So it’s been way too long since I’ve posted anything and for that I apologize! Things have just been crazy what with moving to a new place, starting to teach, and adjusting to a new life in general. But I finally feel like I can at least somewhat express my thoughts coherently. We’ll see if they come out in Spanish or English… So I moved to El Higo de San Carlos a little over a month ago now. Right before that, we had our swear in ceremony, which means we’re all officially Peace Corps volunteers now. Yay! Then we had a great few days of celebrating with our whole group staying in a big house we rented by the beach. There was lots of sun, swimming, dancing, and merriment that happened. And then real Peace Corps life started. It’s definitely taken some adjusting and every day is something new. Whether it’s figuring out how to live in weather that’s 85 plus degrees all the time (literally I get up at 5 for school and it’s already in the 80s!), living in a house full of curious Panamanians and not having a door to my room, trying to answer a million random questions about the U.S. (do you know my cousin Juan who lives in Tennessee? Are there lots of carpenters in California? What?), or explaining that I don’t eat meat for the millionth time and receiving confused blank stares, it’s all so new!
So like a said, I living in El Higo. If you look at a map of Panama, find the canal and Panama City, go to the west of that and right before you get to the part that bumps out, I’m right there on the coast. Now you might be wondering what El Higo means in Spanish. Good question! It means the fig (aka getting figgy with it..get it?!) So when I got here my first question was naturally “are there a lot of fig trees here?”, which is probably your question too. Well sadly, they told me no. They said one time there was a fig tree, but it didn’t produce figs and then it died and they cut it down. So ya my hopes of making jam, jelly, bread, cake, pudding and any other food that has figs in it are dashed! Good thing I don’t actually like figs that much haha.
Ok let me start by explaining my host family. For the first three months in El Higo (until mid-June) I am living with a host family. The family consists of a mom, a hilarious grandma, and an 8 year girl and 11 year old boy. But, that’s just who lives in my house. In the surrounding 3 houses, some of my host mom’s sisters live (aka my aunts) and their families. So all in all it’s a pretty big group and I’m always getting introduced to someone new and never understanding exactly how they’re all related but that’s Panama! Somehow everyone is related here. Life is slow with the host family. A lot of sitting, talking, staring, and I read a lot. When I say a lot, I mean I’ve read 4 books alone in the last 4 weeks. Ya that much. It’s interesting too because instead of a door, I have a curtain. So there’s a little privacy sometimes, but my family doesn’t really understand that when the curtain is closed, it means I’m probably busy. So I’ve had more than a few awkward moments of getting walked in by an aunt, cousin, grandma, or sibling while I’m changing. Oh the joys of living with host families! But they’re all very nice and include me in everything. We’ve gone to the beach a few times, I’ve gone hiking in a nearby area called El Valle with one of my cousins and her university class, and to Panama City to explore with another cousin.
Ok now let me explain my typical day here. It starts at the wonderful hour of 5 am. Then I take my shower and although it’s already 80 something degrees the water always surprises me with how cold it is. Then it’s breakfast of something fried which I smother in hot sauce. After that I walk to school because it starts at 7 am. The walk takes about 20 minutes and on the way it’s downhill which is nice. The way back is another story. I am greeted at school every morning by a chorus of “Sydney, teacher Sydney” for a few minutes because the kids love saying my name. It usually comes out as either “Sidnee”, “Signey”, “Siggy”, or “Cindy” but it’s cute to hear them all shouting my name and hugging me at once. During school, I am working with 3 different English teachers and my current schedule is one week with each teacher. For the first 3 months, I’m only observing and then I will be both teaching and co-planning with each teacher. So right now, I do a lot of sitting and watching the teachers teach or helping them with pronunciation. The teaching style is definitely different than the U.S. Many of the English teachers in Panama only went to language school and learned English in University, but they were never trained in teaching. This can be frustrating both for them and for me because they don’t know what they’re doing and it’s hard to watch this happen in the classroom. But that’s why I’m here, both to work with the teachers and improve their English and teaching skills, and to work with the students. And a lot can happen in 2 years, so I have faith! :) When school gets out at 12ish, I walk home, which at that point in the day is way hotter and way uphill. But my reward is a nice lunch of some kind of rice and something fried. Haha. Then I get to relax for a while. I usually sit on my bed with my fan pointed directly at me because it’s like 90-100 degrees at this point in the day and I read. That’s why I’ve read so many books! From the hours of 2-5, a lot of people don’t go outside much because it’s just too hot, so I don’t feel so bad relaxing in my house. After that, I try to go “pasear” (visit people’s houses) and get to know more people in the community. Dinner is outside with the family and the neighbors slash family members usually stop by and we all sit and talk for a while. After that I talk on the phone with one of my friends. I made a schedule so that every night of the week I get to talk to someone because as most of you know I like to and need to talk to people. And since I don’t get English all day, it’s nice to get to talk and not have to think so much about what I want to say. Then, at the late hour of 9, I go to bed. What a different life I have than my U.S. life, that’s for sure!
The weekends always vary but every Saturday I try to “pasear” more. I found this loop in my town that takes me further up the hill I live on into the hills and then loops back around on a neighboring hill. So I go all the way around and visit for 4 to 5 hours every Saturday. It’s a nice walk that by my best estimation is about 7 miles so with the heat, needless to say I’m pretty sweaty and gross. It’s a great conversation starter because people always yell from their porches at me “are you crazy?! What are you doing walking around right now?!” which gives me the opportunity to go sit with them and explain that, yes I am crazy, I’m the crazy gringa they probably heard about that lives here. They love this and I get a laugh every time.
Other than that, life is just going along. I have my moments of “what the heck am I doing?! Why am I here?!” but that’s always followed up with a reminder of why I’m here and it doesn’t help that most times it involves getting a hug from a tiny little Panamanian child :) Loneliness is bound to happen, but that’s why I have such a wonderful support group of friends both here in Panama that can totally relate to what I’m feeling and back home who are constantly offering love and encouragement. If you have read all of this, good job because it was so long! I really appreciate your support and even reading this is supporting me because honestly I wrote this more for myself than anyone else (sorry that’s selfish but getting my thoughts out really helps!). I would love to hear from you all! Really I have a lot of free time right now, so although I only have internet about twice a month, you can call me if you want to waste all your money :) my phone number is +507 6006 7415. Miss you all and think of you constantly! Lots of love and besos!
