(In advance, I have to apologize that this post is not only boring, but also lacking pictures. I am running on four hours of sleep...give me a break.)
I can't believe it, but we, the group of engineers, economists and those of us with little to no qualification, such as myself, have completed ten weeks of arduous training and as of Thursday night, swore in to become full-fledged Peace Corps volunteers. It absolutely does not feel like it's been ten weeks since I stepped off the plane into the suffocating humidity of Panamá, with 41 other people I barely knew and who intimidated the hell out of me. Now, a month and a half later, I had to hold back tears as I said goodbye to the last three volunteers left standing at Playa Sta. Clara.
The ceremony itself was nice. Nothing huge, attended by other volunteers in country, the American ambassador and a couple of representatives from the Panamanian government. We all stood up, said our names, states of origin, where we would be living and in what sector we worked, and rose our right hands to repeat the oath that I guess officially clinched the deal. It was also the first time since arrival in Panamá that I have seen the entire group cleaned up and in dresses, ties and button down shirts, and everything ironed. We clean up nicely, but I didn't take my camera along, so pictures will be up when I can steal them from other people.
Of course, with swearing in came the after party that ended up lasting three days. To celebrate our triumph, the group headed out to the beach, where we all got dressed up for Halloween. There were some pretty ingenious costumes that, as soon as I can steal some pictures from someone else, I will post them. The whole weekend was great, and a nice end to our training session, but now I am sitting here in Panama City, waiting to face the inevitable awkwardness that is going to define the next three months in my site, or until I can build my own house. But, when it comes down to it, the first three months of 27 are done...that's a little over ten percent of my service, which is bad ass. I have no clincher or anything witty to say as a termination to ths entry, so I will leave it with, WRITE ME, I am sorry about how exhausted I am that this is not that interesting, and I will update you all in a week, ma' o meno', with fotos.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Site Visit!
First, some fairly bad pictures.
This is the sitting area/porch/living room where I stayed at my site.
This parrot would not shut up, at even the most asinine of hours.
Two of the cutest kids ever, Luci and Jahir, the latter of whom's name I just slaughtered.
So I just got back from spending a week where I'll be living for the next two years and I am not kidding when I tell all of you that I won the site lottery. It's true that I don't have electricity (which is no surprise), and the water is hardcore unpotable (or is it impotable?), and all of the pit latrines fill with water every time it rains and are inhabited with enough cockroaches to force me to get over my ridiculous fear, but none of that matters.
I spent this week with the an amazing community of about three hundred Latinos, plus a community of about one hundred Kunas, who are famous for these beautiful molas they create (google image it, I don't have a picture), plus a couple families of Emberá, PLUS a family of Ngöbes. My community is like a little United Nations, where the UN consistent of solely cultures from Panamá, and what was pleasantly surprising is that all four got along fairly harmoniously.
We spent the week doing what they do every day, and I'm not going to lie, the pace of life is mindnumbingly slow, but I suppose I will be getting rid of my Type A personality over the next couple of years. I visited with almost every family in that town, met the family with whom I will be living for the first month (as I've elected to switch families once a month until I can live on my own), and fielded some pretty interesting questions about the United States [i.e. "Poverty doesn't exist in the United States, right?", "How much is it to fly from the US to Panamá, like one hundred dollars?", "The distance from New York to Chicago is like from here to the City, right?" (or in other words, a 2 1/2 hour drive)]. Additionally, an effort has already initiated to find me a boyfriend ("do you want a white one, like yourself, or someone a little darker?"), despite my protests over and over.
We also had a meeting to discuss what they wanted to work on over the next two years, during which I was shocked and amazed, as they approached me about the construction of composting latrines because they knew that they reduced disease, could be used for fertilizer, etc, and about doing something about the filtration of the water from the aqueduct. I am not kidding, I about fell out of my chair.
Some other awesome things about the site are: electricity is coming, as election year is 2009 and the politicos are trying to win votes with public service. Also, I have to build my house, which is hilarious because I am the farthest thing from an architect ever, but it will be cheaper in the long run and I will be able to have a penca roof and a concrete floor and hammocks. AND I'm getting a dog. I don't even care. But now I have to end this, as here I sit in Albrook mall, once again, and I'm going to go buy some ridiculous thing to wear for Halloween.
This is the sitting area/porch/living room where I stayed at my site.
This parrot would not shut up, at even the most asinine of hours.
Two of the cutest kids ever, Luci and Jahir, the latter of whom's name I just slaughtered.
So I just got back from spending a week where I'll be living for the next two years and I am not kidding when I tell all of you that I won the site lottery. It's true that I don't have electricity (which is no surprise), and the water is hardcore unpotable (or is it impotable?), and all of the pit latrines fill with water every time it rains and are inhabited with enough cockroaches to force me to get over my ridiculous fear, but none of that matters.
I spent this week with the an amazing community of about three hundred Latinos, plus a community of about one hundred Kunas, who are famous for these beautiful molas they create (google image it, I don't have a picture), plus a couple families of Emberá, PLUS a family of Ngöbes. My community is like a little United Nations, where the UN consistent of solely cultures from Panamá, and what was pleasantly surprising is that all four got along fairly harmoniously.
We spent the week doing what they do every day, and I'm not going to lie, the pace of life is mindnumbingly slow, but I suppose I will be getting rid of my Type A personality over the next couple of years. I visited with almost every family in that town, met the family with whom I will be living for the first month (as I've elected to switch families once a month until I can live on my own), and fielded some pretty interesting questions about the United States [i.e. "Poverty doesn't exist in the United States, right?", "How much is it to fly from the US to Panamá, like one hundred dollars?", "The distance from New York to Chicago is like from here to the City, right?" (or in other words, a 2 1/2 hour drive)]. Additionally, an effort has already initiated to find me a boyfriend ("do you want a white one, like yourself, or someone a little darker?"), despite my protests over and over.
We also had a meeting to discuss what they wanted to work on over the next two years, during which I was shocked and amazed, as they approached me about the construction of composting latrines because they knew that they reduced disease, could be used for fertilizer, etc, and about doing something about the filtration of the water from the aqueduct. I am not kidding, I about fell out of my chair.
Some other awesome things about the site are: electricity is coming, as election year is 2009 and the politicos are trying to win votes with public service. Also, I have to build my house, which is hilarious because I am the farthest thing from an architect ever, but it will be cheaper in the long run and I will be able to have a penca roof and a concrete floor and hammocks. AND I'm getting a dog. I don't even care. But now I have to end this, as here I sit in Albrook mall, once again, and I'm going to go buy some ridiculous thing to wear for Halloween.
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