A Tour

The word that I always hear my gente (community members) use to describe my town is tranquilo (calm).  

Top Five Ways to Spend Time in my Site:

1. Visit the Church and adjacent park: 

There's a big Catholic church in the center of town (in addition to the Mormon and Jehovah's Witness houses of worship).  It's simple and elegant.  I can hear the church bells from my house, which is not terribly pleasant when they wake me up at 6am on Sunday, but also makes me nostalgic for the song of church bells floating through the air in my hometown.  The park is beautifully green with lots of trees (perfect for playing hide and seek) and has a lovely gazebo in the center of it (perfect for escaping sudden rainstorms and holding impromptu English lessons).  

Park!

2. Play with (or teach) the neighborhood kids: 

The majority of the kids in my site go to school in town and we're slowly becoming friends.  Sometimes they show up at my house and we play games like chess, hide and seek, or frisbee.  Chess and frisbee are new activities for them, but rapidly becoming highly requested.  Sometimes I "play cards" with my neighbors, but she and her brother are 5 and 4 years old, so our card games are usually based on shifting rules that she makes up and changes at will.  I never know what's going on, but it's always a good time.  New goals include teaching her and her brother "Go Fish" to give our card games some more structure.  Story time is also a hit.

3. Pasear to Prima's: 

Going next door to hang out with Prima's family is one of my favorite things to do.  Prima is willing to answer all of my questions about cooking and my site and I answer her questions about my life in the US and Peace Corps.  Her two youngest daughters are still in school (university and high school) and they're really fun to hang out with.  The visit will be full of laughter and probably food.

4. Cook Patacones (or "Peace Corps French Fries"):  

Fry: Start with some Platanos Verdes.  Draw a large kitchen knife down one of the ridges on the platano to break through cascara (shell/peel).  Peel the platanos and then cut them into roughly half inch wide sections with 2 flat sides.  Put all of those pieces onto a plate.  Take a frying pan and pour about a half inch of vegetable oil (or whatever kind of cooking oil is in the local tienda).  Set a empty second plate next to the frying pan.  Turn the stove on and put as many platano pieces as will comfortably fit (usually no more than 8 at a time, depending on the size of the pan).  Fry them on both sides until they're golden brown.  When they're done take them out of the pan and put them on the second plate.  Repeat until all the pieces are fried

Smush: Take your handy dandy patacon maker (or the flat side of your kitchen knife) and aplastar (smush flat) all of your fried pieces are flattened.

Patacon maker

Fry: After all the pieces are aplastado (flattened), fry them again for a few minutes.

To be enjoyed with ketchup or salt (or both).

5. Eat some mimbre in a hammock:  

Mimbre (or fruta china) is delicious.  We tend to call it "star fruit", which always makes me think of "star leaves" from The Land Before TIme.  

You could also eat some mamon, mamon chino, or an orange Panamanian style (cut a top section off and suck all the juice out).  

Hammocks are a perfect way to pass a windy (hot) summer afternoon (reading, writing, studying, sewing, or napping with a purring kitten).

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

Good Rivers Make Good Neighbors

One day during my first three months in site when I was still living with my host family, I was walking home from the store in the late afternoon and I decided to take a long way back to the house (mostly to avoid the hissing and catcalls from the local bar).  Prima, her husband (Mariano), and her sister in law (Loli) were sitting on Loli's porch.  Prima teaches 2nd grade at school, so I'd seen her when I was observing English classes with my counterpart, Maria.  Not many people hang out on their porches in my site, but they seemed to be having a nice conversation with eachother, so I decided to try my hand at pasear-ing and say hello to them.  

They invited me to sit on Loli's porch and Prima gave me fruitcake and chicha (juice).  I sat and chatted with them for half an hour or so before I saw the time and wanted to be home by dark.  

I visited with Prima a few more times after that and we became sewing friends during the traditional sewing workshop at school.  When I was looking for a house she told me that her other sister in law was looking for a calm and responsible person to rent the house next door and I jumped at the opportunity.

Since I moved into my house in mid-August Prima and her family have pretty much adopted me as their 6th daughter (right in the middle between the oldest three and youngest two).  For Christmas this year she let me use her oven to bake cookies, which I then gave out to my host family, counterpart's family, and of course Prima's family as Christmas presents.  It was a solid cultural exchange win.

During the rainy season the strip of grass between the houses floods into a muddy mess, so I started calling it a "river" and Prima's husband started joking that he's going to build a "bridge" over the river.

Prima's spent her entire life living in my town (aside from when she was at University) and she's probably my closest adult friend (her 5 year old granddaughter is my closest kid friend).  

When we're not at school she spends most of her time cooking, cleaning, and visiting with family who live in the area (or entertaining family and friends who come to visit).  She's really good at traditional embroidery and I'm hoping she can help me design a dress for Fiestas Patrias (National Holidays) next November.  

Prima is amazing and always greets me with a smile (when she's not jokingly heckling me for walking around without shoes on).

Prima with her grandkids during Fiestas Patrias last year

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

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