In Panama Education Volunteers primarily work to support Panamanian English teacher counterparts. I work in a school for Prekindergarten-9th grade and I have three counterparts at the school.
During my first three months in site I'm expected to observe my counterparts as they teach their classes so I can learn more about the Panamanian education system and my counterparts' teaching styles. I spent two weeks observing Maria who teaches English for PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. She's also my Community Guide (the counterpart who traveled with me from Panama City to site the first time I came here), so we've had a lot of time to get to know each other and she's really fun to hang out with.
Last week I started observing with Milania who teaches English for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. It was really fun to meet more of the students. My first day in the 4th grade classroom I ended up covered in stickers! At the beginning of the week the kids were a bit shy, but by the end of the week they were coming up to me in the back of the room and asking me to translate words into English and all sorts of questions about the United States (popular ones include: My parents' names, if I have siblings, if it snows in the United States, and how to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas").
It was a little hard to get a good flow going during the first month because I arrived to site just before the end of the first trimester, so I only had a few weeks at school before a weeklong break and then I had to be out of site for agency meetings with organizations that we work with as PCVs and then for our Regional Meeting.
Every 4 months each province has a Regional Meeting where Peace Corps Staff and other organizations (VAC, Seeders, GAD) meet in the provincial capital (Santiago, in my case) with all the volunteers from the province to discuss admin, health, safety and security, and to discuss our sector projects (Teaching English, Conservation, etc.). It was really cool to meet all the other volunteers in Veraguas and to hear about other sectors' projects.
Outside of school I've been spending most of my time reading and talking to my host family. They're really nice, but it's still strange living with a family after spending so many years living on my own.
And now for something completely different:
In my stage management life I spent a fair amount of time sewing. Usually precipitated by the telltale sound of a loose button in a dryer or by an actor holding a piece of clothing in their hands with a horrified look on their face (or the many times I had to patch the human-sized bags for the chase sequence in that Italian farce...). My sewing skills are ok, but it was never an activity I did for fun...until a few weeks ago. All of my wardrobe and costume inclined friends may laugh at this, but I've started embroidering...and I love it.
For the past month (or more) there has been a Tipico (Traditional Panamanian) sewing class happening in the afternoons after school lets out. It took me a few weeks to find time to go to Santiago to get the right kind of cloth and a seam ripper (deshilador), so I wasn't able to join the class until two weeks before it ended, but I learned a fair amount in a short time. It was also a really great way to meet more women in my community. I'm now friends with the 2nd Grade Teacher (Prima) and we have future (hopefully recurring) sewing date plans.
Immediate future plans include preparing for my SECNA (School Entry Community Needs Assessment) which is a paper that I have to write about my community and school that I will then present to my counterparts, community members, and Peace Corps Staff in August.
Also, I'm probably adopting a kitten named Claire from our Safety and Security Manager once I get my own place in August and I'm beyond excited!
Yay first month in Site!
Examples of my sewing adventures (eventually I'll remember to take pictures of things):
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