Backpack, Backpack...

January was a wild month.  A few days after the New Year I set out on a new adventure: going back to the States to visit my family and friends for the first time in almost a year.

A summary of events (but mostly food):

Part 1: Panama to New York 

The moment I arrived at my mother's school

Getting to New York was an adventure.

I left site around noon on the 5th (with a delicious send off lunch from Prima).  It was actually pretty emotional to be leaving, knowing that I was going back to the US.

Delicious lunch from Prima

I got to Panama City around 5pm, ate wings at the Gorilla food court for dinner.  Every time I go to Albrook I get a little bit of culture shock.  There are video screens that show advertisements on the hands-free sink faucets in the bathrooms.

My flight left Panama at midnight on the morning of the 6th.  I was operating with my American sense of what international travel (or travel in general) looks like and I arrived at the airport around 7pm (being early is one of my five favorite things and I was too impatient to walk around Albrook anymore) and was told that they wouldn't start checking people into the flight until 9pm (which turned out to be more like 9:30).  Luckily I had my sewing with me and made friends with a really nice Canadian woman.

I didn't have to check any bags and getting through security was quick (though my sewing scissors didn't survive).

After finally getting to the gate I bought myself a hot chocolate for a treat.  I came back to the gate to find that we had to go through security again.  Our bags got re-xrayed and everyone (down to toddlers and elderly people in wheelchairs) had to get a pat down.

After round two of security they roped us into the now "secure" gate area.  It was a full flight so people were practically tripping over eachother with all their luggage.  I was looking forward to getting on the plane, so I'd have some more space.

The flight was smooth and we got into Newark around 5am.  I took public transport into New York and was able to get in touch with my friend Kat so we could have coffee and catch up before she left for tour.  After coffee I went to my mom's school in Queens where her 4th graders barraged me with questions.  I spent about a half hour talking to them before escaping to find some lunch at a diner and some platanos verdes (green plantains) at a local market so we could make patacones (alternately known as tostones; fried plantains).  Mom and I drove out to Eastern Long Island after school.

My adrenaline wore off pretty quickly after we got home and I ended up crashing for a few hours before someone convinced me that I should pause sleeping to eat dinner.

The Long Island part of the trip (really the whole trip) was a whirlwind of people and food.

• Sushi with my best friend, Jess, for her birthday.
• Family Christmas with my Dad's side of the family where I made them patacones and people seemed to like them (or they humored me).
• Deaf West's Spring Awakening on Broadway with my parents, my brother (Andrew), and Jess.
• Ate a delicious Italian food dinner with Jess and Theresa (before Theresa left on her Italian vacation adventure).
• Drove places in my lovely little Yoda (thanks to my brother for giving me his car for a few days).
• Ate bagels with my friend Patrick.
• Had delicious pizza and garlic knots from the pizza place next to my high school.
• Ate delicious french toast with my new friend Helen while we discussed our Peace Corps services (she was a volunteer in Guatemala) and planned cyber events for Peace Corps Week with Stony Brook University students
• Borrowed my brother's Netflix account to binge watch TV.

I also had the opportunity to talk to some students at my high school about Panama, my Peace Corps service and service in general.  It was really wonderful to go back to a place that informed so many of the choices that I've made in my life and to show them a potential path that they could take after they graduate from college.

A late Christmas with my Grandparents

Part 2: Brooklyn

After spending a few days on Long Island I went to visit my friend Greg in Brooklyn.  We've been friends since 7th grade and he's one of the people I always try to see when I'm in NY.  We hung out and drank tea and talked for hours.  It was really wonderful to see him.

Part 3: DC

After spending about 24 hours in Brooklyn I put my backpack back on and hopped on a bus to DC for the last few days of the trip.  

The first night I went straight from Union Station to dinner with my friends Alex and Gordon.  Delicious food, good company, and some DC theater scene gossip was the perfect way to come back to DC.  They very kindly drove me to Lauren and Eddie's house (friends that I crashed with in DC)

The next day I ate some Chipotle and sat in a coffee shop listening to music, drinking tea and looking at email before getting some pie with my friend Ryan, and heading up to Source to see Constellation Theatre Company's production of Equus.  

I arrived early and went to my favorite coffee shop in that part of town to find my fabulous friend Katie having some coffee.  We got to catch up a bit before she had to run to work.  Equus was beautiful and it was lovely to be back in the theater among friends.  After the show I hung out with Katie and my friend Cheryl for a bit before running to catch the metro before it closed (and tragically missing an opportunity to eat delicious falafel). 

The next morning Eddie made fantastic blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast.  After a relaxing breakfast I went and hung out in DC for the day.  I tried to go to the new exhibition at the Renwick, but there was a line around the block.  I decided to sit in a coffee shop with some tea and write for a bit before heading up to Theater J to see their production of The Sisters Rosenswieg.  It was really great to see a show at the J (and to bump into my friend Delia before she moved away).  The show was wonderful and hilarious.  It was great to see so many familiar faces.  After the show I got to catch up with my friend Jay, which was really nice.

The next morning I convinced Lauren and Eddie to go out to breakfast at Busboys and Poets.  I'd been dreaming about their french toast for months.  After breakfast we hung out for a bit before I started getting ready for the big event: Casey and Joe's wedding.

The wedding was lovely.  Casey looked stunning and Joe looked handsome as they said their vows with the full expanse of DC as their backdrop.  I spent the night dancing with Sara, Elizabeth, and Casey, reminiscing about college, and talking about how much our lives have changed since we graduated.  It was the perfect way to end the trip.

Roommates!
Credit: Casey and Joe's Wedding Photographer

The next morning I started my journey back to Panama, site, and (most importantly) Canela.

It was a crazy whirlwind of a trip, full of odd culture shock moments, but I loved it.

Reverse Culture Shock Moments include:

• Being able to flush toilet paper
• Not carrying a flashlight 
• Eating salad (without anyone thinking to put mayonnaise on it)
• Not washing my dishes by hand
• Not lighting the stove with matches or a lighter
• Being cold (or rather, not sweating all the time)
• Speaking in Spanglish (or just Spanish) to people who don't speak Spanish
• Forgetting words (in both languages)
• Not having to check my bag at the paquetera (bag/parcel check) whenever I walked into a store
• Having people get annoyed when I wanted to pay in cash
• Dancing more than once dance in a row with a guy (dancing with a guy for more than once dance in a row signals serious interest in Panama)

Meanwhile back in Panama...

Part 4: Camp!
There's no rest for the wicked(-ly ambitious) and in typical me fashion I had plans to go to work (in this case an English camp for students) as soon as I got back to Panama.

My friend Roxana organized the camp as an English refresher before school starts again at the end of February.  I only ended up being there for two days (silly sinus infection destroying my dreams), but we had a lot of fun and it was nice to be back in the classroom (and on the field) after being on school break since mid-December.

The students were split into two groups and each group learned a pop song in English and prepared a Reader's Theater script in addition to doing a bunch of leadership and teambuilding games.  The last day of camp we had students presentations (and speeches/closing remarks in typical Panama fashion, something I'm slowly getting better at) and brindis with cupcakes that we baked the night before.  The students did really well and I'm so excited to get back to working with students in my site.

Happy students and facilitators on the last day of camp

Upcoming Events:

• Veraguas Regional Meeting
• Taking the GRE during Carnival (#awesomeplanning)
• Girls' Empowerment camp in Jody's site
• School prep week and the start of the new school year
• Pre-Service Training (PST) for G78 (the next group of TELLS and CEC volunteers)

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

Rocking the Balboa

In my research prior to coming to Peace Corps I learned that the Panamanian Balboa was pegged to the exchange rate of the US dollar.  What I didn't understand before coming here is that Panamanians use US currency.  

Panama does not have its own paper currency, so they use US paper currency.  They do have their own coin money (but use US coins too).  Panamanian coins are the same size and value as US coins.  

From Left to Right: medio balboa= 50 cents

quarra= 25 cents

diez centavos= 10 cents

real= 5 cents

centavo= 1 cent

In the photo they're all Panamanian coins, except the real, which is actually a US nickel because I didn't have a real on me when I took the photo.  Having a coin purse is pretty essential to life here.

Using US money (or Panamanian money of equivalent value) completely eliminates the need to do exchange rate math in your head (something I got really good at when I was living in Chile).  Instead, you just marvel at how cheap (or expensive) things are, depending on where you are in the country (and how much money you have left in your Peace Corps living allowance for the month).

The minimum wage in Panama is about $400 per month.  Peace Corps volunteers don't get paid a salary.  We get a living allowance each month to cover rent, transportation, food, household items, clothes, etc.  The point of the living allowance is for Peace Corps volunteers to live at the same level of income as people in the community where they're living and working.  

If you budget and save well you can do some really fun things, like having a pet, going to (or cooking) a nice dinner with friends, or taking yourself on vacation.  

I've gotten pretty frugal (a bottle of gatorade costs $1, not $1.50) and I keep myself on a pretty tight budget, which is a skill I wanted to develop during my service, because I was terrible at keeping a budget in the US.

Some examples of how much things cost:

• Gatorade: $1 (or 95 cents if you get it from one of the grocery stores in the city)
• A head of garlic: 20 cents
• A pound of potatoes: 60 cents
• Butter: $3 (equivalent of 2 sticks of butter)
• Half a Loaf of Bread: $2
• 4 hour bus trip from Santiago to Panama City: $9
• Monthly Water and Electric bills: $6 (to be paid at the Western Union in Matchetazo)
• My favorite rubber sandals: $4
• A meal at a Panamanian Fonda (small restaurant that serves typical food): $3-4
• Small personal pizza from my favorite pizza place in Santiago $6
• Intracity buses when I'm in Santiago: 40 cents
• Cab ride to almost anywhere in Panama City during the day, not at rush hour: $5 or less
• Chicken Tacos at my favorite Mexican place in Panama City: $5.50 (with cheese, cilantro, and onion, obviously)
• Empanadas from the kiosko at school: 25 or 40 cents each (depending on what kind they have that day)

The cost of living in Panama City is comparable to living in a city in the US, which makes it really expensive for Peace Corps volunteers, which means that I cook a lot if I'm at the hostel, but living in the interior (anywhere outside of Panama City) is much more manageable.

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

Riding on the Magical Mystery Bus

A Snapshot Sensory Experience:

As I sit in my house writing I...

Hear: a car running in the distance, birds chirping, roosters crowing, neighbors talking
See: Trees moving in the breeze, my neighbors' houses, my wire fence with its broken gate
Smell: my cat, general neutral house smell, hot earth
Feel: The breeze alleviating some of the oppressive heat of the day (and the sweat rolling down my back)
Taste: lukewarm chlorinated water
Wonder: where Canela is...she's being far too quiet (her new theme song is "Boom, Crash, the sound of my heart the beat goes on and on and on, yeah") and whether I have enough time to do a load of laundry before I lose the sun.

After almost a year in Panama, there are lots of things that should be strange, concerning, or gross, that have just become normal.  Like,

• Never feeling CLEAN, no matter how recently I've showered.  

I feel clean-ish after I shower, but it's nothing like the squeaky post shower clean that I had living in the US.  I also usually start sweating again pretty immediately after I shower.

• Sweating all the time, but especially when cooking.  

There's something about cutting vegetables that just makes you sweat like crazy.  I've taken to wearing a bandana while cooking when it's really hot out, especially if I'm cooking for people other than myself.

• Casual machetes on the bus or walking around in my community.

People bring their machetes on the bus sometimes or I'll see someone trimming a tree with one or cutting their grass, or just walking around with it on their way somewhere.  I live in a pretty "suburban" place for Panama and if I saw someone walking around with a 2-3 foot sword in the US I might be more than a little concerned and would potentially call the police.   

• Children playing with (dull-ish) machetes, running with scissiors, or doing other semi-dangerous things

Some kids play with machetes.  It's normal for kids to imitate their parents and adults around them in any culture, so they'll play-cut the grass, or chop at trees.  The running with (or without) scissors happens at school a lot and my earliest memories of school include lessons on scissor safety (and we even had safety scissors!) and not to run in the halls.  Students are left to their own devices during recess without lunch aides monitoring them (because lunch aides don't exist here).  Substitute teachers don't exist either.  If a teacher doesn't come students will just sit in their classroom without adult supervision for the duration of the school day or sometimes they'll have the day off from class.  Children have alot of freedom and It's just different here.

• Let's do the Time Warp.

In High School Spanish I learned that ahora means "now", ahorita means "right now" (but isn't used everywhere), and ya means "already" (like it already happened).  In Panama ahora means "sometime today, probably", ahorita means "sometime in the next 3-4 hours, probably", and ya means "right now, or within the next half hour".  Even after 11 months in Panama I still mess this up.  

Anyone who knows me, knows that I like to be early to things.  They know that messages saying "I might be 5-10 minutes late" actually mean "I'm probably going to arrive right on time".  Adjusting my time expectations has been one of the harder challenges for me due to my personality and coming from Stage Management/city life where I timed everything to the minute.

• BYO soap and toilet paper (or paying for bathrooms)

You have to pay for public bathrooms in bus terminals (but they'll usually have soap and toilet paper to give you).  Public bathrooms that aren't in restaurants or department stores will probably not have soap or toilet paper.  This includes public school bathrooms.  It's safer to always carry some hand sanitizer and tissues with you.

• Stoplight entertainment

Not unique to Panama, but really interesting.  People will perform for drivers at stop lights and then ask for money.  Usually juggling acts, but I've also seen firebreathing/poi, and bubble art.

• Bus concessions as if you were at a baseball game

People will board buses (usually long distance ones) for short distances to sell chips, gum, candy, jewelry, and soda.  They'll also try to sell you things while you're sitting in the bus at the terminal (newspapers, pirated CDs or movies, in addition to the things listed above).

• Buses (and their timey-wimey schedules)

I've heard alot of people complain about public transportation and not having a car in Panama.  I came to Panama from living a public transportation-based existence (though I also had a ZipCar account for when I needed it).  Buses in Panama generally have the start and end points of their routes painted on the windshield, but sometimes they get artsy with the letters and they can be hard to read.

You hail buses and taxis here by standing next to the street holding your arm out perpendicular to the ground and waiving at the driver in an up-down motion with your hand.  

You may then start negotiations.  A wagging finger from the driver of any transportation means "no", scrunchy face and a waving hand from a taxi driver means "where are you going?" at which point you should point in the general direction of your destination and he'll tell you whether he wants to take you there (a nod of the head or a wag of a finger).  There's a hand sign for "standing room only", but I can't remember what it is right now.

When the bus does stop the pavo (a young man in his late teens or twenties who collects bus fare and tells the driver where to stop) will hop out of the door.  You'll tell him where you're going (or ask if they go to a given place) before getting on the bus.  You could also just shout parada ("bus stop") if you're confident in where you're going, but if the bus is packed it can be hard to see and the blasting tipico music can make it really hard to hear.

Buses are typically decorated with LED lights around the door and potentially feather boas around the rear view mirror on the inside.  Frequently they will have music blasting or music videos playing.  They may or may not be air conditioned (that's what the windows are for).

You pay the pavo your bus fare upon airriving at your destination and you should always try to pay your fare in singles or coins.

Buses run on a schedule, but they'll leave ahead of time if they fill up (I watched my bus drive away almost 20 minutes early the other day and had to wait over an hour for the next one, dashing my plans of arriving before dark and chilling in my hammock for a bit).  Traveling involves lots of patience (for when the A/C is out and the bus is packed and there's traffic) and always having a back up plan (for when the bus leaves you, which has happened to me more than once). 

It's normal for people to have live animals on the bus.  Usually chickens, but I've also seen bunny rabbits.  Whenever I take Canela to the vet people always think I have a chicken in a box and they usually find it strange when I tell them it's my cat.

Kinds of Buses:

• Coaster or busito: small-medium sized passenger bus.  May have jump seats that will block the aisles.
• Coach bus: for cross country or longer trips.  Will probably have air conditioning, but won't have a bathroom.
• Chiva: a pickup truck (or other type of truck) with a covered flatbed and benches in the flatbed
• Diablo Rojos: decommissioned US school buses that have found their way to Panama.  They're operated by private citizens and will have their start and end points painted on the windshield, but the routes can vary, so always check with the pavo.  They'll also have camino or expreso on a sign.  Avoid the camino buses if you can, it'll take you forever to get anywhere.  The expreso buses will make less stops.  Bus decorations (interior and exterior) may include: paintings of cartoons, pop culture, and religious figures, LED lights, feather boas, and pom poms.  The bus will probably have music playing so loud that it makes your chest vibrate.

A diablo rojo at the Albrook Terminal in Panama City

Taxis:

Generally yellow with black and white checkered racing stripes.  The official ones will have numbers on the side too.  Sharing taxis with strangers is normal, but you can ask for a ride to be particular if you're not into sharing, though they might up the price.

In my town alot of people have cars, but other popular modes of transportation include: bicycle, horse, on foot, or leading your horse while riding your bicycle.

I really love long bus rides (as long as I don't have to do too many too close together).  They're perfect for thinking.  Bus terminals (or transportation hubs in general) are also some of the best places for people watching.

I'll write about my vacation adventures in the US soon.  Lots of pictures of food coming your way.

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

Home Sweet Site

Immediately before coming to Panama I was living in a studio apartment in a high rise in Washington, DC and I spent my childhood in rural suburbia on Long Island.  Before moving to Panama I always had access to electricity and safe (even hot) water.  It was never even a question because we see those as basic human needs when we talk about housing.  As one of my supervisors said during training "don't underestimate your ability to adapt".

I grew up in a small "one stoplight" kind of town, but it's nothing compared to the size of my community where the streets are paved, but don't have names, there are no traffic signals (but most people seem to have access to a car) and everything is located in relation to something else.  For example, I live "next door to Prima".  That's my address.

Before I came to Panama I had no idea what my house would look like or how people lived here.  From my research I thought I would be living in a wooden house with a dirt or concrete floor, a tin roof, and a latrine.  I would have a rain catchment system for water and I probably wouldn't have electricity in my house.

The reality is much different.

Training

During our first three months in-country Peace Corps volunteers in Panama live with host families in the training community.  In my host family's house they had electricity and running water, but the electricity was transferred from room to room via extension cords, depending on where people were during the day.  My 5 year old host sister spent much of the day watching comicas (literally "comedies", but in reality can be applied to almost any television show or movie) on their TV.  She loves cartoons.  

My room was a annex at the back with concrete walls and punch out windows in each wall, a tin roof, and a poured concrete floor.  I had two large plywood shelves for my things.  I used my mosquito net during training because the bugs were eating me alive (even though the windows were covered with screens).  Using the mosquito net made sleeping so much hotter, but not being covered in bug bites was worth it.

My host family also had running water from around 5:30am until about 3pm.  After 3 the water would go out until the next morning.  Some days the water wouldn't come or would come for less time.  We would save water in the dual basin sink for washing dishes (half for washing dirty dishes, half for rinsing them), and in bottles in the refrigerator for drinking.  I used hand sanitizer to clean my hands and rinsed my teeth with mouthwash when I couldn't brush my teeth at night.  

They had a nice tiled bathroom and a separate shower area around the back of their house.  The bathroom didn't have a light, so I always had my headlamp with me at night.  I took bucket showers  because the showerhead wasn't working well while I was there.  This involved taking a smaller tupperware (an old ice cream container usually) and dumping water from a larger basin over my head.  I repeated this process until I was satisfied with how clean I was.  

We washed our clothes by hand or in a small washing machine.  You fill half the machine with clothes and soap and then pour water in.  After the wash and rinse cycles you shift the clothes to the other side of the machine, which is like a centrifuge and wrings out the clothes.  You line-dry everything here.  Your soap-starchy, cleanish laundry is literally hung out for everyone to see.

Pouring freezing water over my head and showering outside by headlamp were difficult to get used to, but I survived training.

My host family's house in the training community

Host Family in Site

After we move to site we live with another host family for three months while we integrate into our communities and learn about the rhythm of life in our respective sites.  

My host family in site had TVs in every bedroom (including mine), WiFi, air conditioning in some rooms, and water and electricity at all hours of the day.  I never found a scorpion in their house and I stopped using my mosquito net.  They watched a lot of TLC shows about cars and building aquariums.

My House

After those three months we can move into our own house if it meets all the security specifications laid out by Peace Corps.  I was lucky enough to find a lovely, yeye (fancy) house and doubly lucky because it's next to the best neighbors in the world.  

My House

I live in a bloque (cement block) house that has glass slat windows that are covered with screens.  The roof is made of sheets of corrugated metal.  I have electricity and running water that is safe to drink at all hours of the day.  The floor is polished concrete.  We nicknamed it "The Ritz", mostly because I have a chandelier in my bedroom.

I have a yard full of fruit and other food bearing trees and plants.  My neighbors are farmers and I'm still learning what's in my yard.  I know that I (or "we", because my neighbors tell me to just take food from their trees and garden) have guanabana (a green spikey fruit filled with gooey white deliciousness), guandú (a kind of bean), plantains, oranges, peppers, and cilantro, but there are probably more things that I just don't know about.  There are chickens that roam the area (and poop on my porch, especially when it rains), stray dogs and cats, and a very talkative horse that lives across the street.

I still dry my clothes on clotheslines that we hung between the house and a neighboring chainlink fence, but now I wash them at Prima's house next door (or by hand in buckets if she's not around).

My landlady left a large bookshelf and dining room table set when she moved, so I didn't have to buy any furniture for the living room area and she also left a bunch of dishes and pots in the kitchen.  I've bought a few things, but mostly I use what she left in the house.

The house has three bedrooms.  I have a guest bedroom with an extra double bed for visitors, my room, and my landlady's bedroom.  My landlady doesn't live with me, but she keeps some things in the house for when she visits family in my town.

I spend most of my time at the table doing work or in front of my house sewing or reading in my hammock to beat the heat.

My Kitchen

I have a refrigerator with a freezer and a stove in my kitchen.  Unfortunately my oven doesn't work, but I just go next door to Prima's if I want to bake.  I fill up a propane tank at the store around the corner from my house so I have gas to cook with and I use a barbecue lighter to light the stove (I'm a little too chicken to use matches).  I don't have any shelves, so I just keep my dishes in a Jenga-like construction on the counter.  Most days I win, but sometimes I lose the Jenga game.  We have a formal trash pickup that comes once per week.  It's common in more rural parts of the country to burn trash, so I'm lucky that I don't have to worry about that.  

I have a blue-tiled bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink, which is the norm in my community.  I don't have hot water, but if I shower at night the cold water is a welcome relief from the day's heat, as opposed to a rude morning wakeup.

I love where I live.  My house is perfect (though it's a little big for just me) and my neighbors are the most generous and loving people ever.

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