So, They Say It's Your Birthday...

This is my second of three Peace Corps birthdays. 

Birthdays, Panama Style

Before my birthday my only Panamanian birthday experience here so far has been Prima’s birthday last week.  We sang Happy Birthday, had sheetcake that her daughter bought from a supermarket in Santiago, red jello with ice cream on top (a party favorite here), and I got to take a swing at the piñata (full of hard candies and noisemakers) with the rest of the kids.  It was a lot of fun.

·      Part 1

This year my new friend Gabby from G78 was visiting me for the week.  We spent Friday morning at school observing and hanging out with Cora (my CP who teaches English for grades 7-9).  We even did some family member vocabulary review with the students in preparation for a project that they’re going to do next week.

In the afternoon we went to El Palo de Granadillo, which is a tree in a nearby community that only blooms around Easter.  A lot of people from all over Panama come to see the tree bloom because it’s considered a holy place and the flowers have medicinal uses for pain relief. 

After we got back from the tree Gabby and I hung out for a bit and started making dinner before heading back to Prima’s house for an holajdre making lesson.  Hojaldres are pieces of fried dough that are a common breakfast food in Panama.  After our  cooking lesson we finished making dinner (quesadillas and mashed potatoes) and watched Big Hero 6 (which was not what I was expecting at all).

El Palo de Granadillo

One of the famous flowers

I finally visited the Rio (river) that my town is named after

And found the mysterious hidden IPT (technical high school) near my town

·      Part 2

The next morning on my actual birthday we spent the first half of the day at a youth leadership project development workshop at the FUSODEP office in Santiago because they’re interested in collaborating with Peace Corps to create some sustainable (led by Panamanian youth) opportunities for youth in Santiago to participate in extracurricular activities that would fill needs that the youth leaders identify in Santiago.  It’s a pretty fantastic idea and we’re really excited about it, though we’re still developing what we’re actually going to do in the community. 

The workshop was great and it was awesome to show the visiting  G78ers a larger scale project that we’re working on in Veraguas (especially because it has such high potential for being sustainable and making a huge positive impact).

After the workshop we bopped around Santiago for a bit, went to the mercado (market area with a lot of shopping), got raspao (shaved ice with fruit flavoring and condensed milk), and finally explored the new mall that they’re building on the outskirts of the city.  It’s crazy big and they’re putting in a movie theater (Santiago’s second one), but the really awesome part is that there’s a bus that goes there for free from the mercado (saving 40 cents in bus fare).  

After the mall adventure we got dinner at this really cool restaurant and hung out after to bake carrot cake and watch most of NO, which is a really cool movie about the “No campaign” that helped end the dictatorship in Chile.  Gael Garcia Bernal is a fantastic actor and I'm sort of obsessed with democratic political transitions.

Birthday Dinner with Team Veraguas and the G78ers who were visiting for the week!

Dinamicas (Ice Breakers) during the Youth Leadership workshop!

·      Part 3

The next day I did laundry, chatted with my parents for a bit, and celebrated with my neighbors.  We had cake and sang “Happy Birthday”.  I almost have all the words to the Panamanian version; it’s different than the one I learned in Chile.  After celebrating I fell asleep in my hammock with a good book (Little Bee, go read it) while waiting for my laundry to dry before eating some delicious leftover pasta for dinner.

Birthday cake with best friends

Singing Happy Birthday

Delicious Cake that Prima got for my Birthday

Singing Happy Birthday to Manuel too!

Really solid birthday.

And now for a little retrospective:

·      Ten years Ago

I was 17 and in the 11^th grade.  I spent all my time studying Chemistry and American History,  and writing and reading for English class (and for fun).  I was in Marching Band, chorus, the school musical (Bye Bye Birdie), and jazz choir.   

When I wasn’t studying or at school I was dancing (Ballet, Jazz and Irish), sitting in Greg’s living room watching B-movies, or not-quite-loitering in front of East Sevs (one of two 7-11s in my town).  I worked for my dad on weekends.  I had my driver’s permit, but not my license and I hadn’t started seriously thinking about leaving Long Island.

I had just met the girl who would become my best friend/sister and future co-star of the “Kara and Jess show” where we do things like make incredible messes while making box brownies, get lost in East Patchogue, and go “piano-man-ing” (driving aimlessly) with the windows rolled down and the music blasting.

·      Five Years Ago

I was 22 and a senior in university.  I was working toward finishing a dual degree in Spanish/Latin American Studies and International Studies/Peace and Conflict Resolution.  I was studying Arabic for fun and I had just gotten back from a semester abroad in Santiago, Chile. 

I had moved to a new apartment with old roommates where I built a free-standing wall to partition part of the living room into my bedroom.  I went back to my job working at the university mainstage as a technician (carpentry and electrics) and Box Office Assistant/House manager.  We were about to go into rehearsals for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead , my last of 11 shows with the Rude Mechanicals student Shakespeare troupe.   I was back to dancing (Modern and Jazz/Contemporary) after stopping for a few years and I was almost over a severe knee sprain and I hadn’t injured my shoulder yet.

I had just gotten back from my Grandma’s funeral and been rejected by Teach For America.  I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation, but I knew I wanted to stay in DC, so I was about to attend my first tech cattle call to solicit theater work and start my freelance life.

I can’t believe how much has changed and how remote, yet recent it still all feels.

Year Bucket List

• Learn ASL
• Facilitate a seminar solo
• Work out at least twice a week
• Write in my journal for 10 minutes every day
• Read for half an hour every day
• Sew a dress for Fiestas Patrias in November
• Hike Volcan Baru
• Bake cookies with Prima’s daughters
• Practice Spanish for at least 1 hour every day
• Take the Foreign Service Officer Exam
• Retake the GRE
• Do cool stuff in site (in all the many forms that can take) 
• Visit the provinces in Panama I haven't been to yet 

The End of "Summer" (or the Month of February)

Ok, so it's not really the end of Summer (that's around May), but it is the end of February and school is about to start again.

Carnaval (Part 1)
I spent the beginning of the month (and the first part of Carnaval) madly studying to take the GRE in Panama City for my future return to study something for my MA.  I really don't know what I want to study or where I want to go to school or if I want to go back to school immediately following Peace Corps.  This may have been just another part of this quarter life crisis exercise.   The test was harder than I thought it would be (partially because I haven't taken a standardized test like that in almost a decade), but I'm hoping I did well so I can really focus on working in site this year and worry a little less about the future.

Carnaval (Part 2)
To celebrate surviving the test, I got some tacos from my favorite "hole-in the-wall" place around the corner from my home sweet hostel in Panama City.  The next morning I tried to get out of the city early (despite everyone's apocalyptic traffic predictions) to go to my friend's place for Carnaval.

In the end it only took me about 4 hours to make what should have been a roughly 3 hour trip (less apocalyptic than initially predicted).  My friends Erin, Adrian, and I decided to go out to the culecos almost immediately after I arrived at her place.  I don't know if the word is used outside of Panama, but culecos are water trucks that spray the dancing and drinking crowd with water during Carnaval (and because of all the water I have no photos).

There are also competitions for Reina (Queen) for Calle Arriba versus Calle Abajo in most places.  The division is based on which part of the community you live in. The women are dressed up in extravagant costumes and dance tipico on floats pulled by tractors.  The tractors drive right through the crowds by the culecos, which is terrifying to think about, but everyone knows to just get out of the way when the tractor comes inching through the crowd pulling a giant float on a flatbed.  Kids have water guns filled with ice water and will spray unsuspecting passersby.

Because we're in the middle of dry season (and rainy season wasn't that rainy this year) they had to dredge some of the rivers in Panama to get the water for the culecos.  We're not in a drought, but I do have friends whose water only comes for a short period of time every few days and the water that was used for the culecos could certainly have had some more practical uses (washing dishes, bathing, drinking water) than being sprayed on a crowd (though that was quite refreshing).

The next day I headed home to site (where we also had culecos, but I didn't participate) to get myself organized to start prep week for the new school year on Monday.

Campamento Muchachas Empoderadas
Right before prep week started a bunch of us spent a week in my friend Jody's site in Chiriqui near the Comarca Ngäbe Buglé (CNB) helping her with her Muchachas Empoderadas (Empowered Young Women) Camp.  The CNB is one of two indigenous areas in Panama and has two distinct indigenous groups (the Ngäbe and the Buglé).  The other Comarca is in the Darien (bordering Colombia) where the indigenous groups are the Embera and the Wounaan.

All week we spent the mornings doing leadership and teambuilding games, talking about role models, goal setting, self esteem, and making recycled jewelry and friendship bracelets, and learning the really awesome dance that Jody choreographed.

Fany sharing a valentine to herself

Laila sharing about inner and outer beauty 

(with a little help from her friends)

The last day of the camp the girls presented their work to their family, our CD, her husband, and APCD who came to visit for the final presentation.  Each girl shared something that she had learned that week in our sessions about goal making, role models (the majority of who cited their moms as their role models), and self esteem exercises (inner/outer beauty and valentines to themselves).  It was a really lovely camp.

Dancing!

Muchachas and facilitators

I spent the week at Jody's lovely little house with fellow PCVs Roxana, Kelly, Natalie, and Meredith.  It was also the first time in my life I lived somewhere that didn't have a refrigerator or regular running water.  Because it's dry season Jody's water has only been coming for about an hour every few days, but she also has access to a local spring.

Jody has electricity, but she doesn't have a fridge.  Despite how scary that might sound, you don't actually need a fridge to feed yourself delicious food.  You go shopping every day for food that might spoil quickly, eat vegetarian, and don't make more food than you're going to consume in a single meal/day.

We made oatmeal with honey, peanut butter, and raisins every morning for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch (PBJ or tuna), and a variety of things for dinner.  Because there were so many of us we each took turns cooking dinner for the group.  Dinners included: pasta with ginger, garlic, and soy sauce; roast vegetables and chicken; black beans and vegetables (with a mashed potato appetizer); black bean burgers with vegetables and fried plantains; wachu (which I can't spell; stewed beans and rice).  We even made no-bake cookies for the last day because Jody correctly anticipated the potential of entertaining our CD, her husband, and APCD at her house.  All of this was accomplished without a refrigerator (or an oven).

In general, Jody's site more closely fits what I imagined Peace Corps would be like.  She lives in a small town with dirt roads and lives in a concrete house (with Tara the tarantula who lives near the shower).  She has a latrine for a bathroom and her "shower" is a tarp cubicle next to her house with a dirt floor and a bucket.  She saves water in buckets for when it goes out and purifies water with a water filter and drops of chlorine.

Despite voluntarily joining the Peace Corps with this being my imagining of volunteer life, a year ago I couldn't imagine living like that.  But before I went to Jody's site I wasn't stressed about the water situation (the surprise tarantula housemate was even ok once we understood what eachother's boundaries were).  I missed pulling cold water out of my refrigerator and having toast with butter and jelly every morning for that week, but not so much that it was a real hardship.  Don't get me wrong, not having water (or safe water) is super frustrating, but I now know that I would be capable of doing the things necessary to live like that, which I didn't know before.

Some Empowered Muchachas with our APCD, CD, and (some of) the facilitators 

(missing Roxana and Kelly)

Prep Week
Prep week involved some discussion of diversifying teaching methods to help students succeed, which was really cool to see.  They also discussed education laws, selected school event committees (every teacher is assigned to one of about 7 committees to organize events throughout the year), organized and cleaned the classrooms (they painted over the summer!) and generally got things ready for the new school year.  None of the English Teachers were around during prep week because two of them were still studying in the US with the Panama Bilingue program and one had not yet been assigned to the school.

Birthday Celebrations!
The Friday of Prep Week was my friend Kelly's birthday, so a bunch of us headed out to dinner at this awesome Greek place in Santiago (that I didn't know existed) and then back to Kelly's for a slumber party full of popcorn, singing Taylor Swift, playing "Never Have I Ever", and the traditional PCV external hard drive media swap.  The next day Kelly made pancakes and scrambled eggs and then we all went to lunch at a fonda in Santiago before going our separate ways.

That weekend a previous English Teacher Counterpart (Maria) who left to study with Panama Bilingue in August texted me to say that she's coming back to my school this year.  I'm so excited to start working with her again!

Birthday Fun!

More Training (but from the opposite side of the table)
In theater we talk about being "in front of the table" or "behind the table", meaning are you the person running the audition or are you the person auditioning?

G78 (the next group of Teaching and Conservation volunteers) arrived at the end of February and right after Kelly's Birthday I headed back to the training community in Panama Oeste to support our PST (Programming and Training Specialist) for the first week of G78's training as incoming TELLS volunteers (Teaching English, Leadership, and Life Skills).  It was very strange to be "on the opposite side of the table".

I feel like I'm supposed to be "old and wise" or "a veteran PCV", but what 78 doesn't know is that I'm still figuring it out too.  It's really interesting to consider what I know now and compare it to my perceptions of G74 (the previous group) when they came to train us (G76).  I know more than I did when I got here, but there's still so much that I'm figuring out.

The week of training went really well.  G78 is an awesome group and I'm really excited to start working with them after they finish training.

At the end of the week we all hiked the Loma together for a bit of exercise and to celebrate the end of the first week.  It's so beautiful and peaceful up there.

The really tough part of working on that first week of training for G78 was that it meant missing the first week of school in site (and missing the first VAC meeting of the year).

On top of the Loma, one year later

(My) First Week of School
Two of my three counterparts are back in school this week and we're going to have a department meeting to discuss goals and projects for the year.  I'm also preparing to start an English Community Class and an English Club (or two, depending on interest) for students.  I tried to start my community class at school this week, but no one showed up, so I'm in the process of re-advertising and shifting location to hopefully garner more interest.

There are so many projects on the horizon that I'm a little overwhelmed with how (and when) to get everything started, but I'm confident that this will be a fantastic year.  I got to formally introduce myself to alot of the parents when they came to the school for beginning of the year parent/teacher meetings, which I think will be really helpful in starting to build some of those relationships.

Class Time!

Upcoming

• English Community Class
• English Club(s)
• Gabby from G78 comes to visit!
• Celebrating my birthday!
• Planning for a trimester break camp in June
• Starting the planning process for the Regional Reader's Theater Competition
• And many more adventures

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