If you don’t know by now I have been in Panama since August 18 training to be a volunteer for the Peace Corps. I haven’t written one entry since my arrival, so I’m going to try to give you a summary of all that has been going on here.
There are about 47 Americans in this class that are training together, there were 48 but one person decided that this was not for him. We are divided into 2 groups or what they call sectors. My sector and of 25 others is called CED or community economic development, the other is called EH which means Environmental Health. Within the first 3 days here we were lodging and taking classes in an old American Army base which is now called the Ciudad de Saber. We had internet, running water, air conditioning and wi-fi. After those three days, things began rapidly changing. Our two groups were separated into 2 different communities. The EH’ers was sent to a community called Rio Congo and we were sent into Santa Clara.
I know live with the Macias family which includes Bernuir, Jose, and their six year old daughter Natali. The living conditions are very different for me. So my initial reaction to the “letrin” or the outdoor bathroom wasn’t so good. In the first 2 weeks I refused to do number 2 in it. I ate as little as possible so I wouldn’t have to go. I literally held my crap in as long as I could. You know that cold shiver that you get when you have to go to the bathroom real bad, imagine having that for a week. I think I might have done some permanent damage to my intestines. After those two weeks I finally gave in and used it, but only during the day time. As soon as the sun goes down if you haven’t went by then, just hold it till morning. Because the ones we don’t speak of may be out there (refer to the movie The Village). I made that mistake once and only once. I walked outside at about 9oclock with my flashlight and saw some creatures that I didn’t know existed. Needless to say, I’m now a pro on when I can use it or not.
On another note, the country has some really beautiful places, and the majority of the people that I come in contact with are really nice. To me, our visit to Hato Chami in the mountains was one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. The whole trip up the mountain looked like a postcard but with a lot of rain.
The people in Hato Chami were great, the welcomed us into their homes and showed so much love. The only word I could use to describe how they live is just “gangsta”. There houses were made out of sticks and some had trash bags for walls. There’s no electricity, so when it gets dark around 7 its time to go to bed. They have 1 letrine that is shared between about 4 to 5 houses and depending on if there is water or not you have to bath in the creek. The water wasn’t safe for us to drink so were had to put iodine tablets or drops of bleach in the water. Unfortunately few people from the group got sick. Since it rained every day there was mud everywhere. I have never seen that much mud in my life. By the end of that trip all my clothes were brown and a split a pair of pants falling. Even though the living conditions were challenging, I had a lot of fun there and finally got my appetite back, the food there was so good.
There are ups and downs to being a foreigner here. The whole experience of just being here is new and exciting. I like that if I don’t want to answer a question or just don’t want to talk I can now act like I don’t understand. Lo siento..No sé, No entiendo, Mi español es malo. I have already used that line plenty of times. Actually I used it today when someone asked me for money. The downs about being a foreigner are that people will try to cheat you, because they think you have money. They have no idea how wrong they are, IM BROKE.
Within this time I have also found out where I will be working for the next 2 years. I will be in the 2nd largest city in Panama working with the youth. I’m excited about the opportunity and ready to get started, but doesn’t start till November. I happen to arrive in a time where there is a push towards working in urban communities. Usually people are sent out to the boondocks working with the indigenous, farmers, and whatever else is out there. Don’t get confused there will be a lot of people in my group doing that but I will be the exception. At first people were teasing me and saying that “you have the easy site”, “Must be nice to have a indoor toilet”, “Are you getting satellite tv”. But after the safety coordinator came to a meeting and told us about the crime in my future area and the gang activity, the comments quickly changed. Now they ask me, “Are you getting a gun”, “Do you need me to pray for you”, and “I changed my mind I’m not coming to visit you”.
Over all it has been a good experience so far. I think about home every so often, but I rather be doing what I’m doing.
