SO I may have just lost my mind
But actually though... So yesterday I was walking with my sister and some friends and our neighbor called us over to show us her 7 puppies that she has living in the back of her house. THEN she springs on us that she will be moving to the U.S. and has to leave all of them on the street unless she can find homes for them, so what do I do? I say OF COURSE I'll take one of those two week old little nugs that haven't even opened their eyes yet.... the hell??
But in my defense I think I may have just come up with a secondary project idea: A dog/puppy Rescue and Adoption program!! Apparently a group of vets was supposed to come to Las Minas and fix and vaccinate all the dogs in the area but they never showed up. I PROMISE NO MORE DOGS IN MY HOUSE but the mom of the pups had already abandoned them and I just couldn't let seven more dogs become part of the mangy street crew.... Soooo any ideas for names??
Monday, May 6, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Back to the Basics
First Day of School 30/4/13
I'm freaking out, I'm pretty sure that everything I've learned over the last few months just left my brain and decided to go on a little vacay it seems because I don't remember anything...how am I supposed to observe these classes for the next three months?? I did finally find my schedule though, I thought I left it in Santa Rita... it's a start. So I'm sitting here in the teacher's lounge just waiting and then one of the other teacher's just decides to mention to me that she didn't see my counterparts this morning and that she doesn't think they're coming today- Bienvenidos a Las Minas....that's nice. So I guess I have a free day so I'm going to take this opportunity to catch up on all of the blog posts I have yet to write starting with this one. Positives of today:
Went on a pre-dawn wog with my host sister (also named Melissa) we looked like quite the spectacle, her carrying her little chihuahua and me tripping over one of the other eight dogs that I am trying to train on a leash, it was hilarious but I'm trying. Morning in Las Minas is the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced, the fog in the mountains and the rolling hills and the newly green trees and plant life blooming after months of the dry season, it was rad and the shrieks of the stupid roosters didn't even bother me- it sounded like an orchestra of Panama morning with chickens, roosters, cats, dogs, cows, monkeys and various other creatures... brilliant. PLUS the fact that I even got myself out of bed at 5am this morning was astounding so let's keep things optimistic, AND my twin is rad she is crazy funny and she just got back from visiting her dad in Texas for the last four months so she is even moderately open to learning English...sort of.
As entertaining as this morning was, last night was probably a little more exciting...or at least interesting to say the least. My borracho (drunk) of a host cousin decided to stumble his way to our house and ramble incoherently offensive things to me in front of my entire family. Something along the lines of missing me a lot and being in love with me and wanting to buy me things at the feria... considering I've never spoken to the man I seemed to make quite an impression. I'm flattered, but no thanks. However, it was pretty awesome watching my host mom Debia stepping up for me, the badass that she started yelling at him something about why would a beautiful, professional, educated woman like myself fall in love with a stupid drunk like you. He didn't seem affected by the harshness of her words, but then she proceeded to manufacture some story about my amazing "fake" boyfriend who apparently is this fantastic, intimidating, handsome, brilliant, man who has a job and went to college and NEVER DRINKS‽‽ Sounds fab, I'll take him. Apparently he is also black and lives in the states and is really tall so he's basically the clone of the last guy I dated before coming to Panama, how convenient, I even have a picture of said man. The night ended with my other host cousin and some other host uncle or second cousin kicking him out and threatening to call the police. He was belligerent and obnoxious but it made for an entertaining evening. Here's to family bonding in Las Minas!
OH YEA and I got gifted a puppy this afternoon!!!! No big deal she is only the cutest thing I have ever seen. Her name is Fiona and she is adorable and looks like the cutest mutt I've ever seen. She looks like some sort of blood hound mix or something but her brother is this black chubby ball of fluff so who the hell knows what she actually is, but they're the cutest and only two months old and I adore her and tomorrow I'm taking her to the vet to get all of her shots and things (only costs $5 here!!). HOLLER I'm the happiest girl in the world.
I'm freaking out, I'm pretty sure that everything I've learned over the last few months just left my brain and decided to go on a little vacay it seems because I don't remember anything...how am I supposed to observe these classes for the next three months?? I did finally find my schedule though, I thought I left it in Santa Rita... it's a start. So I'm sitting here in the teacher's lounge just waiting and then one of the other teacher's just decides to mention to me that she didn't see my counterparts this morning and that she doesn't think they're coming today- Bienvenidos a Las Minas....that's nice. So I guess I have a free day so I'm going to take this opportunity to catch up on all of the blog posts I have yet to write starting with this one. Positives of today:
Went on a pre-dawn wog with my host sister (also named Melissa) we looked like quite the spectacle, her carrying her little chihuahua and me tripping over one of the other eight dogs that I am trying to train on a leash, it was hilarious but I'm trying. Morning in Las Minas is the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced, the fog in the mountains and the rolling hills and the newly green trees and plant life blooming after months of the dry season, it was rad and the shrieks of the stupid roosters didn't even bother me- it sounded like an orchestra of Panama morning with chickens, roosters, cats, dogs, cows, monkeys and various other creatures... brilliant. PLUS the fact that I even got myself out of bed at 5am this morning was astounding so let's keep things optimistic, AND my twin is rad she is crazy funny and she just got back from visiting her dad in Texas for the last four months so she is even moderately open to learning English...sort of.
As entertaining as this morning was, last night was probably a little more exciting...or at least interesting to say the least. My borracho (drunk) of a host cousin decided to stumble his way to our house and ramble incoherently offensive things to me in front of my entire family. Something along the lines of missing me a lot and being in love with me and wanting to buy me things at the feria... considering I've never spoken to the man I seemed to make quite an impression. I'm flattered, but no thanks. However, it was pretty awesome watching my host mom Debia stepping up for me, the badass that she started yelling at him something about why would a beautiful, professional, educated woman like myself fall in love with a stupid drunk like you. He didn't seem affected by the harshness of her words, but then she proceeded to manufacture some story about my amazing "fake" boyfriend who apparently is this fantastic, intimidating, handsome, brilliant, man who has a job and went to college and NEVER DRINKS‽‽ Sounds fab, I'll take him. Apparently he is also black and lives in the states and is really tall so he's basically the clone of the last guy I dated before coming to Panama, how convenient, I even have a picture of said man. The night ended with my other host cousin and some other host uncle or second cousin kicking him out and threatening to call the police. He was belligerent and obnoxious but it made for an entertaining evening. Here's to family bonding in Las Minas!
OH YEA and I got gifted a puppy this afternoon!!!! No big deal she is only the cutest thing I have ever seen. Her name is Fiona and she is adorable and looks like the cutest mutt I've ever seen. She looks like some sort of blood hound mix or something but her brother is this black chubby ball of fluff so who the hell knows what she actually is, but they're the cutest and only two months old and I adore her and tomorrow I'm taking her to the vet to get all of her shots and things (only costs $5 here!!). HOLLER I'm the happiest girl in the world.
The Weekend
SWEAR IN WEEKEND 28/04/13
Absurd, crazy, debauchery... that is all. It wouldn't be appropriate to really go into details of the weekend other than it was a beautiful last weekend with 48 of my closest friends. We decided on Gorgona Beach because our awesome Training Director Melissa was able to get us a pretty good deal and reserved an entire Hostel for us on the beach, so that was rad. Picture beautiful black sand beaches with huge waves and the mountains in the background- basically the sickest most picturesque place I've ever been to. It was bittersweet and I'm not going to get into all my feelings right now so I'm just going to ignore them until they inevitable build up and I have an apocalyptic meltdown of epic proportions... seems like the healthiest way to handle my feelings (jokes). I've already made plans with some of my friends in the region to meet up in three weeks so no goodbyes, just see ya later's.
Absurd, crazy, debauchery... that is all. It wouldn't be appropriate to really go into details of the weekend other than it was a beautiful last weekend with 48 of my closest friends. We decided on Gorgona Beach because our awesome Training Director Melissa was able to get us a pretty good deal and reserved an entire Hostel for us on the beach, so that was rad. Picture beautiful black sand beaches with huge waves and the mountains in the background- basically the sickest most picturesque place I've ever been to. It was bittersweet and I'm not going to get into all my feelings right now so I'm just going to ignore them until they inevitable build up and I have an apocalyptic meltdown of epic proportions... seems like the healthiest way to handle my feelings (jokes). I've already made plans with some of my friends in the region to meet up in three weeks so no goodbyes, just see ya later's.
SWEAR IN
Swear in Ceremony 26/04/13
It's happened. It's real. We are volunteers. Legit.
The ceremony was beautiful. It was held at the U.S. Ambassador's house, which was just a little pretty; decorated in all the latest obscure modern art and fancy gadgets that make air but just look like crazy futuristic robots, but really they were just the coolest fans I've ever seen. We heard some great speakers, the Minister of Education, the Head of the Department of Environmental Conservation, our PC Director, and the Ambassador himself. It was an all around impressive afternoon. Oh and there was wicked awesome food and fruity drinks... so basically the nicest food we're gonna get for a while, so naturally I had three plates.
We are going out in Panama City tonight so things should get interesting... we are meeting up with some other PCV groups that are in the area, should be a wild time filled with clean fun and good decisions obviously...
It's happened. It's real. We are volunteers. Legit.
The ceremony was beautiful. It was held at the U.S. Ambassador's house, which was just a little pretty; decorated in all the latest obscure modern art and fancy gadgets that make air but just look like crazy futuristic robots, but really they were just the coolest fans I've ever seen. We heard some great speakers, the Minister of Education, the Head of the Department of Environmental Conservation, our PC Director, and the Ambassador himself. It was an all around impressive afternoon. Oh and there was wicked awesome food and fruity drinks... so basically the nicest food we're gonna get for a while, so naturally I had three plates.
We are going out in Panama City tonight so things should get interesting... we are meeting up with some other PCV groups that are in the area, should be a wild time filled with clean fun and good decisions obviously...
Last week in Santa Rita
Last week of training 22/04/13
Surreal. That is all. Oh, and it's freaking hot out.
Surreal. That is all. Oh, and it's freaking hot out.
LAS MINAS HERE I COME!!
10/04/13
Off to my new home place for the first time. Here I come Las Minas I hope you're ready. I don't know why I was so hesitant at first... I think it was one of those awkward post christmas/post birthday funks, but MY HOST SITE IS THE FREAKING BOMB!
I met my counterpart at the conference the other day and she is fabulous in every sense of the word. She is this spunky little twenty somethin latina and she knows her stuff, plus she's excited to work with me, so that's something. I will have two teachers in the Primaria, Sonalis, my primary counterpart(grades 4-6) and Itzel my secondary counterpart (K-3). Sonalis lives in Chitre the regional capitol about an hour and some change away from Las Minas. I stayed at her place the first night since we missed the last chiva back to my site, she lives with her husband, his kids, and his parents and they all welcomed me warmly into their home, mentioning that I can stay over any time I need somewhere to crash in Chitre (AWESOME!) The ride to my house is stunningly beautiful, mountains on mountains on mountains with beautiful trees and plants and ranchos and horses and things. Sonalis told me that during the rainy season everything blossoms making it look like a jungle but that it won't start for a couple weeks.
My host family is freaking awesome. I live with literally a house full of women five generations to be exact; my host great-grandmother, my grandmother, my host mother, my host sister, my host cousin and her daughter.... holy hell. It is a little awkward only because my 96 year-old host great-grandmother is really sick and I have a feeling she won't be here when I come back in a few weeks; which is unfortunate because you can tell this woman's got a lot of stories to tell. My host sister (who is also named Melissa) is in Texas visiting her dad, she's been there since December and still refuses to learn English, we'll see about that.
The first few days of classes were awesome, I figured out a schedule with both my teachers so that I can work with both equally. Observing Sonalis was amazing because it was clear that she's worked with peace corps before since she was already implementing PC activities and skills, which is exactly what we want- to make things sustainable. On the other hand I am SO excited to work with Itzel because she is such a new teacher; I was frustrated at first observing her classes because I saw her getting so frustrated because her English isn't where she wants it to be, which is going to be all the more fun for me to work with because it's like starting from scratch.... in retrospect that might sound pretty harsh but it is an awesome opportunity to work with a new teacher who hasn't yet gotten stuck in bad habits.... so YAY.
HIGHLIGHT: Making some progress with one of the Chinese students in the fourth grade. We can call her Ana. She immigrated here when she was super young but her family only speaks to her in Chinese, so she hasn't progressed to the level she needs to in order to participate in her classes. She speaks pretty good English and it is so clear that she is brilliant and just frustrated that she can't express herself in Spanish. Apparently today was the first day they even knew for sure that she was actually from China, no one actually knew for sure, they just assumed because there are a lot of Chinese immigrants. I was surprised that none of the English teachers thought to try talking to her in English, which is pretty sad but I guess that kind of thing happens. I offered to help her with after school tutoring in Spanish and English and she seemed to like that idea so that's rad. I am glad I could start off right.
Off to my new home place for the first time. Here I come Las Minas I hope you're ready. I don't know why I was so hesitant at first... I think it was one of those awkward post christmas/post birthday funks, but MY HOST SITE IS THE FREAKING BOMB!
I met my counterpart at the conference the other day and she is fabulous in every sense of the word. She is this spunky little twenty somethin latina and she knows her stuff, plus she's excited to work with me, so that's something. I will have two teachers in the Primaria, Sonalis, my primary counterpart(grades 4-6) and Itzel my secondary counterpart (K-3). Sonalis lives in Chitre the regional capitol about an hour and some change away from Las Minas. I stayed at her place the first night since we missed the last chiva back to my site, she lives with her husband, his kids, and his parents and they all welcomed me warmly into their home, mentioning that I can stay over any time I need somewhere to crash in Chitre (AWESOME!) The ride to my house is stunningly beautiful, mountains on mountains on mountains with beautiful trees and plants and ranchos and horses and things. Sonalis told me that during the rainy season everything blossoms making it look like a jungle but that it won't start for a couple weeks.
My host family is freaking awesome. I live with literally a house full of women five generations to be exact; my host great-grandmother, my grandmother, my host mother, my host sister, my host cousin and her daughter.... holy hell. It is a little awkward only because my 96 year-old host great-grandmother is really sick and I have a feeling she won't be here when I come back in a few weeks; which is unfortunate because you can tell this woman's got a lot of stories to tell. My host sister (who is also named Melissa) is in Texas visiting her dad, she's been there since December and still refuses to learn English, we'll see about that.
The first few days of classes were awesome, I figured out a schedule with both my teachers so that I can work with both equally. Observing Sonalis was amazing because it was clear that she's worked with peace corps before since she was already implementing PC activities and skills, which is exactly what we want- to make things sustainable. On the other hand I am SO excited to work with Itzel because she is such a new teacher; I was frustrated at first observing her classes because I saw her getting so frustrated because her English isn't where she wants it to be, which is going to be all the more fun for me to work with because it's like starting from scratch.... in retrospect that might sound pretty harsh but it is an awesome opportunity to work with a new teacher who hasn't yet gotten stuck in bad habits.... so YAY.
HIGHLIGHT: Making some progress with one of the Chinese students in the fourth grade. We can call her Ana. She immigrated here when she was super young but her family only speaks to her in Chinese, so she hasn't progressed to the level she needs to in order to participate in her classes. She speaks pretty good English and it is so clear that she is brilliant and just frustrated that she can't express herself in Spanish. Apparently today was the first day they even knew for sure that she was actually from China, no one actually knew for sure, they just assumed because there are a lot of Chinese immigrants. I was surprised that none of the English teachers thought to try talking to her in English, which is pretty sad but I guess that kind of thing happens. I offered to help her with after school tutoring in Spanish and English and she seemed to like that idea so that's rad. I am glad I could start off right.
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