Hello Friends!
Let’s start with a question.
Who thought I would actually go through with this whole
Peace Corps thing? I’ll admit I had
fluttering doubts whether or not it was the right decision. As January 10th grew nearer and
nearer, I couldn’t help thinking that I was abandoning my friends and family
after so many years of being so very close to every one of them. Before I knew it there were only a few days
left, and as I was preparing to leave I realized that the people I had hung out
with wouldn’t be seeing me again for quite a while. But you must know that I didn’t make the
Peace Corps decision lightly. All of you
were with me till the very end, and I can’t put into words how grateful I am –
not only for sticking with me, but for remaining so close to me over the past 9
years. As a side note, can you believe
most of us have been friends for over 9 years already?? Crazy stuff and great times. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all
of the support everyone has given me in the weeks prior to leaving. Especially those who remained with me into
the wee hours of the morning a mere 2 hours before my flight – Darin John and
Sky, you guys are some badass troopers.
As 6am approached, it all became real and I was in a state of disbelief. Driving up to the airport, saying bye to Mom
and Dad (love you guys so much!), walking the endless stretch of walkway to the
plane, and finally taking off. For so
many months I had dreaded and anticipated that moment, but like all events in
this crazy life we live it came and went apathetically, not caring that I was
leaving everything behind despite my own feelings of sadness and excitement. But that’s all said and done, and I’ve been
here for over 2 weeks, so let’s stop dwelling on the past and start talking
about the here and now!
Side note: this first
post may seem monstrous, but it’s setting the tone for the rest of my Peace
Corps service and I promise that all posts from here on out will be much more
bearable J. I know when I read blogs from other PCV’s
(Peace Corps Volunteers) it was sometimes a chore to get through
everything. If you get tired of my rambling,
bookmark your spot and read it in chunks!
But please try to at least get through this first one, and I promise the
next ones will be easier on the eyes and mind.
Before I jump into it, I want to send a special thank you to
Amanda and Kim for helping me prepare for my service, simply by talking about
your own Peace Corps experiences and giving me the information I needed to get
through the application process and mentally prepare for this exciting
experience. Can’t wait to trade stories
when we meet again!
And here, we…go!
Here I am in Panama, living in a thatched roof hut with a
dirt floor and washing my clothes on rocks.
False. You may be shocked to
hear, but my Panamanian life is actually not very bad at all. In total, there are 54 people of all ages and
from all walks of life that came together for this grand adventure – 32 Teaching
English (TE) volunteers and 22 Community Environmental Conservation (CEC) volunteers. 6 members are actually married, making 3
couples that joined group 70 of Peace Corps Panama. We met in Miami for a night, and from Tuesday
the 11th to Sunday the 15th we were living in villas in
Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge), a small community close to the capital of
Panama, Panama City. It was a good time
getting to know everyone and finally learning a bit about what our experience
will be like after over a year of cluelessness.
But the real adventure started that Sunday when we left for our first
host community.
The TE and CEC volunteers are split up into two training
communities for Pre-Service Training (PST) about 4 miles apart. I’m currently living in a small community called
Santa Rita, a 5 minute drive from a larger community called Espino, which is a
30 minute drive from a small city called Chorrera, which is a 45 minute drive
from the Capital of Panama, Panama City.
It’s very comfortable living here.
The weather’s a pretty constant 80°F with hotter times during the
afternoon and cooler times in the evening (hope you’re all enjoying the
bitterness of winter back in the States :P).
I’m living with a 73 year old host mom named Angela Reina, and we’ve got
running water for showers and dishes, plumbing for flushing toilets, a gas
stove, and even a television to watch the local Panamanian stations. VERY different than what I thought my
experience was going to be like. But as
they explained to us, we’re going to be teaching English to children and it’s
not likely that we’ll be placed in a very rural community, for those
communities don’t have as much of a need for learning English. I’ve been using my blackberry from the
states, as it was unlocked and I simply bought a SIM card from a local provider
called Digicell. Rates aren’t even that
bad. However, I don’t have internet access
in my community. Not that my world is
crashing around me, as I don’t need internet to make me happy, but I am
grateful for the brief times I do have it (visiting the Peace Corps office in
Ciudad del Saber or in a different city where I currently find myself). So all in all, not a bad life!
But down to business.
Days are long and hard here in Panama (giggity). I wake up at around 7am to prepare for the
day. Panama doesn’t observe daylight
savings time, so for half of the year it’s EST and for the other half it’s CST,
making it pretty easy to talk to and Skype with y’all during my service. I meet with some volunteers – Miranda, Kayla,
and Jasmine – at my house at 8am to chat for a bit and finish our homework,
then from 9am to noon we have language training with a Panamanian teacher named
Judith. It’s mentally exhausting, as we
converse in Spanish for 99% of the time, but the thought of becoming fluent makes
it all worthwhile. I eat lunch with my
mom after class, then take the 15 minute walk down the main road to the school
where we have technical training from 1:15pm to 5ish. Some of technical training is a joke, as we play
games that we’ll be using with the children in our school and talk about
cultural themes, many of which I’ve learned from my anthropology classes at
UNL. But some of the information is
useful, as we talk about what it’s like teaching English to Panamanians and how
we’ll deal with the teachers, students and people in our communities. We have current PCV’s come and visit us and
talk about their experiences thus far which is very helpful. They were the first group to teach English
after it separated from the tourism sector of Peace Corps, and they’re in the
exact position we’ll be in in a year’s time, having arrived in January of 2011. After technical training the night is
ours. I usually pass the time with other
volunteers of my group, talking about what we miss, what we’re excited about,
what annoys us, and everything in between.
When I’m out on my own I’ll definitely miss all of the US culture we
talk about – movies, music, and television.
I eventually go back to eat dinner with my mom at around 6pm, watch some
TV (‘telenovelas,’ the Central American version of soap operas, are big in
Panama), play with a 6 year old Panamanian girl named Milanis and her little
brother David that live next door, work out as it gets dark, shower, then read
or work on homework for the rest of the night.
After a hard day’s work I get tired and look at the clock,
and after seeing that it’s only 10pm EST I can’t believe how drastically my
life has changed in the past 3 weeks. It
wasn’t uncommon for me to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning hanging out and
partying in the States and waking up at 2 or 3pm for work at 4. Also instead of eating 1-2 meager meals a
day, I’m eating 3 full meals every day, literally stuffing myself with rice or
potatoes and smaller portions of beef, chicken or pork, all made by my
mom. I feel like I’m doing so much more
for my life right now, improving myself mentally and physically, and at the
same time improving the lives of the Panamanians by giving them insight into
American culture and teaching some English.
Though the real teaching will start in a mere few months. It’s both daunting and exciting, as have been
all of my experiences so far, and though I’m a bit fearful for what’s to come,
I know that I’ll make it through unscathed just as I have with all things in my
life thus far.
So that’s the long and short of my experience so far! If you’ve made it this far in the post, a
million times thank you, for it means a lot to me and I want all of you to
share this fantastic experience with me.
I’ll be making posts from time to time, both when I have internet access
and the motivation necessary to write.
In no time at all, March 21st, I’ll be sworn in as a
full-fledged Peace Corps Volunteer.
Afterwards I’ll be placed in some community in Panama – whether near or
far from my current location is still a mystery (Peace Corps doesn’t do the
best job of explaining exactly what we’ll be doing and where we’ll be going
until the last minute). When I get to
that community, I will start my official 2 years of service. I’ll be living with another host family for
the first 3 months, as well as attending classes as a secondary teacher in the
local school and observing how the Panamanian school structure works. After those 3 months, I’ll be doing my best
to inspire and motivate children to learn English, devising lesson plans and
working on classroom management in order to better the English program in their
school. It may sound very glamorous and
culture-changing, but from what I’ve heard from past volunteers it’s a lot
harder to establish that inspiration and motivation and actually get observable
work accomplished. I won’t go into their
experiences, for if I did I fear this post would turn into a novel. Basically, it’ll be hard work and at times I’ll
probably want to scream, pull my (short!) hair out of my head, and take the
first flight back home, but I’m a pretty strong person and in the end I think everything
will turn out to be both exciting and successful. As the Peace Corps motto goes, it’ll be the
toughest job I ever love, and from the short time I’ve been here so far I can
tell that will come to full realization over the next 2 years. That’s about it for now, thanks for the
support and sticking with me as it means so much, and know that you’re all
remaining close to me though we’re thousands of miles apart. Catch you guys in my next post!
Much Love,
Nate
