Burning Questions Answered

In response to my request for questions on my last blog, I received a handful of great ones from my great friends Erin and Daphne! Hopefully the answers will give more insight into what my life is like here in Panama.

- Do you have a daily routine or is every day very different from the next?

When I first got to my community, this was one of the hardest things for me to get used to. Sometimes I would wake up and think "What am I going to do today?" and have a feeling of dread. I was used to working hard, being busy and having very little free time. Now I would say there are routine things I do everyday but the "work" part varies quite a bit. Everyday things like cooking, laundry and cleaning also take more time because I don't have running water or electricity. When I am in my community I also spend a lot of time visiting with my neighbors, walking around...just being out. Sometimes I have meetings with my groups, will hang with the women while they are doing artisanry, in the afternoons I usually end up at my house reading, helping the kids with their English homework, lending out games and books. Some days I have nothing to do and other days I don't have time to everything I planned. All bets are off when it is pouring out. No one leaves the house, including me!

- It sounds like the locals can be very silly. Are the types of things that make them laugh very different from what makes us laugh here in the States?

Ha! This is a great question. The people I live with have a great sense of humor and are not afraid to laugh at themselves. Some of the same things that make use laugh at home most definitely make them laugh here. Kids doing funny things, bodily functions, sex, life in general...they aren't ones to hold back. The type of humor that I often find myself missing is sarcasm, play on words, humor that only is only understood by people who are English speakers or from the same cultural background. Something things strike me as funny and I am left cracking my own self up! One example is the crazy t-shirts people wear...see example below. How do you explain why this is funny? You can't. It just is.

- What's the best local meal you've had in Panama? Most memorable?

There are some common foods you will find out throughout all of Panama, like rice, chicken, plantains and yucca (kinda like a potato). You might think the food is similar to Mexican, but it is actually very different. A tortilla here is a small cornmeal cake and you have to search to find things that are spicy. Since we are bordered by both the Pacific and the Caribbean you can also get fish, shrimp and other seafood. Bocas del Toro (the province I live in), you can find lots of fish, lobster and lots of foods made with coconut. One of my most favorite local meals is Rondon, a fish stew cooked with coconut milk, onions, peppers. Add some curry in there and serve over rice. Amazing. Most memorable food experience was probably eating boiled green bananas and white rice everyday for almost three months while living with a host family. Hard to believe but it kinda grows on you after while!

- What surprised (or continues to surprise) you the most about where you work?

Hmmm. I wouldn't say it was was one thing, everything was a surprise. I have never started a job where I didn't have at least some point around which to orient myself. When I arrived, I knew nothing about the culture, was learning the language, didn't know anything about the project I was going to help or understand the thinking of the people who were running it. At least when you are new on the job in the states, people speak English, you understand the business mentality that drives our culture and when all else fails there is usually someone there you can talk it out with.

- Daphne would like to know if you've finally met Carlos, your Latin lover? Also, did the two of you get married in a small, quaint island ceremony, where you exchanged starfish and promised to be together forever?

Sounds so romantic! Unfortunately I haven't had the experience of actually dating a

local, but I still have time, so who knows! I feel like it would complete my cross cultural experience. Don't worry Daph, my ladies will be the first to know when I meet my Latin love.

Thanks for the great questions, keep them coming!

Forgotten what I look like cause it has been so long? Here is a photo from a birthday party I went to last week for the girl in the photo, Amy. Food, cake equals good times.

Vida Volunteers

June is rolling right along here in the tropical paradise that is Bocas. Today the sky is a brillant blue, a slight breeze is blowing and the water looks like there are thousands of little mirrors floating on the surface. Had a fresh mango smoothie for breakfast with a few friends and life is good!

This last Saturday, my community hosted Vida Volunteers, a huge group of medical volunteers who were traveling throughout Costa Rica and Bocas Del Toro. They often work with Peace Corp because we work in areas that they target, so it works great. We can do a lot of the leg work and small details they are not able to. My community was the only stop they made out in the islands so it was a big deal. The week leading up to it was hectic as I worked to coordinate cooks, promote the visit and figure out where they would work. The group consisted of medical students from Wisconsin, a group of dentists from England, and even a group of vets who came to spay, neuter and deworm animals in the community. There were also doctors from Costa Rica and Panama in the mix so it was quite a group. They pulled up at around 8am in three boats, set up the equipment and got down to work within a half and hour! They were very experienced and while the day was exhausting for both them and me, it was very sucessful.

The doctors worked in the community center and formed groups of three to four with a translator.

The dentists worked both inside and outside (as seen in the photo) of the health center. Most of my time was spent helping out here translating and getting the kids to open their mouth! They did a lot of extractions, some fillings and a lot of showing kids how to brush their teeth.

I love this picture because the girl standing in front had two teeth pulled and doesn´t look very happy about it. Perfect poster child for the Glasgow Dental School!

While I avoided going to the school classroom where the vets were working, it was probably the most popular place to be. Everyone was crowding around the windows and door to see their poor dogs being imasculated! The jokes were flying all day. Someone even asked me where the bag of balls ended up at the end of the day and I almost peed in my pants I was laughing so hard.

As compared to my first year here, I feel like something blog worthy is happening all the time! Do my readers have any questions about my life here, Peace Corp, Panama in general? Any special topics I should cover? Please feel free to leave a comment with questions and I will answer them.