Tech Week

July 19-27, 2014

Things you appreciate ten times more when you’re living in a developing county:

The smell of clean clothes.

Your feet being clean and dry at the same time.

Flushable toilets.

 

Last week was tech week which involved the entire sas group traveling to an indigenous community on the other side of the county. We stayed with host families and got separated into the different core projects (coffee, cacao, and fish and rice tanks). I got coffee, which I am very pleased with.

It was very different staying with an indigenous family. This community is up in the mountains on the far western part of Panama. It rains a lot there. A LOT. The soil is bright red clay which does not allow for easy absorption of water. What does this combination get you? Mud. Lots and lots of mud. I was ankle deep in mud just trying to get from my house to the latrine (or nearly anywhere for that matter). The only footwear worth wearing were rubber boots and even sometimes they wouldn’t cut it. For example; after a really heavy rain the creek would rise turning my trek to coffee class from a simple stream crossing to wading in a river. Water was then in my boots and I sloshed around with puddles in my boots and wet socks/feet for the rest of the day. You also have to watch out for losing your boot to the mud suck. Imagine walking (not gracefully) along and one step you go to pick your foot up and your foot comes up but your boot doesn’t.

All the houses in this community are made of wood and are raised on stilts. Image climbing up a latter with a heavy pack while having to take your boots off in order to put your feet on the first wrung but trying not to step on the ground because it’s all mud and then crossing a single board bridge and ducking through a door to get to the main house. There were no walls inside the house, just one “big” room. They had hung curtains in one corner for the “room” I stayed in, but half the time they didn’t make a difference because several members of the family would just stand there holding the curtain back just staring at you. I think I now know somewhat what it feels like to be an animal in a zoo.

Other activities included:

Bathing in the creek. (Which involved trumping over to the creek, changing into your bathing clothes behind a tree, finding the one part of the creek that was mid-thigh deep, attempting to wash yourself, drying off and changing behind the tree again, and then hoping no mud will splatter on you as you walk back to the house.)

Eating a lot of boiled baby green bananas. (These are not my favorite…)

Learning how to make chacaras. Awesome.

Constantly being stared at. Not so awesome.

Eating a lot of the snacks I packed.

Attempting to sleep while the twelve children that slept in the house took turns crying/screaming. As well as roosters crowing way too early in the morning. 

Learning about coffee production.

Fending off a scorpion.

Boiling water every night to drink the next day. (Also having no electricity.)

Planting Coffee

Toasting Coffee

Grinding Coffee

Chacara Making

The beach!

The beach!

We survived tech week and made it to the beach!

 

 

Volunteer Visit Recap

July 17, 2014

Just finished my second language proficiency interview and it did not go horrible. Thirty minutes of a one-on-one interview with a Spanish teacher you’ve never meet sounded very daunting, my only goal was to not burst into tears at any point during the interview. Accomplished. I’m sure my grammar sucks but I could understand everything the teacher said and was able to answer all of her questions and that’s something.

Last week (we returned to our training site on Sunday) we visited a current volunteer and spent a week at her site. This is volunteer that went to Virginia Tech and we were actually in the same organization, I had no idea she was even in the Peace Corps let alone Panama, it was quite the surprise especially since matching up the trainees with the volunteers for the visit week is pretty random.

The community is very small, only about 100 people.

There is one road but no one owns a car, some people have horses.

It took a two hours bus ride followed by an hour chiva ride followed by a (beautiful!) 30 minute hike to reach her site from Panama City.

The community is in a valley surrounded by rolling hills and mountains. A lot of the mountains are deforested but still breathe taking to look at.

The climate was much cooler, it was glorious.

Activities:

Collected cow poop to make compost.

Pasear-ed and ate a lot of good food and drank a lot of coffee.

Local farmer showed us how to prune orange and coffee trees.

Ate a lot of rice and beans.

Was introduced to the deliciousness that is dessert oatmeal.

Washed clothes campo style.

Hiked for two hours in the jungle and saw an enormous boulder.

Cut my volunteer’s hair.

Realized my stomach might get fat from all this rice, but my legs are gonna be rockin by the end of my service from walking up all these hills.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week Three

Rashes, bites, and antibiotics

 

June 30, 2014

Multiple skin ailments; check.

Can never stop sweating; check.

Take 2-3 showers a day; check.

Things I ask myself on a daily basis:

How do people live in this weather?

Why humidity? Why!?

How awesome is it that I get my very own machete? (it’s pretty awesome…)

How long can I go without busting my butt on one of these muddy hills?

Do I really have to put clothes on?

When will I be able to communicate in Spanish?!

In other news; I successfully hand-washed my undergarments today, my “quick dry” towel is already molding, and I now have my morning four hour Spanish class all to myself. Let the one-on-one tutoring begin. 

Inauguration

 

July 1, 2014

The new president of Panama was inaugurated today. Everyone (almost everyone) didn’t have to go to work today. No, I did not get a day off. I am in PC training and had five hours of one-on-one Spanish tutoring as well as three hours of compost making.

My brain hurts.

I love the hands-on training

I do not like the absurd about of unwanted attention I get whenever walking on the street. Car honks, cat calls, etc., it’s getting old. Fast.

Planting

 

July 2, 2014

Three (different) bugs flew up my nose today.

We got to plant beans, yucca, otoe, and plantains today in our individual parcels. Yesterday we started the process of making compost. We also learned about seeds; how to harvest, possibly ferment (depending on the seed), dry, and properly store them. Farmers here are commonly unaware that they can harvest a small amount of seeds of their crop to plant next year instead of buying new seeds every year.

Itchy

 

July 3, 2014

I am putting hydrocortisone cream on like lotion. My poor legs. Looks like I’ll be looking for more light weight long pants since I only brought one pair. Yes I know, but I brought a bunch of capri pants. Yeahhhh, those have worked out well…..

Getting ready to hike to the waterfall a few days ago and my host mom told me to wear boots and long pants. I wore boots and the capri pants I already had on. Well guess where all the poison ivy is… yeash it itches a lot.

No fireworks

 

July 4, 2014

Independence Day de America!

Learning a second language is flippin hard. (I learned today that all of our reports due during service (which is a lot) have to be written in Spanish…………)

The avocados here are AMAZING! (yes that should be read with a singing voice; AAAA-MAAAA-ZZIINNGGGGG)

Adventure in La Chorrera

 

July 5, 2014

Another long day adventuring in a different city. I’m pretty sure I avoided getting burnt. I got to watch the entire Costa Rica game; I’m a little bummed they didn’t win. I also got to buy rubber boots for the finca, I’m ready for mud.

Sunday

 

July 6, 2014

Study study study. Pasear. Español Español Español.

 

Week Two

A Tie

 

June 22, 2014

Just found out the USA and Portugal tied… ugh.

Today we traveled to our host family’s homes and community. The group went to two different communities, EH in one and SAS in the other. I met my host family (and extended family because they all live as neighbors). It is the end of the day and I am hot, sticky, and exhausted.  However, I am pleased to say that today was not as terrifying as I thought it would be. I actually told someone this morning before we left that I thought I was going to puke because of how nervous I was. I was only semi-serious, but his reply telling me I looked pale did not help. I was the last one off the bus, which just increased the anxiety watching everyone else greet their families and the extended suspense. My family has two daughters going to college and one who is older and married with two children and lives right next door. My host mother is very welcoming and has ten siblings, some of which and their children and their children as well as her mother live in the surrounding houses. One of my host sister’s children is a three month old little girl with a full head of jet black hair. Absolutely beautiful. To anyone who knows me, having a tiny baby to hold and love on is going to make this nine week training session ten times better. I also learned that she was born in a car at a gas station, I was pretty happy with myself for understanding that story. My host mother is wonderful and whenever she is directly asking me a question or telling me something she notably slows her voice and uses hand gestures. Surprisingly (to me anyways) I can understand just about everything they are asking me (when they aren’t talking at the speed of light). Actually talking and responding is a lot harder because I just don’t know enough words in Spanish to say what I want to say. BUT tomorrow we start our intensive language and technical training. Four hours in the morning for language training (and my group is just me, another person, and the instructor) and then I walk back to my host family’s house to eat lunch and then there is four hours of technical training for the entire group in the afternoon followed by dinner and (hopefully) conversation at my host family’s home.

Today I also got to tag along to el super and see all the food bought to feed this family for a week. I was pleasantly surprise with the large about of vegetables that were purchases. I was also very happy when we passed peanut butter and my host mom asked if I liked it, I said yes and she put it in the cart.

 

Okkkk, I just went to the latrine (yes it’s dark) and I have to add on to this. I have now seen a ginormous toad almost twice the size of my fist, as well as a giant cockroach under the toilet paper roll.

I am still hot. I am still sticky.

Welcome to living in Panama. 

Intense

 

June 23, 2014

Alright, what an overwhelming day. I think I feel that every day, but I’m just going to keep on saying it, cause it really dose keep happening. Today was the first day of week one training (yes they call the first week you’re here, last week, week zero). These first four days consist of four hours of Spanish lessons (8-noon). This is four hours of me and another student with our instructor who is only speaking in Spanish. I then came home to eat lunch and then went to four hours of technical training, it is still just basic overview information, but at the end of class we each got our own machete! Pretty cool right? I brought it home and my host father showed me how to sharpen it with a file PC also provided us. Tomorrow we are going to learn how to use them.

Everything here is moist

 

 

June 24, 2014

Is it really only Tuesday? I am exhausted. Language training went a little better today and for technical training we got to learn how to use our machetes and clear a plot that will be our test plot throughout training. It was a bit cooler today and tonight than it has been (I know I’ve only been here three days..). The food my host mother made today was delicious, as always. I also got to rock that beautiful sweet baby to sleep tonight and then hold her for a while as my host mother told me stories of past trainees she has hosted that have done some interesting things, it was very amusing. Everything here is moist. All the paper handouts I receive feel slightly damp. My clothes never seem to get completely dry. My pillow and sheets feel slightly damp. Everything here is moist. 

So tired

 

June 25, 2014

I think my hair might mold because it’s always wet with me taking two to four showers a day.

Feeling Refreshed

 

June 26, 2014

Today our training manager asked us to recall how long we have been in country, and we all kind of stared at each other and asked what day it was. Today is Thursday. We arrived last Tuesday. That’s nine days. It feels like I’ve been here a month already.

I still feel very concerned about learning Spanish. I feel like I have made no progress at all. It has only been five days that we have been in our host communities, but it feels like a month, and making no progress in (what feels like) a month is extremely frustrating. I know it will come but I am also having a hard time reminding myself how short of a time I have been here.

I just got off the phone with my mother, this was the first time I’ve talked to her since I’ve been here (I know it’s only been a little over a week, but I could swear it’s been so much longer than that!). I feel very refreshed after talking to her (in English!!!!) for an hour and telling her all about the stories I’ve heard from current volunteers.

 

Recalling what the current volunteers told us during “retreat”:

(my group:) So how long does it take to get to your site?

              I live in… and from Panama City I take an eight hour bus ride, then a two hour chivas ride, and then hike for three hour.

              I live in… and from Panama City it takes me a six hour bus ride, two hour chiva, and then an hour canoe ride.

(okkkkkkkkkk……)

How close is another volunteer to you and how often do you see them?

              I have to hike through their site to get to mine, so I see them almost every time I leave my site. Their about a half hour away from me.

              The closest other volunteer to me is about an hour canoe ride, I can rent a canoe and I go and see her about once a week.

(oooookkkkkkkk…)

There were also lots of questions and worries about the Spanish test that is at the end of training. You must be at the intermediate-middle level by the end of training to swear-in and become a volunteer. One of the current volunteers told us he came in with zero Spanish. All he knew how to say was hola. One of the first things you do during the “retreat” is a Spanish proficiency interview. This is just you and one of the Spanish teachers in a room and (hopefully) have a conversation in Spanish so they know what groups to put you in for training lessons. This volunteer said he walked in and stood there. The teacher kept asking him to sit down (in Spanish of course, these teachers do not speak English to you) and he just stood there, not understanding what she was saying. Then he said he remembered that in Kindergarten he was taught the months in Spanish as a song. So he is standing there and just starts singing the song; “enero, febuero…..”. The teacher just points to the door and asks him to leave.

I’m sure it wasn’t funny in the moment but he laughs about it now, and so did all of we. It does make me feel a little bit better that if he can go from nothing to intermediate-middle in ten weeks, surely I can get there. 

**sigh**

 

June 27, 2014

Today I got up at five, so I could catch the bus at six. The entire group came together today at the office for a day full of training lectures. One wouldn’t think sitting all day (in AIR CONDITIONING!!) would be exhausting, but it was.

Learning how to use public transportation

 

June 28, 2014

Clean Clothes!!

And a morning full of pasear-ing.

June 29, 2014

Today we had a scavenger hunt in Panama City and found the hostels volunteers stay at when they are in the city. I also got to go back to Panama Viejo (I was there three years ago with SFS) and see the ruins and climb the bell tower again. I thought it was pretty cool being back at the same spot and getting to show it to a new group of people. We went to one of the plazas and saw a group of children performing traditional Panamanian dances (in full Panamanian dress). I had bean empanadas for lunch from a vender that was advocating for animal rights and were only selling vegan items. They said that 100% of their proceeds go to help all the stray cats and dogs in the city. We also got to check out a local brewery and see some of the two world cup games that were today.

 

 

First Five Days as a PCT

(PCT: Peace Corps Trainee, get ready of the acronyms people, this is a government organization.)
 
This blog and all of its posts express solely the views of myself and does not represent the views or opinions of The United States Peace Corps, The United Sates Government, or The Panamanian Government.
 
 

No space left un-stuffed

June 16^th

Finally the packing is complete. With the help of my wonderful mother and sister I have successfully stuffed the next two years of my life into three small bags.

 

 

Staging

June 17, 2014

Safely arrived in D.C., I ran into a fellow volunteer at baggage claim (thanks for sewing the PC patch on my pack mom!). We proceeded to wrestle our luggage out to a taxi and to the hotel we will be staying in for about 14 hours. The first step of signing in, receiving loan deferment forms and debit cards, and checking that our PC passport, visa, and airline ticket all has correct spelling is complete. Now I get to introduce myself to several people in large groups, just what an introverted anti-social person likes. Let the awkward mingling begin.

June 18, 2014

It is 7:08pm in Panama City, we left the D.C. hotel at 2:30am. You do the math (remembering Panama is an hour behind D.C. at this time of the year). Getting to the airport at 3am then finding out check-in doesn’t open until 4:30…. I could have slept three hours last night instead of two. I end up standing in line to check-in until about 5am, for our flight leaving at 6am. Thankfully I was able to sleep the two hour flight to Miami. Arriving in Panama felt like a weight off my shoulders. I had finally made it. I had finally arrived in Panama to start pre-service training.

Boy is it humid here. It smacked me in the face as soon as I stepped out of the airport.

Not too humid to keep our group from a little physical activity before dinner. Running and ultimate Frisbee were played. No I did not catch a single Frisbee, I know this will be very disappointing to my sister when she hears this, but it’s only my first day! Surely I can get better at it (and running) in two years time.

A few current Panama Peace Corps Volunteers greeted us at the airport and proceeded to endure a bantering of questions from us all concerning cell phones and language barriers to site locations and living conditions. 

 

Behave

 

June 19, 2014

Word of the day: behave.

Basically a day full of all the rules that you must follow or will be “administratively separated” (aka: fired and sent home). Also a day learning acronym after acronym. There are so many acronyms that they give you a three page index of them in the back of the packet. (Can you tell this is a government organization yet?)

I have successfully gone running (aka: jogging with short walking breaks and coming back drenched in sweat and unable to breathe because of the heat and humidity) two days in a row now. Only last about 15 minutes but I’m determined to improve. It definitely helps having a motivational roommate, my PST roommate is pretty awesome all around. (See how I’m already being molded into using their language? PST: pre-service training.)

 

 

 

Medical Kits

June 20, 2014

Today we learned about every different kind of medical illness we could possibly contract while living in Panama. We also were spoken to about safety and security and all the bad things that could happen to you including theft, burglary, and assault. It was a great day full of reassuring presentations and being told how many times we will get diarrhea over the next two years.

A great medical kit was provided to each volunteer and a medical office doctor is available by phone 24/7, however when every disease has practically the same symptoms and there is a very high likelihood of us (my group at least) having very limited to no cell service at our individual sites… yeah.

In the evening we all took a trip to the Albrook Mall, I had been here once before, but actually having the stress of finding and buying a phone and a bus card and not being left behind (and trying to understand/speak Spanish!) made the mall seem even bigger. Now, if you don’t know about this mall, it is THE largest mall I have ever been in. I mean it is ginormous. It’s like the largest mall in Central and South America, but I’m pretty sure it is the largest in the world. Huge.

 

Finca Visit

June 21, 2014

Wow. Today was a really packed day. The SAS (Sustainable Agricultural Systems) half of the group went to visit a current volunteer’s site and community. They were a lovely couple and had an amazing (PCV standards here people) home and home garden. Seeing an actual volunteer site made me very excited to receive my site placement (after training) and begin settling in. We spent all day walking through two different farms (and boy was it hot and humid! Never stopped sweating!!) and learning all about the different crops and products they produce and why and how they make a living and what challenges they are currently facing, etc. I am very excited to start training so I can then start working with my assigned community!

I also drank water in the community today, it was semi-filtered, not really sure what that means or how to explain it, but I am positive (in the reassuring way, to myself) that it was safe and I’m feeling great. (but we won’t really know that until tomorrow, right?)

 

Traveling To Trinidad!

Background: This trip to Trinidad and Barbados consisted of three faculty and two graduate students (me being one of them) from the ag department as well as six faculty and five graduate students from the health department. We were looking at global food security along the lines of the international dimensions of childhood obesity. This blog is purely my personal experience on the trip and does not reflect the views or opinions of others. It also has no relationship with the university or funding agency. 

Now that we have that over with; 

Thursday (April 11) we traveled from Houston to Trinidad with a stop in Miami. Besides the long day of traveling and way too many hours sitting in a car, plane, airport, or bus, (or standing in lines) the trip went rather smoothly. The line to get through immigration took forever! Then we had to find our bags and get in another very long line to go through customs. One member of our group however, could not find is bag… (this is his first international trip). Surprisingly he had a very good attitude about it and hoped for the best. If this had been me, lets just say I would not have handled it very well. He was told his bag was on the plane with us, so that meant someone else had to of taken it while we were standing in the immigration line forever. What are the chances of that person bringing it back to the airport? With everything still inside? Was it even an accident? I’d say the chances are pretty low he would ever see it again. Very low actually.

We got to Norma’s Bed and Breakfast at about midnight (that’s 15 hours of travel people!). Breakfast was at 7:30 the next morning and guess what arrived at Norma’s at about that same time? His bag. Yes, I’m not kidding you. It must have been an accident and whoever took it realized it wasn’t theirs and took it back to the airport, and it was brought to Norma’s within eight hours! I couldn't believe it. There are still good people in this world!

Friday (April 12) we met with some faculty and students at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. We also got a tour of campus which was a lot of walking in hot muggy air, but thanks to my 50spf, I did manage to stay un-burnt. The sun is quite different when you are this much closer to the equator. And being “pigment impaired” as some refer to it, a high spf applied frequently can be a life savor. 

After lunch we toured the nearby little town of Lopinot. We saw a very cool playground structure exercise thing.

And must I say some adorable kids!

We got our first look into some of the reasons Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing childhood obesity issues....

(nice photo bomb kid, haha)

There is a KFC on every corner, no joke.

And we got to see a small farmer that grows a bunch of different types of herbs as well as tilapia. 

Then we headed back to Norma’s and for dinner I had a double. It was an egg-like bread/tortilla fried thing with a chickpea something filling. It was kinda like a soft taco, but better. It was delicious, but it came with a little surprise. I got the milder one called a “slight” and I was warned of it being spicy before I started eating. Even with that warning, I was not prepared for the heat my tongue was about to experience. Apparently the sauce with the kick is only dabbed in the middle of the double. So your first few bites are wonderful and you start to wonder what everyone was talking about... and then it hits you. Like a slap in the face. Or rather like a flame on your tongue. But of course you eat the rest of it because that’s the only spicy bite and the thing is darn right delicious. After I finished eating and was half way through a bottle of water in a matter of seconds, the fire on my tongue started to flicker, but then my lips started to tingle. Next time I think I’ll ask if there is a “none” option instead of “slight”, drinking 16 ounces of water to douse my tongue is not something I enjoy on a regular basis. At all really, if I’m being honest. I also would like to point out the how doubles are purchased. They are all over the place, anyone can just pull over to the side of the road, take the cooler out of there trunk filled with all the fixings, and start serving. Food safety practices? Is this sanitary? Would this happen in the US? Not a chance. 

Returning to Texas

The last two days we spent at a resort that was right on the beach (Pacific side). The view was great and I think it was just what everyone needed after two weeks of intensive hiking and class work.

 I decided to treat myself to a pedicure, lets face it, my feet deserved it. 

The last dinner with the roomies, we all got a little dressy 

The next morning we had to get up at 3am! to get to the airport in time. We got back to Texas safely and even though the rest of the day was a haze due to my lack of sleep, I got to my house in College Station and even manged to get groceries. 

This two week study abroad in Costa Rica was very different compared to my full semester study abroad two years ago, even though we went to some of the same places. There was good and bad to the trip (as there is to every trip), but overall I am grateful for the experience.