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