In Part 1 we left our heroine in the middle of the whirlwind of training, anxiously awaiting site placement and desperately trying to remember the difference between gusano and guineo (one means "worm" and the other means "banana").
Part 2
Week 6
Tech week! TE traveled to the province
of Cocle to work in schools with Panamanian English Teacher counterparts for
the week. The goal was to observe our
counterpart’s teaching style, then co-plan a lesson with them, and finally
co-teach that lesson. I had a great time
during tech week. My counterpart was
wonderful and it was really fun to be in the wonderful chaos of a classroom
again. We also gave a mock mini-SECNA
about the work we did in the schools during tech week.
The night
before site placement TE had a hat-themed dinner at a cool restaurant and I won
a piece of delicious tres leches cake for my Mad Hatter hat that I made out of
construction paper. On Friday we
gathered in Cocle with the training staff and Country Director to find out
where everyone (TE and CEC) in G76 was going to be placed for their two years
of service. We also met our RLs (Regional Leaders) who are third year
volunteers who live in the provincial capital and offer support to volunteers
in the individual provinces. Two other
TE friends of mine and I were placed in Veraguas. We all have our own sites, but we live pretty
close to one another. I’m really excited
to visit people once I have the opportunity.
We had a free overnight after site placement, so we all went to a beach
to hang out and swim before…
Week 7
Site Visit! On Monday we went to Panama
City to meet our community guides and talk about expectations and rules and
cultural differences, the list goes on.
It was a really great experience and Maria (my Community Guide) is
fantastic. On Tuesday (or Monday night
for those that live far away) everyone started their first journey to site to
spend a week there. I love my site (despite being sick all week and not
really being able to enjoy it much).
Everyone at the school was super welcoming and I’m really excited to
start working at the end of training.
Week 8
Back to classes in the Training Community.
The people who are going to (or near) indigenous communities in the
Comarca Ngabe-Buble started learning Ngabere.
I really wanted to learn it too because we could audit the class if we
wanted to, but I was unfortunately still sick.
Also, one of my wisdom teeth became infected (basically, I was driving
the struggle bus).
Week 9
Last week in the Training Community!
Last week of classes, a language placement exit exam (to be a volunteer
in Panama you have to be at Intermediate Medium by the end of training), the
presentation of our mock SECNA, and the planning and execution of the despedida (going away party) for our
host families. It was a wild week that
flew by.
The despedida was really fun. The LCFs (Language and Cultural Facilitators)
brought a bunch of tipico clothes for
us to borrow for the party. I ended up
wearing a beautiful blue montun (a
skirt that is simpler than a polleron)
and red tambleques (beautiful beaded
flowers that women wear in their hair for celebrations).
Then it
was time for the great battle of fitting all the things I’d accumulated
(notebooks and papers and clothes and supplies) into the luggage I initially
brought with me. I won in the end, but
my hiking backpack was insanely stuffed and really, really heavy.
Week 10
All of G76 returned to Ciudad del Saber to stay in the really swanky
dorms. We spent the week finishing up
training sessions and other administrative things before swear in that
Thursday. I also had to have that
infected wisdom tooth taken out, but due to magic (and probably some mad
orthodontic surgeon skills) I never felt any pain and I was absolutely fine by
the evening of the day of the procedure.
The
Swearing in Ceremony was really nice.
The training staff came to celebrate with us and the Country Director
for Panama, representatives from ANAM and MEDUCA, and one of the US Embassy
officers all made remarks. Two of the
trainees from G76 ((one CEC and one TE) also made speeches and it was really
moving to hear them speak so eloquently about the craziness of training and our
collective hopes for our two years of service.
After Swearing In we had a brief brindis
(literally translates to “toast”, but in Panama usually looks more like
tapas-style food and chicha—really sweet
juice) before we started our weekend of celebrating. G76 decided to stay in hostels in Panama City
to celebrate there together for a few days before heading to our sites.
That
brings us to present day. I just finished
moving to site! More (hopefully) regular
updates to follow!
All of my photo-taking technology wasn't functioning well for the majority of training, but please enjoy these cell phone shots from the past few days:
Catedral in Casco Viejeo
Cinta Costera
Gazebo in the Plaza next to the Cathedral
View from a Hammock
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