Sweaty in Santa Rita!

Instead of just giving a long post of how my first week was in Santa Rita (a small town located about 1 hour outside of Panama City) I’m going to describe my week by numbers!

1,000,000: the number of times I have messed up in Spanish. Coincidentally, this is also the number of times my host family has laughed at me. My favorite was probably trying to explain an American Southern accent by speaking Spanish using that accent. They still talk about it.

30+: the number of bug bites I have. Including 2 on my face. Not pretty.

8: Number of hours of class we have per day. 1st we have 4 hours of Spanish from 8-12 then 1 hour for lunch and descansando and then classes on how to teach and the school system in Panama from 1-5. These classes are both interesting and very hot.

6: The number of days I've been in Santa Rita. We arrived on Sunday to wonderful host families and awkwardly we introduced to Panamanian culture. Which brings me to...

5: The number of awkward "pasearing" experiences I've had. Pasear literally means "to pass" but in Panama, it means to basically go to peoples' houses and sit and talk. Or just sit. No talking. It's definitely something that I have to get used to.

4: The number of people in my family. I have a madre named Cooki, padre named Ermis, hermanito named Ermicin and an hermanita named Elianis. Ermicin is 10 and Elianis is 4. They are so cute. Yesterday, I played in their "fort" which is basically the underneath part of a guandu bush (basically peas that they cook and eat...we eat them A LOT!). Elianis kept giving me "besitos" (kisses) and I felt like I was really part of the fam. Behind us, Cooki's madre lives with some her grandkids, so it's basically a kid compound where they all run around and play games with the gallos and gallinas in the backyard.

3: The number of bucket showers I've taken. At my house, we have an outdoor shower and latrine. Thanks to many traveling experiences, I'm used to and comfortable with both. But, with the "pluma" or aquaduct sustem isn't working, the shower doesn't work. So instead, you take water from the "tanque" and use a smaller bucket to wash yourself. I asked Cooki why the pluma sometimes doesn't work and she said that the guy who turns it on sometimes sleeps in or forgets. Go figure ahah. Speaking of showers...

2: Both the number of times I shower per day (most of the people do...it's HOT down here people!) and the number of times my madre has asked me "entonces...vas a banarse ya?" when I'm sweaty. She would never come out and just say "huele mal!" (you smell) but that's just her little suggestion that yeah you stink and are dripping sweat and need to shower. Tomorrow I get to learn how to wash all my smelly clothes by hand and hang them on the line...I'm actually really excited about this!

1: The number of gecko fights I have seen in my house. Super crazy! Two geckos were just brawling on the ceiling but it was kind of in slow motion for like an hour. It was really funny! Eventually one was hanging frmo the ceiling clinging desperately from the face of the other gecko and then he fell to the floor. It was pretty darn funny.

0: The number of times I've wanted to give up and go home. Although this is crazy, differently, and maybe a little ridiculous, I like this adventure so far. I've made some close friends, learned a lot and definitely improved in Spanish. Now I'm starting to see why people say this experience changes your life. I've already began to see that it ain't gonna be easy or pretty at times, but what growing experience is? I don't know what is in store but I feel so blessed to even have the opportunity for such a real, eye-opening experience. Thank you, friends and family for your love and support!

Besos y abrazos,

Sydney

Also pictures of everything to come :)