New Normal

My US “normal” was sort of out there already for people who don’t do technical theater/live event work. 

Until a week before I left I was working as a stage manager, house manager, theatrical electrician, with the occasional temp admin job thrown in for good measure (or a semblance of stability).  I lived a very public professional life.  I would get recognized or bump into a colleague pretty frequently.  I didn’t have much of a social life because I was always working and the little social life that I had was directly related to the work I was doing at a given moment (coffee before a show call, post show drinks, going to see a show at a theater I was hoping to start working for).  Sometimes I’d treat myself by going to the movies (usually alone), but that was pretty rare.  I didn’t have a smart phone, or a single stable employment.  I used WiFi to watch TV.

Peace Corps is the most stability that I’ve had in years and it’s exactly what I was looking for when I decided that I wanted a change. 

I still live alone, but I have a cat now (my first pet, ever) and I’m reteaching myself how to cook (after forming some very bad cooking and eating habits living the freelance life), I’m friends with my neighbors. 

Sometimes the water or electricity go out, and it’s annoying, but totally manageable.   The potential of not having water or electricity was a huge source of stress before I came to Panama, but it doesn’t really stress me out anymore, if it happens I deal with it.

I’m much less of a picky eater in Panama.  I’ll eat pretty much whatever I’m given.  The only exception so far was sau (pig feet).  I just couldn’t do it.  I couldn’t get past the consistency.  [I’ll do a post on food soon.]

I light my stove with a lighter (or matches), which used to scare me but now I get confused if I don’t have to light a stove that way. 

I throw my toilet paper in a trash can, which used to be really gross, but now it’s just life. 

I know what I can find in the local store (and how much things cost off the top of my head) versus what I need to get from a bigger grocery store in Santiago (and what I can find in each of those stores.

I’m getting better at budgeting money and I know exactly how much I currently have in my bank account.

I eat a fondas  (small restaurants) now that I never would have gone to in my pre-Panama life because their general aesthetic would have screamed “food poisoning”. 

If I’m out, one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast is fried chicken.  Which I’ve eaten with my hands sitting in the bus terminal waiting to go to my friend’s site.

I still use public transportation to get everywhere, but now I actively avoid traveling at night (what used to be one of my favorite things to do).

I could keep going, and maybe someday I will.

I just know that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.  When I saw one of my college roommates in the US, she told me I was glowing.  I’m at my best when I’m traveling.  I like the challenge and the adventure of it.

Who knows how many “new normals” I’ll find.

Blogging Abroad's Boot Camp Blog Challenge: Starting January 2015

Breakfast: A Love Story

One time in high school my junior year English teacher gave us the task of writing a really descriptive short story, and as anyone who has read Tolkien knows, good description takes a lot of talent.

I'm no Tolkien, but here we go:

Canelita meowing at the door as the early morning sunlight muted by my opaque curtains peeks through the window.  Pigeons running relay races across my roof.  Fan blades whirring, roosters crowing, people chatting in the street.  Roll out of bed. Cool concrete greets my feet.  Across the room to the door, turn knob, catch the lady of the house.  

Close bedroom door, walk straight into the kitchen.  Ask my impatient kitten if she'd like breakfast while opening the freezer to retrieve her food (safeguarded from the ravenous evil ants).  Fight with Canela to pour her food before (while) she sticks her face in the bowl.  Return her food to its hiding place.  Back across the hall. Find my slippery synthetic black skirt and a t-shirt on the nail behind the door.  Exit, closing the door again behind me (her ladyship is still feasting).  

Dig my black ceramic frying pan, a plate, and a mug out of my Jenga game of a dish rack.  Set the pan on the stove and the plate and mug on the counter.  Delicately place two slices of sandwich bread from the loaf on top of the fridge into the pan (so they just fit) and two slices of butter on the bread.  Find blue barbecue lighter on the counter.  Turn knob open gas, light flame.  Rush of gratitude that I didn't blow anything up.  Crackle of butter, flip bread, get distracted by Canela, flip bread again, start doing dishes.  

Smell burning bread and rush to turn the burner off.  That terrifying hollow popping sound as the burner goes out.  Gracefully balance both slices on a fork and deliver them to the waiting plate.  

Fill small red soup pot with tea water.  Repeat process of lighting the stove.  Strawberry jelly cold from the fridge on one side of each slice of bread.  Hollow popping sound.  Boiling water into a mug.  Pungent Earl Grey.

Sweet strawberries, salty butter, slightly charred bread, strong tea, and a purring kitten in my lap.  

A perfect breakfast.

Canela having Breakfast

Human Breakfast

Blogging Abroad's Boot Camp Blog Challenge: Starting January 2015

A Day in the Life

Peace Corps life is constantly changing and every day is different (but can still feel monotonous sometimes).  I'm slowly learning that there is nearly always more than one answer to even the simplest of questions.

So, here's a checklist of events that may happen on a sort of typical day.

Morning

• Wake up to the lurking shadow of Canelita at my bedroom door
• Open bedroom door, catch Canela as she dashes inside my room, take her into the kitchen to feed her breakfast.
• Take Canela's food out of the freezer (the only successful way to protect it from the evil biting ants) and fill her bowl.

When school is out of session

• Change out of pajamas and into house clothes (skirt and t-shirt) and cook breakfast (toast with jam and a cup of tea)
• Open front door to potential visitors
• Start checking email and whatsapp
• Migrate outside to my hammock once the sun shifts off the porch with my sewing or a book and a glass of water
• Get surprised by a parade or other celebration
• Fireworks
• Get mad at the chickens for pooping all over the porch and then immediately miss my Grandpa and his chicken sounds
• Prima knocking on my bedroom window to offer me breakfast

When school is in session

• Get dressed in school clothes (dress pants, collared button up shirt, and ballet flats), try to arrive at school by 7am
• Say good morning (Buenas) to everyone I see on my short walk to school.  
• Try to get the elongation of those vowels just right (Buuuueeeenaaaasss).
• Avoid horse poop in the street
• Arrive at school to bright excited student faces shouting "Teacher!" or "Kary"
• Participate in the acto civico on Monday mornings (a weekly school assembly that takes the place of first period) where we sing the Panamanian national anthem and get the school news for the week
• Say good morning to all the teachers, the principal, assistant principals, and secretaries
• Buy an empananda or two (fried ground corn tortilla  stuffed with seasoned pulled chicken) from the kiosko (small store that sells snacks, candy, and coffee) at school
• Head to the teacher's lounge or check my excel sheet of my English teacher counterparts' schedules to see what class they're teaching
• Spend the morning in the classroom with my teachers or in the teachers' lounge helping them with other projects

Afternoon

• Have lunch at school (potential meals include: fried hot dogs and rice, rice and pollo guisado-stewed chicken)
• Cook lunch (canned soup or a PBJ sandwich)
• Play with Canela
• Read or sew in my hammock until the heat of the day passes
• Visit with Prima or Loli
• Fireworks
• Pasear around my community (go for a walk and visit with my neighbors)
• Buy a duro (like a popsicle, but homemade in clear plastic bags)  popular flavors include Koolaid (usually purple), piña con arroz (pineapple with rice), and coco (coconut)
• Prima calling into my house to offer lunch or coming over to give me food like Platano Asado (roast plantain), pesado de nance (like applesauce, but thicker and made from nance), or fruit from their garden, like naranjilla (a cross between an orange and a lemon), naranjas (oranges), platanos (plantains)

Evening

• Cook dinner (pasta with ginger and garlic cooked in soy sauce and a salad with homemade vinaigrette is a popular choice these days)
• Prima calling into my house to offer dinner
• Eating dinner with Prima and family
• Shower (cold water feels so good after a day in the heat)
• Give Canela dinner
• Fireworks
• Check that my hammock is tied up (to prevent random people from sleeping in it, a phenomenon my neighbors assure me is a possibility) 
• Lock up the house for the night
• Finish dishes for the day and double check that all the stove burners are off
• Get my headlamp and pick Canela up, shut the lights off in the house and kiss Canela goodnight
• Shake my sheets out and check my pillow for spiders and scorpions
• Check my datebook and calendar for the next day
• Shut the lights off in my room and read until I fall asleep

Other things

• Wash laundry about once every two weeks
• Mop out the entire house with bleach about once a month
• Take the garbage out on Monday mornings
• Go to Santiago to facilitate LDGE (University level English classes about leadership) at the university with other volunteers
• Play with the neighborhood kids.  Chess is a current favorite.  Ultimate frisbee has some solid potential.
• Facilitate youth camps with other volunteers
• Teach community English classes
• Try to develop a literacy program/children's library
• Head to Santiago to run errands, have meetings, grocery shop, or meet up with Roxana and Kelly to hang out and talk about our lives
• Write letters
• Adventure to the Post office in Santiago (usually about once every two weeks)
• Write lessons and seminars, plan projects
• Listen to the pigeons running relay races across my roof and roosters crowing at all hours of the day
• Listen to the sound of rain hitting my tin roof (it drowns out all other noise and conversation)
• Stage personal dance parties (or musicals), sometimes with Canelita as my dance partner and co-star

Blogging Abroad's Boot Camp Blog Challenge: Starting January 2015

Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year Internet!

I spent a lovely quiet New Year's in site.  During the day I got some lesson planning done and cooked a big New Year's Eve meal. I made garlic mashed potatoes, lentils with onion and garlic, chicken with taco seasoning and onions that would have been part of the cheddar cheese quesadillas I was going to make, salad dressing for a salad of carrots (the cucumbers were spoiled), and some chicha de naranjilla (juice from a fruit that is like a lemon and an orange put together).  

I didn't end up eating any of that though because Prima invited me to dinner where we had rice with guandu (a kind of bean), pork, and a salad of potatoes and carrots with mayonnaise.  It was really good.  There were a ton of fireworks that night and some people burned the "old year" in the form of a muñeco (doll) stuffed with straw to represent giving themselves a fresh start for the new year.  I chose to celebrate in a calmer way, so at midnight I was sitting in bed sewing and watching Tangled.  
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For the next few weeks I'm going to be participating in a blogging challenge called Blogging Abroad for people living, working and volunteering abroad, so bear with me as I introduce myself.  

For our first "prompt" we've been asked to write about why we're living abroad.  As I'm relatively close to the 12 month mark of my Peace Corps experience (and it's a new year) it's also a great opportunity to reevaluate my goals and look back on my experience to date.

Here we go:

A beach on Long Island

Who Am I?
My name is Kara and I grew up on Long Island in New York.  I went to college at American University in Washington, DC where I graduated with a dual BA in Spanish and International Studies with a focus on Peace and conflict resolution.  After college I started working in the DC professional theater scene as a stage manager, electrician, and sometimes carpenter.  I loved being surrounded by art and artists all the time and the feeling of actively creating something. 

Assistant Stage Managing in DC

Peace Corps
After a few years I wanted some more stability than the freelance life offered, I was interested in doing more public service, and I missed living abroad.  I'd been interested in Peace Corps since I first heard about it in college, but it was never the right time to actually finish my application, until it was.  Juggling 4 or more jobs just got exhausting, but I was still nervous about changing my entire life.

After I applied I waited 2 months to have an interview where I was nominated for a volunteer position with the Education sector and then I waited 6 months to be invited to serve in Panama and then I waited 9 months to leave for service.  It was a long (and sometimes) frustrating process, but I'm so glad I stuck it out.  The application process has since completely changed.

After joining the Peace Corps in February 2015 I went through three months of pre-service training with 23 other Peace Corps Teaching English Trainees.  At the end of the sixth week of training we received our site announcements where we would be living and working for the next two years.  I've now been in the Peace Corps for just over 10 months and been a volunteer for just under 8 months.

Swearing In Ceremony, May 2015

During the application process complete flexibility was emphasized as an important trait. To that end we talk about "managing" or "adjusting" expectations a lot as volunteers.  Things rarely go completely as planned.  I tried to move through training letting it inform me as to what I should expect and what goals I should set, without bringing a ton of my own expectations to the experience.

I knew I loved teaching and that I wanted to make a positive impact in the world and improve my Spanish, but that was where my initial expectations and hopes ended.  

After training that changed a bit.  

So, How'd Ya Do?

I present a report card on a summary of my goals to date:

• Integrate into my Community:
• School: A-
• Community: C

             I worked really hard to create relationships with my counterpart teachers at school and with the students and was really successful.  I was less successful in integrating into my community.  I have a pretty big site and the heat and my own introverted nature made getting to know people hard.  I have some really good friends in site and I'm planning on making more in the coming year.

• Teach a Community English Class: E (for Effort)

Didn't happen.  I tried to organize it, but it never came together.  I'm planning on starting a class in February or March once school starts again.

• Start an English Club for students: E

Also didn't happen.  The timing was poor with the November holidays and the end of the school year.  Another goal for March.

• Organizing a book drive and create a reading club for students: E

I'm just starting to work on this seriously now, but I'm hopeful to have some books at the start of the school year to start working with students and grow the project from there.

• Read books, learn how to sew, write letters, generally have fun: A

This year has been full of challenges and triumphs, but I love my life here.  I read 20 books since I arrived in Panama, learned how to embroider and taught myself to cross stitch, became pen pals with friends and family back in the US, took some cool trips, and formed some strong friendships with other PCVs and people in site.

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I'm really excited to continue to share my passions for learning (about everything from the correct way to cook lentils to teaching methodologies and equal access to education) and art with Panamanians, PCVs, and the Internet.  I guess my overarching dream would be to infect people with curiosity about the world and all of the beautiful plurality and diversity that exists.

Also, I have a cat named Canela and I love her very much.

Lady Canela in a hammock

Some New Year's Resolutions:

• Get better at Spanish
• Learn how to cook (specifically things with vegetables)
• Become more confident at public speaking

"If you judge people you have no time to love them"

-Mother Theresa

Blogging Abroad's Boot Camp Blog Challenge: Starting January 2015

Breezy Christmas Dreams

10 Month-iversary.

Internet, it's so hot here that I actually used the intracity buses today instead of just walking.  This Panamanian summer might make me melt.  Or just avoid any activity more rigorous than sitting in my hammock (unless absolutely necessary and "necessary" can become very negotiable).

Graduation
Snorkeling
Christmas

Graduation
The graduation ceremony for the 9th graders at my school was last Monday.  It's the first graduation ceremony that the school has ever had for pre-media students and the teachers and administration have been planning for weeks.

I had no idea what to expect. When I walked into my kitchen on Monday morning to make breakfast I looked out the window to find my neighbors getting their makeup and hair done by the same guy who did Manuela's hair and makeup for Mi Ranchito in November, and it suddenly became clear that this was going to be a much fancier affair than I had anticipated.

I spent the morning traumatizing my cat by cleaning my house (the spiders were starting to take over...), then Jenny came over and we had PBJ for lunch and spent the afternoon chatting and playing with Canela while I finished sewing Prima's Christmas present.

Prima's Christmas Present (the final version has two more snowflakes on it)

Canela and I spending some quality hammock time

The graduation was during the evening in the pavilion next to the artificial grass cancha (field) that they must have just finished because the floor was still dirt in November.  The stage was beautiful and all the teachers got really dressed up.  I really need to get a pair of heels, I always feel underdressed around these fabulous women.  The ceremony was lovely.  Lots of speeches.  My favorite part was that a band from a local IPT played each student onstage when the Principal called their name to receive their diplomas.  The song selection included "Bad Romance" and "Timber".  The fireworks made it hard to hear sometimes, but it was a wonderful joyous evening.  After the graduation Jenny and I went to the post graduation brindis dinner, which was delicious and then watched Hocus Pocus and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (for the want of Polar Express; I'd already watched Die Hard two days prior) while I continued my sewing.

Sun(burn), Sand, Snorkel   

The next morning we left for Santa Catalina, which is a really beautiful and popular surfing beach in southern Veraguas.  We had the most delicious lunch of shrimp and garlic butter (we think) with rice and lentils (of course) and spent the afternoon hiking and reading on the beach.  It was so relaxing.

Santa Catalina from my reading rock

The next morning we madrugar-ed (when you wake up before dawn) to get ready for our snorkeling adventure at Isla Coiba national park/nature preserve.  I'd never snorkeled before and it'd been almost 20 years since I'd been on a boat smaller than the ferry from Long Island to Connecticut (which is large enough to fit dozens of cars), so the prospect of getting on a lancha (speedboat) for a few hours was a little nerve wracking.  Armed with gatorade, a full water bottle, a peanut butter sandwich, and a bottle of sunscreen we set out.

I was hoping for some instruction.  I had the basic idea of "put on a mask and swim around looking at fish", but I wasn't exactly clear on the finer points of how.  The "instruction" consisted of being handed a mask and flippers when we got to the first snorkeling spot and being told that "most of the fish (including sharks) hang out by the rocks over there".

After about 20 minutes of some serious struggle (including losing one of my flippers and flooding my mask like 3 times) I took a water break to get some non-salt water into my body and switched masks with a friend.  The second attempt went much better than the first and I actually started to relax and have fun.

Our second stop was the ANAM station (Panama's Ministry of Environment) to pay our park entrance fee and eat lunch.  Peace Corps Perk: we only had to pay $5 for the entrance fee as opposed to the $20 that we thought it might be.

A shipwrecked cruise ship in the bay of Coiba.

They ran aground on some rocks and punctured 6 holes in the hull 

the morning before we got there.

Our third stop was for more snorkeling.  Less coral this time, more rocks, and much deeper water.  It was fun, but exhausting.  I saw some really cool fish and I am really glad that we got to practice a bit in shallower water earlier in the day.

The last stop was hanging out on the beach on another small perfect little tropical island.  It was so beautiful and the water was crystal clear, but I was so exhausted that after 20 minutes I was ready to start the journey back to Santa Catalina and spend some time in a hammock.

It was a long trip in the lancha to and from Coiba.  On our way there we sang/shouted Christmas carols, but on the way back everyone was much quieter.  That evening we ate at the fonda (small restaurant) across from our hostel and spent the rest of the night reading.

It was a wonderful, beautiful trip and I want to go back with the Veraguas wonder women, but I was so tired at the end of it.

Sunset at Santa Catalina

Breezy Christmas
Climate change is real.  It was 60 degrees on Long Island on Christmas Day.  It was much hotter than that in Panama (probably around 100, but I haven't looked at a weather report in almost a year), but it was beautifully breezy, which made it easier to deal with the heat.

I spent Christmas Eve making some Christmas phone calls, baking, and finishing Prima's present.  Prima lent me use of her oven and I made oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies without burning them too badly.

An improvised baking sheet out of a pot top

 

"No Bake" peanut butter oatmeal cookies 

(that were more like pudding because they didn't solidify, but still delicious)

Cookie dough

On Christmas Day I had a relaxing breakfast, skyped with my family, and pasear-ed to some families in my community with Christmas cookies.  Cultural exchange win.  Prima invited me to a delicious Christmas lunch of ham and rice with guandu (a kind of bean) and I spent the rest of the day watching Harry Potter movies and sewing.

Prima loved her present and her daughters want to learn how to bake cookies.  I also spent a lot of time hanging out with her family and eating fruit.  It seems to be a Panamanian Christmas tradition to set out a bunch of fruit (apples, pears, grapes, etc.) and sweet bread (reminds me of challah) on the dining room table for people to snack on during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On to New Year's!

I leave you with this:

Canelita in a frisbee, she thinks it's her bed

Viva Panama!

9 months in country (or "goodness so much time has passed and I haven't accomplished anything, but then I redo the math and I realize that almost no time has passed at all").  So timey wimey.

Mes de la Patria
Canela
Neighbors
Reader´s Theater
Thanksgiving
To Present Day...

Mes de la Patria

The best 4th of July I ever spent was my last one in DC.  We watched fireworks from the roof of my friend's house (my first lessons in "don't look up" and "keep your shoes on").  It was a beautiful and terrifying chemistry refresher (anyone know what colors magnesium and potassium burn?).

In Panama we celebrate independence for a whole month.  The big celebrations are:
November 3rd: Separation Day, when Panama gained its independence from Colombia,
November 4th: Flag Day
November 5th: Colon Day
November 10th: Primer Grito in Los Santos
November 28th: Independence day, when Panama gained its independence from Spain

There is a parade somewhere in Panama almost every day of the month.  During November I attended or marched in 9 parades.  Two of those were on the same day in different locations and one was a cancer awareness parade.

For parades everyone dresses up in varying levels of Panamanian traditional (tipico) dress whether or not you're in the parade.  Many of the teachers at my school have these gorgeous fitted dresses embroidered with traditional pollera designs and I want to try to sew one for myself for next year.

                                           A Sea of Polleras Montunas with blusas Santeñas

                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                         Roxana Empollerada

The only tipico clothes I have are my cutarras (really comfortable leather sandals), which will get ruined if I wear them to parades because it invariably rains buckets.


My parade wear is usually jeans, a white blouse, some tambleques (beaded flowers that you pin into your hair) and these really awesome rubber sandals that I found in the market in Santiago (take that aguaceros).

Parades are typically preceded by an acto (a patriotic cultural performance) that starts with an invocation by the local priest and may include a tamborito (traditional Panamanian music with drums and call-response style singing), tipico dancing, speeches, choral poems, and other musical performances by students or members of the community.

Parades may include: school bands, students dancing tipico, floats, tunas (marching tamborito), flag/fan/dance/machete student corps, gymnastics teams.

                                                                                                                       

Manuela wearing a more 

                                                                                                                      modern-style tipico dress

         A Gymnastics Team                                                                    
                                          

                                     Students marching with machetes (sort of like drill team)

All of the parades, cultural events, and "day" celebrations (Students' Day, Teacher´ss Day, etc.)  ate the entire month of November (as promised by every PCV I spoke to), so I didn´t have much time in the classroom, which was frustrating, but it was really fun to participate in all the festivities and I feel like I strengthened some of my relationships with my counterparts at school and community members.

The staff and other PCVs told us that our first year of service really is just about integrating into your community and as I approach my year anniversary of Peace Corps service I´m realizing this is absolutely true.  In my typically industrious, goal-focused nature I struggled with wanting to work, but having a hudred barriers come up. It´s about redefining what "work" is.  I`ve received equally excited reactions and compliments to my adventures in cooking and eating Panamanian food and playing hide and seek with the kids as I have to my time in the classroom.


Canela

Canela is probably my biggest accomplishment since coming back from med hold in Panama.  She's a 12 week old grey kitten that I adopted from another PCV here in Veraguas.  I've never had a pet before, so it's a steep learning curve, but I loved her pretty immediately, so I think we'll be ok.  We spent some quality hammock time with a good book the other day.  Pre-Canela I didn't think sitting in my hammock could get more relaxing, but I was wrong.  Living with a kitten is an interesting experience.  I alternately call her "Canela" or "terrorism", but I know all of the flying ninja attacks from behind walls and furniture are really expressions of love.

Won´t you be my Neighbor?
I have the best neighbors in the world.  They´ve basically adopted me as daughter number 6 and I´m beyond grateful for them.  Prima teaches second grade at school and her husband Mariano has a finca (farm).  They´re always giving me food and fixing things (including getting Canela out of a tree and helping me hang clotheslines).  Their daughter Carmen is one of my English teacher counterparts at school and her children, Manuela and Manuel, are my chief playmates.  Maria lives across the street and we chat a lot.  She loves to ask about Canela.  Prima is going to teach me more embroidery (she sewed the fan that Maneula is holding) and I´m going to ask her to teach me how to cook Panamanian food.  Becoming friends with them is probably one of my biggest accomplishments of this first year.


Reader's Theater Competition in Veraguas

Students reading their script during the competition

Johnna´s students won!

 Reader's Theater is a really cool activity we can use to help students increase their reading comprehension, confidence, and to improve their pronunciation.  Similar to a staged reading of a play, students rehearse and prepare a short script which they then perform.

In Veraguas we worked with MEDUCA  (Panamanian Ministry of Education) and local schools to organize a competition for primary and middle schools students to perform for their peers.  In the weeks leading up to the competition we visited schools around the province to help students practice.  It was really great to see other schools and meet more students.

The day of the competition we organized the space and set up the brindis (snacks and juice) and trophies.  There was some trouble with connecting the sound system , so I sat down and sorted through all the cables until we got the mic to work and then I "ran the board" during the event because we didn´t have a mic stand and there wasn´t a way to mute it without going to the amp.  You can take the techie out of the theater and stick her in an auditorium in Panama...

After the event we all went out for ice cream and Pizza Hut.  I really miss NY pizza.

Team Reader´s Theater

Thanksgiving (x2)
My first Thanksgiving in Panama was really quiet.  I made a bunch of food for myself (including splurging on real cheese and a failed attempt at making porotos) and watched movies at home.  A week later 175 PCVs went to Chiriqui for the weekend for a holiday celebration.  We ate, danced, and enjoyed the beautiful fresco mountain weather.  I wore a sweater, took my hair down, got to take a hot shower, and ate fresh strawberries.  It didn´t feel like I was in Panama anymore and It was an amazing weekend.  So amazing, that I have no photos.

To Present Day...
After the celebration I popped home for the night to take care of Canela and for my first co-teaching adventure.  The transition from mountain paradise to dry season heatwave was rough.

I taught some 5th and 6th graders about Thanksgiving.  We did vocabulary and an attempt at a group cloze activity.  It was my first time formally teaching here, so it was a little daunting and full of deltas, but I think it went well.  Next year is going to be fun.

Then I headed back to my home sweet hostel in Panama City for TOT (Training of Trainers) to prepare for G78´s PST.  It feels so strange to be on the precipice of training the incoming group when it still sort of feels like I just got here, but I´m excited to meet the new volunteers.

The following Monday the school had a celebration for the students who are in the band and participated in all the desfiles.  There was a lot of delicious food and the students really enjoyed it.  The following day was the Christmas party where the entire school went to mass in the morning and then had a big brindis afterwards.  The students also received gifts.  Most boys got baseball bats or mitts and most girls got dolls or craft kits.  Sometimes the gender role definitions really smack me in the face here.  Goals for next year include starting conversations about gender roles with students and to hopefully encourage them to think about the logic behind some assumptions.

School is over.  I´ve been spending a lot of time in my hammock sewing.  Graduation is on Monday.  I´m excited to see the 9th graders graduate (and hopeful that they´ll keep studying).

Up Next:

• Graduation
• Summer English camp
• Celebrating Christmas and New Year´s with Prima and family
• Snorkeling at Isla Coiba
• Eating Pizza in NY
• Seeing Casey get married in DC
• Listening to some good music in Brooklyn    
• Planning and plotting for next year