And already overwhelmed…
My “new digs” are Panama nice. I am living in the house of the Principal, who is very lovely. Her husband is a construction guy; and from the looks of their house, he does very good work. Lovely tile floors and gate-work. But the interior is still quite Panama basic. My room is small and sparsely furnished. But it is clean and comfortable, and I actually have something approaching a closet. Greatest luxury is that the house has two bathrooms, one of which is largely mine. The washing machine is also a step up from what I previously had in Santa Clara. My host family also owns a small finca — cows and cashew groves — a little way out of town. We visited it yesterday. I am clearly living with a modestly better off family, as their neighborhood (not upscale by our standards, but clearly nicer houses than in other parts of town) seems to express.
Today was my first day of school. There was a lovely ceremony to welcome me, including a presentation of local dancing (Yes, I must learn!) from two 6th graders.
Next, we visited every classroom; and all the children presented themselves. “What is your name? My name is _____. Nice to meet you ______.” They were adorable, tho’ I must say that 150+ times of this, and I’m pretty sure I can do basic introductions in English . . . . !
I sure wish I could say the same for my Spanish. We spent a good amount of time with the Representante — kind of like the mayor, but of a tiny berg — and I barely understood a word. I think he was supportive, but I sure couldn’t know that with any certainty. If/when I have any projects to propose to him, I guess I’ll find out!
Tomorrow, May 1 – Laborer’s Day – is a day off of school. So, I won’t really be sitting in on classes until Wednesday. Then a meeting with the government Bureau of Education, Peace Corps’ official sponsor/partner, on Thursday. A crazy week, as I try to settle in
And the HEAT goes on . . . 🌞🔥
So, here’s what I just agreed to. First, the standard U.S. government pledge:
I arrived in Panama with two way-overstuffed suitcases and an equally bulging backpack. I’m leaving here with those even fuller (praying the zippers will hold) and another big old shopping bag kind of thing too. I surely look like I “just got off the boat” . . . except it’s a bus. Somehow I have to get all of this up the steps to the street, then down the street to our bus, then on the bus, off the bus, and finally to the Peace Corps dorms. We’ll be in those dorms until Friday when we head out to our sites. It’ll be a few days of luxury, as the dorm has air conditioning and hot water!
Then our names were drawn out of a hat, and our site and province location were announced to a lot of fanfare. Since both our Teacher’s group and the environmental group were together (48 of us), this took some while. Then we went off into our provincial groups. Here’s our group. The guy is our regional leader. The second photo is right after my name was drawn and my site announced.
Luis, the male head of household, is to my left. Madre Dania is on my right. They have three children and their youngest, Lydia, is to your far left. She lives next door with her husband David (your far right) and 5-year-old son, Aron (in front of me). Luis and Dania also have two older sons, Daniel and Isaias, who live at a bit of a distance but not too impossibly far as they tend to visit pretty much once a week. Both sons are married with one child each.
Kind of like this, but minus the switch plate. I.e., this is an upgraded version. Luis got busy this weekend with a bunch of electrical upgrades. At last, we have a light in the bathroom…
We’d been operating pretty much “by feel” before yesterday.
Here’s the adjacent shower. No light yet.
And this is my room. Complete with mosquito bed net. And very much in need of straightening. And, yes, I have a fan. A TREMENDOUS blessing.
Finally, the light fixture in my room. The hysterical part of this is that the light switch is in the guest room next door. I have to slip my hand between the door and the wall, of this next room over, to turn my light off and on. That is only a problem when son Daniel stays over. (Usually once or so a week. He lives too far away to head home for the night. So he simply stays over and goes to work, the next morning, from here.). But he’s generally not yet up when I get up; so, I can’t turn my light on and have to operate by flashlight.
And last photo (Yes, this really is the last!) is a limited view of our porch. This is my favorite part of the house. The zinc roof offers a bit of shade; and if there’s any breeze, you can catch it there. All the church activities take place on this porch. In fact, in this shot, Luis is working on some music with one of the really great, devoted, musicians.
So, that’a tour of my digs and the “setting” of my life right now. At least for the next couple weeks. Once we get placed in our site, we live with a different host family for three months and, after that, go out and find our own place. Clearly, I’m not living luxuriously here. My site home may or may not be comparable. Impossible to know beforehand. I’m betting, however, that Rwanda would have been far more primitive. Tho’ less dang HOT!
About that Viernes Santo thing . . . Good Friday here is the occasion of big street parades, usually staged by the Catholic Church. Lots of floats of saints and likewise lots of music. Right out the Rabbi’s window, just as we were opening the door for Elijah, one such went by. It lasted for a full two hours; so, we weren’t quite sure just how Elijah might make an entrance. It was an interesting interfaith moment.
Where in the World is Myra? 