping for some good change. Most of us are at least partly concerned with our nations reputation overseas!
Unfortunately for an old news hound like myself, I couldn´t hear the TV in either the crowded room at the hotel or in the casino. And the casino only turned on the volume during the acceptance speech, which apparently was just a little too long because they brought out the dancers and switched on the music right before he finished. Instead of hanging out with the groups, I spent my evening walking between the two places (escorting our female counterparts if they were planning on going alone because it was also a holiday week here in Panama) and checking on in with our laundry lady who perpetually needed just 20 more minutes. In between, I lounged with my six-pack in our little hotel room switching between the two biased news channels of CNN and Fox News, trying to soak up as much information as possible. And really, I had a ball. Later, I walked Lisa back from the casino and we watched together when they called the race and had the speeches. Damn proud to be an American.
Its assumed that we gringos all have money to give, and the culture here is strongly weighted towards hand-outs after a generation or two of the communist experiment. Although its a bit discouraging at times, you do have to stop and say to yourself, well, we do have money, don´t we? Nevertheless, it won´t help them out to continue to get a hand-out instead of a hand-up, or as I told the ¨orphan¨, by not giving you money, I´ll help you learn to take care of yourself and not rely on anyone else to live.
We live in a part of a house with the family that we visited during our site visit week. They have young kids that seem to have really taken to us, almost too much at times. We are not sure how much longer we are going to be staying with them, but we have made some basic improvements for our comfort so we could probably stay for quite a while. There are some other options to explore, and some minor annoyances provoking us to try something new, but we are having fun with them and they are very nice. Besides, we´ve had so much on our plate that we haven´t had much time to just walk around and talk to people...what they call ¨pasear¨here in Panama.
We´ve been holding meetings with groups and individuals almost every day. When we are not learning more about the businesses in town or learning their weaving techniques, we go out to the farms to till the soil, or chop and clear the weeds, or clean up the corn fields. Usually, we have to walk for hours in the mountains just to reach the farm, but they usually feed us lunch when we are out there all day. We have some wicked blisters on our suave office hands!
We have entered the rainiest time of the rainy season. Its awesome to see the clouds rapidly roll in, like they are a living thing. Occasionally the rain will last all night, and, a few times too often, we´ve been caught out in it while we are walking or farming. It can be a little chilly, but nothing that would threaten our health. We are really close to the equator here afterall. Although many people talk about how much it rains, its still not as much as Southeast Alaska. There is time to almost dry your clothes in the hot sun each morning!
We´ve gotten out of our site a couple of times now. Its been nice to have a period to settle in. We were supposed to have something akin to that through our training, but not much really prepares you for the poverty level of our site, or the pace of life. Our training site could have been a rural town in America (and I´m not the old person who says that!) It did work for our Spanish proficiency and for the basics Spanish culture (like the soap operas on the TV in the internet cafe right now) and, of course, for our understanding of our job and Peace Corps.
That not withstanding, its good to come to David. First, to see Obama win, as Lisa quickly posted last week, and now to have a meeting with the regional office of IPACOOP, one of the main agencies that we will be working with as business volunteers. A good many volunteers from the western part of Panama came into this city for the elections. We had kind of a party atmosphere, with the newer volunteers heading to the casino (where the operators had been persuaded to put up CNN on four of the dozen TVs) for food and beer while the seasoned volunteers had themselves a much cheaper pre-party in a larger room of the hotel, cheering each new breaking news as a state was called. I believe that everyone of us here (not surprisingly) was rooting for Obama and hoping for some good change. Most of us are at least partly concerned with our nations reputation overseas!
Unfortunately for an old news hound like myself, I couldn´t hear the TV in either the crowded room at the hotel or in the casino. And the casino only turned on the volume during the acceptance speech, which apparently was just a little too long because they brought out the dancers and switched on the music right before he finished. Instead of hanging out with the groups, I spent my evening walking between the two places (escorting our female counterparts if they were planning on going alone because it was also a holiday week here in Panama) and checking on in with our laundry lady who perpetually needed just 20 more minutes. In between, I lounged with my six-pack in our little hotel room switching between the two biased news channels of CNN and Fox News, trying to soak up as much information as possible. And really, I had a ball. Later, I walked Lisa back from the casino and we watched together when they called the race and had the speeches. Damn proud to be an American.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Swearing In
We swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers on Wednesday, as Lisa mentioned in the last post. Her post was before the ceremony so I´ll take a moment to describe it.
Busy morning of last minute sessions. A couple of hours of free time and a quick meal to the last minute trainees. Finally free of sessions. People are giddy, laughing at silly stuff. People are busy with nothing. A little time in front of CNN World Report.
The little yellow buses arrive, mere mini-vans in the U.S. A quick drive through the hot city. A heartbeat and we leave ratty shacks and old business for lavish front lawns and amazing high security fences. Fences make good neighbors. We wait at the gate of the compound.
We wait. We wait for awhile more, and then we are told that the security was told we would arrive 45 minutes later. They want to impress their new boss, our new ambassador. They want to run things right. We were supposed to arrive later.
After a time, the staffers convince them to let us leave the air conditioned vans. We get to stand in the sun. We have various pictures taken, by the buses, in front of the tennis court, there´s the pool. We have a big group one on the front steps. Now just the girls. Now just the Bocas group. Comarca group, where are you? Oh hey, did we do the boys photo yet?
The inside is fabulous. The air conditioning is perfect. So much space and elegance. If you didn´t feel a little excited before, if it didn´t feel real yet, being here on U.S. soil again in full Western beauty and landscaping will get you going. The water is fresher here, the air sweeter, the hor dóeuvres were scrumptious.
The ceremony starts. First an official from Panama welcomes us and speaks of the table of important people. He talks of working together. He says very nice things. He mentions the vice minister. She stands and talks to the table. There´s been a signing of documents, a renewing of trust between partners, they are related to the work of the Corps. We are all feeling pleased with our understanding of Spanish. The Country Director talks to us. He seems to think our group´s most uninvolved member, our hermit, or pariah, or self-outcast, is our leader, but his dignified words are a complement to us all. He has good jokes, too.
We get a story from our second in command. This is his last group of newbies. He´ll be with us for a few more months only, a victim of an excellent idea: Peace Corps staff should be Returned Volunteers who served the Corps within the last five years. His fifth year is up next Spring. He will be missed.
We take the oath. We will uphold the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. It is solemn and heartfelt. The paper was already signed yesterday. We only lost one trainee along the way, and gained three from another program that fell. In that, we came out ahead of where we started.
Our group wrangled one of our best trainees, now volunteer, to give the speech. She is masterful. She impresses us CED trainees. She impresses the EH trainees. She impresses the new volunteers from the other country that fell. She had worked hard on this, got the editted words other trainees and the perfect translation from our teachers. I´m sure she was no slouch herself on the original. She must have practiced out loud because her prounciation is spot on. The Panamanian staffers all smile and nod along with her. We understand the Spanish better for her enunciation. The most visibly impressed are the table of important people.
The EH speaker is also impressive. He´s known around these parts as a poet, and he is going to impress as well. Although is Spanish is a little rockier, he still has a poem that works only in Spanish and it beautifully describes our current feels as we get ready to head into the field. He has a second one that works only in English, but we are there to appreciate it as well, though not many Panamanians can be on board. We clap hard for both of our speakers. They have made us proud. We are volunteers!
Busy morning of last minute sessions. A couple of hours of free time and a quick meal to the last minute trainees. Finally free of sessions. People are giddy, laughing at silly stuff. People are busy with nothing. A little time in front of CNN World Report.
The little yellow buses arrive, mere mini-vans in the U.S. A quick drive through the hot city. A heartbeat and we leave ratty shacks and old business for lavish front lawns and amazing high security fences. Fences make good neighbors. We wait at the gate of the compound.
We wait. We wait for awhile more, and then we are told that the security was told we would arrive 45 minutes later. They want to impress their new boss, our new ambassador. They want to run things right. We were supposed to arrive later.
After a time, the staffers convince them to let us leave the air conditioned vans. We get to stand in the sun. We have various pictures taken, by the buses, in front of the tennis court, there´s the pool. We have a big group one on the front steps. Now just the girls. Now just the Bocas group. Comarca group, where are you? Oh hey, did we do the boys photo yet?
The inside is fabulous. The air conditioning is perfect. So much space and elegance. If you didn´t feel a little excited before, if it didn´t feel real yet, being here on U.S. soil again in full Western beauty and landscaping will get you going. The water is fresher here, the air sweeter, the hor dóeuvres were scrumptious.
The ceremony starts. First an official from Panama welcomes us and speaks of the table of important people. He talks of working together. He says very nice things. He mentions the vice minister. She stands and talks to the table. There´s been a signing of documents, a renewing of trust between partners, they are related to the work of the Corps. We are all feeling pleased with our understanding of Spanish. The Country Director talks to us. He seems to think our group´s most uninvolved member, our hermit, or pariah, or self-outcast, is our leader, but his dignified words are a complement to us all. He has good jokes, too.
We get a story from our second in command. This is his last group of newbies. He´ll be with us for a few more months only, a victim of an excellent idea: Peace Corps staff should be Returned Volunteers who served the Corps within the last five years. His fifth year is up next Spring. He will be missed.
We take the oath. We will uphold the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. It is solemn and heartfelt. The paper was already signed yesterday. We only lost one trainee along the way, and gained three from another program that fell. In that, we came out ahead of where we started.
Our group wrangled one of our best trainees, now volunteer, to give the speech. She is masterful. She impresses us CED trainees. She impresses the EH trainees. She impresses the new volunteers from the other country that fell. She had worked hard on this, got the editted words other trainees and the perfect translation from our teachers. I´m sure she was no slouch herself on the original. She must have practiced out loud because her prounciation is spot on. The Panamanian staffers all smile and nod along with her. We understand the Spanish better for her enunciation. The most visibly impressed are the table of important people.
The EH speaker is also impressive. He´s known around these parts as a poet, and he is going to impress as well. Although is Spanish is a little rockier, he still has a poem that works only in Spanish and it beautifully describes our current feels as we get ready to head into the field. He has a second one that works only in English, but we are there to appreciate it as well, though not many Panamanians can be on board. We clap hard for both of our speakers. They have made us proud. We are volunteers!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Today is the day!
TODAY WE ARE SWEARING IN AS OFFICIAL PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS!!!
We initially were supposed to swear in tomorrow, but things got shifted, and now we're swearing in today, this afternoon to be exact.
I had an interview yesterday with the Country Director and at the end I mentioned that we've been waiting for this day for a long time, and now that I've thought on that statement a little more, we really have.
We don't know the exact dates, but at some point many years ago we made the decision of whether to pursue the Peace Corps, or have a family. (And before that we talked about Peace Corps quite a bit). Obviously we chose Peace Corps. But that decision (in 2005?) set a lot of things in motion. Ben went back to school to get his degree and finished in December 2006. In January 2007 we sent off the first paper applications. May 2007 we had our first interviews with a Peace Corps recruiter. August 2007 we got our nomination to Latin America for the following year. In October we put our house on the market, and we closed on it in February. In March, Ben was medically deferred for 8 months, meaning we would miss our program. We appealed the decision and it was approved! In June we were facing the end of our lease on the apartment and had no news, but then we got our invitations to Panama!
August 10th we flew to Miami for staging, and August 13th, we set foot in Panama for the first time. Now, we've been here for over 2 months, we've learned a lot about Panama, Panamanians, their culture, a lot more Spanish, more technical skills, and of course a lot about ourselves. We both feel incredibly lucky and happy to be sitting here today (many years later), literally fulfilling one of the dreams that we've shared together for such a long time. YAY!!!
We initially were supposed to swear in tomorrow, but things got shifted, and now we're swearing in today, this afternoon to be exact.
I had an interview yesterday with the Country Director and at the end I mentioned that we've been waiting for this day for a long time, and now that I've thought on that statement a little more, we really have.
We don't know the exact dates, but at some point many years ago we made the decision of whether to pursue the Peace Corps, or have a family. (And before that we talked about Peace Corps quite a bit). Obviously we chose Peace Corps. But that decision (in 2005?) set a lot of things in motion. Ben went back to school to get his degree and finished in December 2006. In January 2007 we sent off the first paper applications. May 2007 we had our first interviews with a Peace Corps recruiter. August 2007 we got our nomination to Latin America for the following year. In October we put our house on the market, and we closed on it in February. In March, Ben was medically deferred for 8 months, meaning we would miss our program. We appealed the decision and it was approved! In June we were facing the end of our lease on the apartment and had no news, but then we got our invitations to Panama!
August 10th we flew to Miami for staging, and August 13th, we set foot in Panama for the first time. Now, we've been here for over 2 months, we've learned a lot about Panama, Panamanians, their culture, a lot more Spanish, more technical skills, and of course a lot about ourselves. We both feel incredibly lucky and happy to be sitting here today (many years later), literally fulfilling one of the dreams that we've shared together for such a long time. YAY!!!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
What´s your ETA, Bei?
Filed teeth, crossed eyes: first impressions. Sharing cultures: Are there indigenous people in the United States? They are afraid of frogs, planes, and being alone at any time, but not chivas without adequate brakes. Plantains are still bland, bland, bland. They can carry 100-lbs loads in grass-woven bags attached to their foreheads, up and down giant mountains on muddy trails for hours. We are going to be living with some interesting people.
My name in Ngabe is Eta (pronounced eh-duh) Lisa´s is Bei (pronounced bay-ee). We were named by our counterparts when we met them, and everyone we meet in town loves to laugh at us upon introduction; look at these funny gringos with Ngabe names!
We went to our site for the first time this week, and we love it. It´s in the Comarca Ngabe-Bugle, high in the mountains in good coffee country. It´s jungle, to be sure, but beautiful and full of mystery. While we were there, it rained nearly every day and the clouds surrounded us so that they were more like mist. We are told that we have a great view, but I only got to see a little of it on the first day.
On the chiva ride up, Lisa got to sit in the front so she saw more of the gorgeous green mountains with a view of the Pacific Ocean. I was late due to an impromptu meeting with our counterpart so I had to hang onto the back of the truck for dear life. It was painful and the rain made me wet, but at least it was only an hour and nine minutes.
When we met our counterparts at the little conference we had, the woman had filed teeth and the man had crossed eyes. As it turns out, these are not strange qualities here. The filed teeth came to three little points on each tooth (so that only two triangles had to be filed out). The other filed teeth I´ve since seen are one or two points per tooth so our lady had something extra special. She´s also an accomplished artisan.
The man is quite intelligent and an excellent public speaker. Despite how he would be received in the States where corrective surgery for this ailment is very common, he has no problem talking in front of anyone and is quite convincing. His Spanish is excellent as well as his Ngobere; he´ll use both to win over anyone to his side. Moreover, he is very intelligent and looks for every opportunity to expand his knowledge. I´ve really enjoyed our conversations in the evening.
It is a large town, with many amnenities such as three restaurants, a large Centro de Salud, a cooperative, a small 5-room hotel, a bunch of little kiosk stores, and a high school. Many people from outlying villages have moved here or hike an hour or more to work here. The chiva goes up to our site and many people take it down to the Interamericana.
We will be having another Volunteer living in the same town as us. She has an agriculture focus and has been working here for two years. She´s extending for a third so we´ll be getting the full benefit of her experiences and she´ll be helping us meet many of the movers and shakers. She asked for a business volunteer to follow up on her agriculture work. Now that many horticulture groups are growing tasty organic food, they and other groups like the artisans, the cooperative, the restaurants, and the stores would like help with accounting, marketing, etc, that she just can´t provide. She was as excited as the townfolk to hear that they were getting two instead of just one, although they are apprehensive because the last one left after just one month many years ago.
Needless to say, we have a lot of opportunities to work. While some people just seem able to envision us finding funds for them, many others want more specific help that we are ready to provide, after an acclimitization period. We will be working closely with people on a hands on basis to learn their work and gain their trust. After we feel comfortable with our understanding of their situations, we can begin to make suggestions for improvements. I think our days will be very full, especially at first, and already there are people arguing about having us work mostly with them.
Our physical conditions are fairly rugged. I´ll just give a few little highlights to let help you feel what we are looking at:
Sleeping on wood planks, it´s cold at night.
Cockroach in my breakfast, just feed it to the cat, the rest is tasty.
Splashback from the latrine is never nice, score: Lisa 3, Ben 0.
Can´t seem to pick the right shoes, Lisa wore nice stuff when they lead us through forest trails and almost lost a sandal in the mud, jeans and tennis shoes for a trek in the rain, and rubber boots for our first agency meeting.
Baby still has a cough for a couple of days after starting meds from the Centro de Salud, after some natural herb meds and a day, parents say they work better.
Lisa´s eyes burn in the smoke, and host explains that it´s from the cold air, not the smoke, of course!
Lisa refers to our site as Heaven in the Comarca or sometimes Alaska in Panama. We absolutely love it and look forward to our two years up there starting next week.
My name in Ngabe is Eta (pronounced eh-duh) Lisa´s is Bei (pronounced bay-ee). We were named by our counterparts when we met them, and everyone we meet in town loves to laugh at us upon introduction; look at these funny gringos with Ngabe names!
We went to our site for the first time this week, and we love it. It´s in the Comarca Ngabe-Bugle, high in the mountains in good coffee country. It´s jungle, to be sure, but beautiful and full of mystery. While we were there, it rained nearly every day and the clouds surrounded us so that they were more like mist. We are told that we have a great view, but I only got to see a little of it on the first day.
On the chiva ride up, Lisa got to sit in the front so she saw more of the gorgeous green mountains with a view of the Pacific Ocean. I was late due to an impromptu meeting with our counterpart so I had to hang onto the back of the truck for dear life. It was painful and the rain made me wet, but at least it was only an hour and nine minutes.
When we met our counterparts at the little conference we had, the woman had filed teeth and the man had crossed eyes. As it turns out, these are not strange qualities here. The filed teeth came to three little points on each tooth (so that only two triangles had to be filed out). The other filed teeth I´ve since seen are one or two points per tooth so our lady had something extra special. She´s also an accomplished artisan.
The man is quite intelligent and an excellent public speaker. Despite how he would be received in the States where corrective surgery for this ailment is very common, he has no problem talking in front of anyone and is quite convincing. His Spanish is excellent as well as his Ngobere; he´ll use both to win over anyone to his side. Moreover, he is very intelligent and looks for every opportunity to expand his knowledge. I´ve really enjoyed our conversations in the evening.
It is a large town, with many amnenities such as three restaurants, a large Centro de Salud, a cooperative, a small 5-room hotel, a bunch of little kiosk stores, and a high school. Many people from outlying villages have moved here or hike an hour or more to work here. The chiva goes up to our site and many people take it down to the Interamericana.
We will be having another Volunteer living in the same town as us. She has an agriculture focus and has been working here for two years. She´s extending for a third so we´ll be getting the full benefit of her experiences and she´ll be helping us meet many of the movers and shakers. She asked for a business volunteer to follow up on her agriculture work. Now that many horticulture groups are growing tasty organic food, they and other groups like the artisans, the cooperative, the restaurants, and the stores would like help with accounting, marketing, etc, that she just can´t provide. She was as excited as the townfolk to hear that they were getting two instead of just one, although they are apprehensive because the last one left after just one month many years ago.
Needless to say, we have a lot of opportunities to work. While some people just seem able to envision us finding funds for them, many others want more specific help that we are ready to provide, after an acclimitization period. We will be working closely with people on a hands on basis to learn their work and gain their trust. After we feel comfortable with our understanding of their situations, we can begin to make suggestions for improvements. I think our days will be very full, especially at first, and already there are people arguing about having us work mostly with them.
Our physical conditions are fairly rugged. I´ll just give a few little highlights to let help you feel what we are looking at:
Sleeping on wood planks, it´s cold at night.
Cockroach in my breakfast, just feed it to the cat, the rest is tasty.
Splashback from the latrine is never nice, score: Lisa 3, Ben 0.
Can´t seem to pick the right shoes, Lisa wore nice stuff when they lead us through forest trails and almost lost a sandal in the mud, jeans and tennis shoes for a trek in the rain, and rubber boots for our first agency meeting.
Baby still has a cough for a couple of days after starting meds from the Centro de Salud, after some natural herb meds and a day, parents say they work better.
Lisa´s eyes burn in the smoke, and host explains that it´s from the cold air, not the smoke, of course!
Lisa refers to our site as Heaven in the Comarca or sometimes Alaska in Panama. We absolutely love it and look forward to our two years up there starting next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)