Tacos!

(written Sunday, February 26... I think)

So, it’s randomly worked out that our entire advanced Spanish group is teaching at the same school. We start work tomorrow! I’m very anxious to see what Urraca is like, and which teacher I will be working with.

Last night, our Spanish teacher, Maria Isabel, invited us over to her house for tacos. Her house was beautiful! There was a big back porch with pillow seats and a hammock. We met up at the bus stop in town to go there together. After we bought some beer and wine, we waited for the bus for over 45 minutes! There’s a big pilgrimage taking place to Attalaya so many of the local buses to other neighborhoods were rerouted to Attalaya. Our bus never came, but once we did the math and figured out that a $2 cab split three ways would be the same price as a bus, we opted for that.

Maria Isabel is one of the nicest women I’ve met. We had delicious tacos and Balboa beer. Her oldest daughter came over with her three kids and we all chatted for hours. I made my way inside and starting playing Jenga with the 8 year old and the 5 year old. It was so fun! We stayed there chatting about Panama and all sorts of things. There’s a festival in Portobelo on the Caribbean coast de Congo, celebrando los cimmarones.

I didn’t get home until midnight! That’s a big deal for me here, as I usually go to bed around 9pm. It’s tiring to exist in Spanish all day long!

Today, I napped and lounged in my bed until 3pm. It was amazing. My host mom has confirmed that she will be in Ocu every weekend, which is kind of bittersweet. It’s nice to know that I will really have indpendence in these 11 months – that would be a long time to be under a microscope. But right now, when I don’t really know anyone or have any sort of routine it’s a bit of a bummer. I really wish I were living at the house of my Spanish teacher – she and I click so well; she’ appreciates my craziness! J

After my lounging morning and afternoon, I went to the Do It Center! Which is sort of like hardware store meets target. I FINALLY bought a pillow top mattress pad. I am so excited to sleep tonight without feeling each and ever spring underneath me. AND  I bought a pillow. Tonight is going to be good.

I trid to get to the internet today to post something like this blog entry, but the internet at the pizza place was down. So I’ve decided to start writing the blog entries on my computer and then just posting multiple at a time when I do get internet. So, “tomorrow” has probably already happened when you read this.

You can call my cell phone if you want, but I know international calls are expensive. I think they might be a little cheaper if you use skype or google talk to call. I’m not sure.

Will write again once I see my school and have my first day.

Abrazos!

Thank god for abanicos

It is so hot. All the time.

Which is funny, because just a week ago I emailed a friend from Costa Rica about how proud I was that I was already acclimated to the heat. HA.

Our host family took off on Saturday for Ocu for Carnavales (the step-dad lives there), and left us in Santiago. I think this would've been a bit of a problem for me had I been alone, but thankfully Shellie is still living here with me, so we could commiserate about being after thoughts together. Yesterday, we had our first day since we got here of not doing ANYTHING. We ate. Shellie cooked. I think I tried to watch a movie. I slept a lot. It was wonderful, aside from the fact that 97 degrees of heat is recipe for death.

Today, we're back at the Leonardo's pizza place, eating $4 12" pizzas, using their air conditioning and internet. Tomorrow orientation starts again for two final days, and then next Monday school starts. The tv is filled with Back to School ads, and it's crazy to think all of the kids will be coming off of summer vacation and I will be starting at the school on the same day. I'm really going to be here for a full year.

Our host family has the cutest little dog named Spartacus (es-spart-e-cous! is how he's called here) who has been in pain from the heat with us these past days. The first day the family was gone we couldnt find his food and he was so hungry so we fed him our rice. I hope dogs arent allergic to rice! We later found his food, and he's been much happier since. But we often find him in the shower, trying to cool down on the bathroom tile.

Spartacus and me in the shower.

Friday is our last day of practice teaching, and we're throwing a big party for our students. I'm also planning a Jeopardy review game which should be interesting. I think I've had to make Jeopardy games for at LEAST the last two jobs I've held, so we'll see if the practice has paid off. We have our last Spanish class tomorrow and we say goodbye to the folks teaching in other towns (Shellie, included!) Friday night. Should be a whirlwind couple of days. I think my experience here will really change when Shellie moves on to David. It's been so nice to have someone to explore with and get acclimated with. But I know that becoming a little more independent will be good for me, and I'm hoping that once I get into the school community I'll meet more people.

I miss you all a lot! It turns out our host family (in addition to abandoning us routinely... this is a joke mom! we're fine) has also been hiding something from us. What is it, you ask?? WIRELESS INTERNET. We found the modem and router while they were gone. I sent a text about a password with no response, but once they coming home we will be interrogating, and (fingers crossed) this communication thing will be a little easier!

I've also realized I havent taken many pictures, so I'm going to get better at that too.

Love you all much! Sorry that I haven't been able to respond to emails very well. Leave comments here so I know you're reading.

Hope all is well in each of your respective parts of the world : )

Abrazos

Better than nothing...?

Who knows where to start... Carnavales were this weekend (and will continue through tomorrow). So. Insane! Thousands of people fill the street drinking insane amounts of beer, trying to get the firehose to spray water on them (this is not hard). The thing that we learned a little late is that the water is not potable (in fact it's filled with bleach and maybe gasoline?). We learned this when a guy we were with yelled at us to drop our beer because we hadn't been covering it when the hose was spraying and the water had gotten into our beer. So there was that. (I did get a pretty awesome free shirt out of the whole ordeal, which I'm pretty excited about.) Everything gets SO wet! The second day I knew to keep my phone and money in a plastic bag in my pocket, but the first day I wasn't so smart. Luckily a Panamanian friend of mine put it in their plastic bag for me. There was definitely more than one water damaged cell phone that day, though.

On Saturday we went to a smaller town's celebration with the whole group (just Shellie, Drew and I went to the crazy one referenced above, Ocu, on Sunday). It was great - really low key, and the group got to know each other a little bit outside of the context of school. One of the women on the trip I went to high school with! We were even in the same Spanish class when we were 15.

This entry is all over the place because I dont know what to update and I'm so used to thinking in Spanish so my sentence structure seems to leave much to be desired. So my apologies if it's hard to follow. School starts in a week. I'm really looking forward to seeing the school and meeting my students and colleagues. Oh, also. When I say "we," I'm referring to Shellie and me. I dont think we've done ANYTHING fun independent of each other yet! Haha.

I know I should have more interesting things to report, but I just can't think of anything. I'm starting to realize how some things are so universal. I'm starting to be able to show some of my personality and sarcasm in Spanish, which is something I was really worried about. And we're only 2 weeks in, so that's a good sign, hopefully. I'm also realizing that there are similar types of people all over the world, and I respond the same to them in multiple languages. (I have a joke in the group that my motivation to learn Spanish quickly is so I can better tell off rude men on the street.)

Not much more I can think to report. I have some days off right before Easter for Semana Santa if anyone wants to visit.

I love you all immensely and miss you the same. I hope on to figure out how to have more regular communication in my life soon. Until then, abrazos and thanks for your patience : )

A picture of Carnavales in Ocu, where Shellie and I were yesterday

 Most of the group of teachers at the tamer location of Carnavales.

Picture stolen from another teacher.

Electricity at McDonald's is never a given...

I'm currently sitting in a McDonald's, the only one in this town where a chicken sandwich is nearly $5 dollars, when I'm used to getting a piece of fried chicken for 35 cents at the bus station, but I get ahead of myself. Let me attempt to bring you all up to speed.

I'm living in Santiago, a town that is a stop over to get to other more beautiful places in the country. It's nice though because life here is regular life. Not glamorous, not exaggerated, just kind of chugging along. I'm staying in the house I'll be living in the whole time, and really like the woman who lives here, and she has daughters who have been helpful with getting around the city. Shellie, a fellow volunteer, is living with me for training, before she heads of to David to teach at the university there for four months. It's been so nice having her with me! We've attempted to navigate buses, already taken an overnight trip, and have watched a couple episodes of Portlandia which is hilarious!

I honestly have no idea where to start because there's so much to report back. I guess I'll start with physical orientation in the town. There are numbered streets, but the town is on no semblance of a grid, so the numbers help very little. There also are no maps, aside from the unlabeled, often wrong google maps print out,  so having any idea where anything is is at times a struggle. There are buses that go to the "suburbs" (I use this term generously) and just wind through all of the streets in whichever neighborhood they're assigned. You yell "parada" when you want to get off, and flick your hand from the side of the street when you want to get on. Aside from the "downtown" the streets dont have names, so if you happen into a cab you tell them what main landmark to turn on (the store that sells vegetables) and the last name of the owner of the house. It's been interesting getting used to, but I kind of like it! There's no mail delivery, either, so my Address is: "Katie Barthelow/ Entrega General/ Santiago de Veraguas, Panama" and when I know to expect a package I check the post office daily. Dont send anything important there!

My daily routine has me on the bus from my neighborhood (Canto del Llano) at 7am into the main bus terminal in town where I meet up with the other teachers and we get into a minivan and go to to the university. We have training there from 8am - 12:30pm where we learn teaching strategies and country orientation. We head back into town for lunch, and then do practice teaching in pairs for members of the community. It's mainly young people (14-22) in the class, but we have some adults who want to learn as well. I'm slowly starting to get to know the students which has been fun. One of my favorites is going to be at my school (along with 3,000 students) which I'm excited about.

After practice teaching I go to Spanish class which has been really helpful. That lets out around 6:30pm or 7pm and I head back home. They're long days! I really do like it here, and every day I'm feeling a little bit more like it will one day feel like home. It's kind of hard when we're always in a group of 10 people - a little conspicuous, but I've had a couple natural conversations with people I've come in contact with (the checker outer at the school supply store, for instance) that give me hope for feeling at home here.

We had to work on Saturday, but had today off, so after class on Saturday, Shellie and I went to the best surfing beach in Central America (which was quite the process to get to!) which was such a nice break from the large groups of people and hard work. We lounged and ate good pizza, and drank yummy drinks and swam in the Pacific.

Some of the host families are very protective - they call our boss looking for their "lost gringo" when the person placed with them is 15 minutes late. On Thursday, Shellie and I came home to a note from our homestay mom saying "Remember to shut off the lights and lock up when you leave, girls. Have a great weekend!" She apparently went to see her husband in a different province. Quite a unique experience from the other volunteers, but we really appreciate the freedom.

I'm sure there's much more to say, but I can't think of it, and the power keeps going out at the McDonalds. Have of the room's lights went back on, and the internet came back, so that's good, but I'm not sure how long it'll last.

Oh! You can call me. I dont know how to call the country and all that, but once you figure out the calling codes, my direct cell number is 6456 - 4267 (I'm looking at you, mom). : )

What else, what else...?

I'll try to post more later. For now, here's some pictures:

 The beach we spent the weekend on

 Sun over the Pacific

 Shellie and I at dinner

The pizza oven!

Abrazos,

Kati

I made it! I work everyday from 7am to 6:30pm and don't have any Internet where I live, so it's been hard to get in touch with people. I promise once I get a routine down, I'll do better. The basics are this:
-training is long, but it's been nice to get to know the other 9 teachers and my town a bit (even if it was referred to as a "glorified truck stop")
-I'm living with another volunteer (Hi Shellie!!) for orientation/training before she moves to er permanent town, and we get along wonderfully! Right now we're at a little surf town on the pacific for our one day off. Santa Catalina if you want to look it up.

Ok, really. I'll do better and post soon from a computer. :)

Leandra, if you're reading this, so sorry to hear about your encounter with the bus in Costa Rica! Emailing as soon as I get real Internet/computer

Abrazos to all :)