Orientation Ends Tomorrow... Host Families Here We Come!

Hola from Panamá! We arrived safe and sound on Wednesday, after a very long day of traveling (beginning at 3 am). Orientation began as soon as we arrived, and Thursday and Friday were full of meetings, interviews/assessments, and information sessions. It has been a long few days! I know all of you are anxious for some pictures, so I will go ahead and show you a little bit of what I have been doing this week!

This is the Panamá Canal, which you can see from the entrance to the area where we have been staying for orientation. In the distance, you can see one of the political ad campaign signs for the upcoming election, which will take place next weekend.

This is the villa where we have been staying since we arrived in Panamá. There are 5 of us living here; this is me with Mary, another TEA volunteer and my current roommate. We have been trying to soak up every moment of free WiFi while we are here!

This is the sunrise from our villa the other morning. Pretty much all you can hear in the morning are millions of birds chirp

ing. Some of the other volunteers have been waking up to go bird watching early... obviously, I have not joined at 5:45 am!

This is one of the two buses that took us to the bus terminal/mall in Panamá City last night. We had dinner and then were able to

 shop for whatever last minute things we might have forgotten from home before we head out tomorrow. I bought a tote bag -

 hard for all of you to believe, I know!

Today we had a visit to a current PCV's site that is a TEA volunteer. It was an indigenous community about 1 1/2 hours from Panamá City - 1 hour by car plus a 30 minute boat ride. We took two boats, and the one I was on broke down 1/2 way there... imagine that!

But, the scenery on the ride was beautiful... TONS of banana trees!

                                     

This was the small, man-made cut through that the people made for their new home 2 years ago. This is where our rescue boat came to get us! Ha!

We finally made it to the village, which is a group of about 70 people who decided to create their own area 2 years ago. They are trying to improve their tourism and requested the current PCV to help them.

This is a typical hut in the site. Families live together in these. They do not have any running water or electricity. They are made from trees in the jungle; the volunteer we visited said his hut took 2 months to build and not a drop of rain comes through the roof! 

This is our TEA group! There are 19 of us (48 of us came to Panamá together, but there are 3 sectors: Tourism & English, Community Economic Conservation, and Sustainable Agriculture), but our trainers and the current volunteer are in this picture also. We have a GREAT group!

Yes, I was brave a held the spider monkey! But only for as long as it took to take this picture!

 

This is one of the precious little boys in the village. They were anxious to play with everyone, followed us on our tour around the area, and watched us curiously as we sat under this meeting area for discussions and a typical lunch (fish, rice, and lentils... I only had lentils, but they were good!). The children in this village have to take a 30 minute boat ride to school everyday, followed by a 15-20 minute bus ride - rain or shine! 

All in all, these last few days have been great! It has been nice meeting new people and learning more about what we will be doing as PCVs. Tomorrow, we will depart in the morning to meet our host families, who we will stay with for the next 10 weeks during training. TEA volunteers will be in Santa Clara. Training will be long and exhausting, I am sure, but I looking forward to it! I am not sure how my internet connection will be starting tomorrow, but I will continue to do my best to update as I can! Love to all... wherever you are!

In DC... For a Few More Hours

Well, I finally made it to DC after a very long day of traveling. Long story short, my direct flight was canceled, so I was re-routed through Chicago. BUT, I made it in one piece with all my luggage, so I am not complaining! We did 4 hours of staging orientation stuff this afternoon, and then I went with some fellow PCTs to dinner in Germantown. We are here for a few more hours - leaving the hotel at 3 a.m. for the airport. Then we're off to Panamá! I'll have my cell phone until we depart from Miami around 1:30 p.m., so any last minute phone calls will have to be before then! I'm not sure when I will be able to update this again during the next few months of training, but I will do my very best! I am very excited, but I don't think it has completely sunk in yet that I will be out of the country this time tomorrow; an adventure that I cannot begin to imagine is about to begin! Goodbye for now! 

Miracles Happen!

IT IS OFFICIAL! After a week of packing, re-packing, and sorting through what I could and could not fit... I am packed! Yes, folks, it is a miracle! For those of you who doubted that I could fit everything into my bags for 27 months - here is the proof! I successfully cut my shoe supply down to 7 pairs... yes, I know that sounds like a lot, but it is NOT! I think I was pretty practical with my packing, but I did sneak in a few shirts that I probably will never wear, but they make me happy :) It's the little things, right?

Thanks to everyone for these last few weeks of lunches, dinners, get-togethers, and parties. I think that I have successfully inflated myself for the next few months, but it has been worth it! I will miss all of you dearly, but I am super excited to start on this adventure. Tomorrow morning I will head out very early to fly to DC for staging; Wednesday we will depart for Panamá! Please keep in touch with me while I am gone... I expect LOTS of emails and letters and pictures, pictures, pictures! Now, if you are reading this blog and crying - STOP! I will see you soon! Time flies... I'll be back before you know it! Just come see me when I can have visitors! 

Going Away Party

Last night was my going away party... many thanks to Mom, Dad, and Ally for a WONDERFUL time! It was so nice to see all my friends and family all at once - it went by a little too quickly though. Christina was so right when she compared it to a wedding reception; so many people to visit with and not enough to do it! So many people traveled to come say goodbye, and it was a very special time for me. Thank you all for coming!

Me + PC + Panama = ???

I received my official Peace Corps invitation a few months ago after a long, relatively patient (key word - relatively) wait. I am trying to have as few expectations as possible going into my service, since I know that I cannot even begin to imagine what I will experience!

Details of my Peace Corps assignment:

Tourism and English Consultant

Panama

April 21, 2009 - June 2011

I am officially three weeks from my departure, and I couldn't be more excited! Nervous at times, but more excited than anything. I think the reality of it all is starting to set it, which started when I sold my car! Now I am frantically studying my Spanish, packing up things I won't be taking for storage, wrapping up random contracts/payments, and prioritizing the few things I can take. 

As I look forward to leaving, I feel anxious about leaving all of my wonderful friends and supportive family behind, but I hope that you will all keep in touch with me, come visit, and let me know what is happening in YOUR life while I am doing god knows what in Panama! 

Welcome to My Blog!

At the request of friends and family, here it is: my blog! I am still trying to figure out how to use all of this (whoever said this was easy is much better with computers than I am!)

I will be using this blog as a way to share my Peace Corps experience with all of you back home in the U.S.; I have no idea how often I will be able to update it, but I will promise ahead of time to do my best - whatever that may be!