Feliz año nuevo mis amigos! I hope you all had a merry Christmas and have
started the new year off on the right foot!
I was very lucky to have my family come to Panama for Christmas this
year. It was great to spend some quality
time with them and for them to get a better idea of what my life is like
here. I picked them up at the airport on
the 22nd of December and we drove back to my site in Parita. It was very stressful trying to navigate
Panama City because there are no street signs and we didn’t have GPS. My mom brought me a family size box of
Cheez-Its, and it was gone before the time we got out of Panama City because we
were all stress eating! But we
eventually found our way out and arrived to my site that night. My family finally got to meet Neci, Reina,
and our new friend Doug who is just a huge, sweet lion who I’m trying to make
more fat and healthy.
The next
day we left for RIU Playa Blanca, which is this beautiful all-inclusive beach
resort about 2 hours from my site. I
didn’t even know such a nice place existed in Panama! We spent the next three days there relaxing
by the pool, reading, eating, and taking advantage of the swim up bar! On Christmas morning we opened our stockings
and my parents and sister opened up the Panamanian presents I got for
them. It was incredible to leave my site
and eat a ton of food, but after three days I was ready to go back and show my
parents my site!
Relaxing on the beach with my family, doesn't get much better than that!
Dad sandwich!!!
Christmas came to Panama this year!
This was our incredible view from our room!
From the 26th-28th
my family stayed at my house in Parita and we explored my site and the
surrounding towns. First and foremost, I
brought them to Yahois which is this discount clothing store where they found
some great things! Then we went to a
fonda where they had their first experience with Panamanian food. My dad said it was the best potato salad he
has ever had! We spent the rest of the
day buying stuff for my new house and then went back to get it approved by the
Safety and Security Warden of the Azuero.
We spent the rest of the day moving my stuff in and cleaning out the house. My parents also got to meet my host mom Dora,
who didn’t really understand that they don’t speak Spanish but it was a good
encounter anyways. We walked around my
town and I was able to show them the church, plaza, and most of the town. They were also able to meet a few of my
friends. I wish they were able to have
spent more time here in my site, but we made the most of the time we had
here.
On the 28th we left for Panama
City. On the way there we stopped off in
Santa Rita and I introduced my family to my original host family. It was really cool to have my mom meet my
host mom, who I still keep in contact with and visit whenever I go to the
city. Unfortunately we weren’t able to
stay very long, but my parents wanted to get to the city before it got
dark. 0462
We didn’t, and we got horribly
lost. We ended up trying to follow a man
delivering pizzas on a motorcycle, but he didn’t know where he was going
either. Eventually, we were able to find
the general area and by a stroke of luck I saw the hotel down a side
street. It was so stressful, but when we
finally got there we went out to dinner and were able to unwind.
The next
day we got on one of those “Hop on Hop off” busses and were able to go see the
Miraflores lock of the Panama Canal which was really cool. They have an
incredible museum and we were even able to see how a huge barge passes through
the Canal! After that we went onto Isla
Flamingo where we ate lunch at a really cool Nepalese restaurant. We decided to call it a day after that and
went back to our hotel. Emmy wasn’t
feeling well so mom, dad and I went out bar hoping around our hotel and had
dinner. The next day I dropped them off
at the airport. It was hard to say
goodbye but easier knowing that I would be seeing them in May for Emmy’s
graduation.
At the Miraflores lock!
A cargo ship passing through the canal!
Dad, the super-tourist
Ever since
I’ve gotten back from Panama City though it’s been something of a
nightmare. I had to move out of my old
house where I had been living in since August because the landlord came back. The only house I found before I had to move
out was this huge house with 3 bedrooms, a big kitchen, living room, dining
room, pool table, pool, and fenced in backyard.
It was way outside of my pay grade, but I didn’t have a choice because I
couldn’t find anything else. I was
planning on renting it for just two months until Carnival was over at which
time I would have hopefully been able to find something. But after only three days in the house, the
city electricians came by and cut the electricity because the landlords hadn’t
paid the bill for the previous month.
Then began a very long and stressful two weeks of trying to work with
the landlords to pay the bill and fix the electrical problems, but I eventually
realized that they were not going to do anything about it. Thanks to the help of my neighbors though, I
found another house that I will be moving into today! I am very excited because this could be a
permanent house where I can finish the rest of my Peace Corps service without
having to worry about finding another place! Next week I leave for a Peace
Corps training that I’ll be attending with my friend Cesar from Parita. It’s a PCV and community member training
about how to be leaders for your community.
After that, I’ll be leaving for the Darien where I’ll be translating at
a medical clinic for a day then as a youth camp facilitator for Peace Corps
Gender and Development sector. I’m so
excited for all of these new developments, expect updates soon!
