Thursday, May 5, 2011

Just a typical workday...

April has passed in the blink of eye... and May has arrived bringing with it baseball and some hot hot weather! It also signals the halfway point of my third year extension, just six months left. My job as regional coordinator has been very different from my first two years and I have gained a valuable new perspective on Peace Corp and development work. A lot of people ask if this job is more 9 to 5 or Monday thru Friday.....my answer is usually "sometimes but...well not really....it is kinda hard to explain." So, I took some along my camera on a recent site development trip to try to better explain what I am doing in beautiful Panama.
Back home a "business trip" usually involves driving and flying to meetings usually wearing heels and a suit. Here the preferred modes of transport are usually 4 wheel drive vehicles, hiking, public buses and my personal favorite boats. Professional attire usually means a polo shirt and jean skirt. Here I am traveling to a community meeting with a few other volunteers and Peace Corp staff.
There are three meetings that myself and the staff have with a community before they are eligible to receive a volunteer. The first meeting I visit the community, usually with other PCV's who live nearby, to walk around talk with local leaders and generally check it out to gauge interest in Peace Corp. If that visit goes well, I set up a second meeting where the program assistant comes out and talks more about what is Peace Corp, who are the volunteers and what are the commitments the community has to make to work with Peace Corp. The third meeting is then with the director who talks about the project the community was to work on with a volunteer. The above photo is of one of the programming assistants, Antonella, presenting the information at a school.

Plenty of space to park and its free. No need to read the parking rules here. Complete with security guards and everything!

Back home, an early wake up call usually means rushing to get to the airport or jumping in your car to make it somewhere on time. While waking up early never gets easy, it doesn't hurt when you are treated to sunrise over the Caribbean. I will miss being out in nature almost everyday....except when the weather is bad!

These next few months will be full of visiting volunteers, working out in the campo, and helping to train the next group of regional coordinators. I am trying to enjoy my last few months here, while still planning for what is to come.


Monday, March 14, 2011

Panama Carnival Tour 2011


Panamanians love to celebrate and have a good time. Any reason to call up some friends get a caja (case) of beer and put on some music and it is a party. Even my neighbor tells me that ever Friday is Sabado Chiquito or little Saturday...that alone is reason enough to celebrate right?! But a party that lasts that lasts for 5 nights and 4 days, you can guarantee they look forward to that all year long and pull out all the stops. I know we have Mardi Gras in the US, but I have never experienced a entire country shutting down to party. Carnivals happen all over, from huge New Orleans style celebrations, to smaller Carnival like fairs, to neighborhood gatherings. Here in Panama key elements of a good Carnival include water, music, dancing, street meat, reinas (queens-in both senses of the word), and a beer or two. To celebrate Carnival has its own verb, "Carnavalear" or "To Carnival"...in action, one says "Carnavaleando" or "Carnivaling". "Estoy carnavaleando!" or "I'm carnivaling!"

One of my favorite outfits! The Geisha Reina.

After a little convincing from my friends and remembering that this is my last year here in Panama, I headed down to what is considered the heartland of Panama, an area called the Azuero. It is a big peninsula that juts out into the pacific side of the country. It is also home to the biggest Carnival in Panama, in the town of Las Tablas. There are almost no hotels in the area, and to take advantage of the huge influx of visitors, local families rent out there homes. They literally clear out everything and move into the backyard for 5 days. Several Peace Corp volunteers who live in the area, rented out houses so it was one big sleepover.

Carnival kicked off Friday night March 4th with parades and a huge dance party that went all night. Then Saturday day was the start of the culecos or huge tanker trucks filled with water that are parked all around this huge square. In between getting sprayed, dancing and eating, the floats start to come through. Here in Panama, there is Calle Arriba and Calle Abajo. These are the two queens and each one has their own floats, outfits and bands. After the culecos end for the day everyone goes home to nap, eat and get ready to go out again that night. Another huge dance party Saturday night followed by another Sunday of culecos...all until the party comes to an end Tuesday night.
A view from one of the tanker trucks looking out over the streets in Las Tablas. The band for one of the floats is in the middle.

I left the party Sunday afternoon with my friend Joanna, but on our way back we decided we hadn't had enough Carnival. So we called up a few other friends and went to another party in a town called Dolega, in the province of Chiriqui. This one was much more mellow, more like a fair. There was still culecos, lots of music and food. We even decided to go back that night to go dancing. While i was dead tired on Tuesday as I headed home, I was so glad i got to experience not one, but two very different Carnivals.


Monday, February 7, 2011

New Digs


I know, I know....I have been a huge disappointment to my loyal blog readers! Not writing an update since September is inexcusable. But I am back on track and realize that just because I no longer live in my community, lots of great things are still going on here in Panama. So, whats been going on in the four months since I last updated? Lets recap.

October found me wrapping things up in San Cristobal and getting ready fo
r my move to Changuinola. It was a busy month as I was rushing to finish my last project of improving the artisan stores. The goal was to make our two stores more tourist friendly by painting them, making signs and putting up information about the community in English and Spanish along with the awesome community maps the kids created a few months prior. Below are a few picture of the finished product.
All in all they came out really great. It felt good leaving my women's group with a visible reminder of my time in the community. Aside from finishing that up, I spent a good amount of time visiting with people, taking family portraits and having a goodbye party! My party or "despedida" consisted of two huge piƱatas, lots of food and general chaos. It was a great way to go out. Below are photos of me with all the kids and also of my women's group in their traditional dresses or "Nagwas".




















Needless to say it was very hard leaving my community at the end of October, but knowing that I would be able to visit over the coming year made it a little easier.

November found me jumping right into my new job as Regional Coordinator. I visited seven volunteers completing their first year to evaluate their progress and seven new volunteers who had been in site for one month. I also spent a week with the sub director of the sustainable agriculture program visiting meeting with communities who want a volunteer in the coming months. It was a great month of traveling and I got to be inspired by the work my fellow PCV's are doing.
December found me in the states for a month of much needed vacation! It was great to see family, friends and relax for the holidays. It made me look forward to coming home at the end of this year.

January found me back in Panama...and happily returning to my shorts and sandals! I visited a few volunteers and spent time organizing a tour of Changuinola for a new group of volunteers as coordinating our regional meeting which takes place every four months. I found myself visiting government agencies, booking meeting rooms and running all over town so that things went off without a hitch. All in all it is good to be back. I am happy with the work I am doing, but I am looking forward to see what this year brings. It will be full of transitions and for that I am grateful. To the left is a photo of my new house....it even came with a dog!