The first month

So I guess I’ve technically been in Panama for over a month. Highlights so far include family time with my “Panamanian family,” bonding with other PCV, going on my volunteer site visit in El Rincón, going to the rio and the lago with my host family, and the latest adventure: Valentine’s day. The river and lake were both long days of sun, food, family bonding, swimming, the family thinking I’m crazy (let’s be honest when don’t they think I’m crazy?!) and generally aprovechando the day. I’ve posted pictures on facebook if you want to see. One of my favorite moments was when I was making Valentine cards for everyone in our group the other night. I was very proud of them because they were quite funny and all said things like “if you were Michael Phelps, I would be your pool” or “if you were Bob Marley, I’d be your joint” and other funny phrases like that. Anyway, I was listening to music and dancing around while making them. My little 4 year old sister came in and was watching me, so I told her she should dance. It turned into me and my sister dancing with the whole family crowded in the door watching us and laughing. Now every day they tell me that I should dance when I come in the room.

So this day called Valentine’s day came around this Tuesday, I don’t know if you guys in the U.S. have heard about it because it’s a pretty Panamanian thing. Here it’s called “Dia de amor y Amistad”(Day of love and friendship) which is nice for those of us who are single and can celebrate our friendships haha. What the Panamanians do is give flowers and candy to “el que me quita mis suenos” (the new phrase I learned for “my lover”) and go on nice dates. You guys should try it in the States because it sounds pretty fun. J Since I haven’t taken a Panamanian lover (yet) we decided to have a valentine’s party at one of the other PCV’s host family house. Her family has a really nice house (running water, glass windows, electricity, 3 tvs, and indoor showers!!) they told her to invite the other volunteers over and we could have a party. We took a couple of balboas (dollars) from each person and went shopping buying lots of chocolate, desserts, popcorn, and drinks. Her family also asked a family friend to be the DJ so when you add this all together it turned out to be a pretty sweet night. SOOOO much dancing, laughing, eating chocolate and popcorn (rare things in Panama) and enjoying being with all of the volunteers. Also, I feel like I learned a lot about everyone because you really get to know people through the way that dance. Like, “I had no idea you were so crazy” or “wow WHERE did you learn that?!” So way fun!

Also funny story about cooking the brownies for the party:

So my friend bought the mix, but her oven doesn’t work because they never and I mean never use ovens. So my roommate Katie and I made the brownies at our house. First, we had to empty our oven of all of the plastic bags and such they store in their oven because like I said they never use it. Then, we asked our host mom how to turn on the oven. She said she didn’t know because she had never used it before, so we spent a little while playing around with it. Finally we got it working and the whole family was very interested to watch us “hornear” (bake). After we put the mix in the oven that doesn’t have a temperature just “hot, medium, or low,” we let the family try the leftover mix from the bowl. I told them about how when I was little my mom would give me the spoon after making cookies and I got to eat off of it. They really enjoyed that part (while still thinking I am crazy of course). Then I naturally said that I was going to wash the bowl. They got all weird and were like “oh no we can wash it for you!” I told them that I was the one who was baking so it was easy for me to wash it, but they insisted on washing it. I was really confused, but they told me that when you’re baking, you CANNOT wash things at the same time because it’s bad for you. The literal Spanish translation is that it will cause you pain. So now I know why it always hurt so much when I was baking and washing dishes. Haha.

Sorry this post was so random. Just a few fun stories from my time here so far. I can’t believe I’ve been here for over a month. Time has flown by. Today we find out our site placement and then next month they’re shipping us off to our site. It’s ridiculous to think that next month I’ll be leaving my Santa Rita family for new adventures. I’ll be going to El Higo on the border of Panama Oeste and Cocle next month! It’s right near the beach and sounds really great! More info about that place to come..this is just a teaser :) Thanks for all your love and support from the States. I feel very loved and blessed to have some many people cheering for me back home. Love to you all!