Lessons in witchcraft

Welcome back!

 “Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.”
-Bernice Johnson Reagan


Today I observed in the elementary school for the first day.  I will spend the next 2 months observing classes and learning from the teachers here.  So far I have noticed full classrooms, little resources but a lot of love from the teachers to the students.  However, one recommendation:  Stop giving the kids boat loads of sugar, sugar juice and candy during recess for snack.  I swear, these people don´t drink water! 

Since I have returned from the dental nightmare I have convinced the kids in my flossing lesson that my loose filling popping out wasn´t the work of the floss but instead of a faulty dentist.  However, the conclusion has come about that it was the work of a bruja or witch which pulled out my filling.  Apparently Panama is filled with Witches both men and women and if anything at all strange happens it is the work of witchcraft.  People believe in this so much that the bochinche (gossip) fllies so fast around this town as to who is the witch and who you have to be nice to in order to stay away from bad luck. 
On Thursday we had a huge rainstorm, I mean buckets were being poured on this town (probably by a witch), but of course it occurred in 85-90 degree weather.  After the storm the whole town was talking about the hail storm (impossible of course, and of which I did not witness although I was sitting on a porch throughout it all).  And of course this hail was caused by a witch.  Panama has never seen snow, and I am pretty sure not hail either.  Entonces, I will need to take precautions here to not cause anyone bad luck or harm in fear of forever becoming the witch of San Andres.
Here is a picture of a portion of my host family here: 

And of the best fish I have eaten:

And some favorite kids:

And some favorite kids:

Top 3 things not to do when introducing yourself to a new community:

1)  Do not introduce yourself in front of the school and tell everyone how excited you are to ¨"comer" (eat) them, rather than "concer" (know) them.

2)  Be careful when using the words "ebarassoso" and "embarazada" which can easily confuse people from embarrassed to pregnant and may result in a made rush to get you a chair, lots of food and water, oops!

3)  Show them technology, i.e. camera, ipod, etc... as they will be flooding your door way day and night to try and show their friends and family.  Should have waited on that one.

All in all, life is good here.  It´s an interesting experience, as my friends are old ladies and young children, but at least I have them.  Most women my age have husbands or at least children, and are busy caring for them and fearing I am here to steal the few eligible bachelors in town.  Which I am not!  Hopefully my social life will pick up, I am working on trying to join some sort of sports team, but there is a lot more talk than practice.

Missing you all out there in the US, but integrating well, speaking only Spanish, and enjoying this very sobering, amazing, cultural experience.  3 months down!  24 to go! 

And again, start planning your trips, because you all know how I love to play tour guide!

xoxo

Has anybody watched this, if not do, if so watch it again!

http://youtu.be/koUWaAr-itY 

Way to sum up Peace Corps life boys!

Lessons in dental care and so much more

Hello friends, family and fellow PCV or aspirantes,

After 3 months in country I have finally figured out how to post a blog mostly thanks to the fact that life has slowed down dramatically and I have time to breath as well as use the computer.

As most of you know, I am serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the country of Panama.  Panama is at the most southern point of Central America, bordered by Costa Rica and Columbia.  It's a small country less than the size of North Carolina and with less people than a work day in San Francisco.  The first thing you may notice when flying into this lush green isthmus is the tall sky scrapers, and large boats or cruise ships which slowly creep they're way along the canal. What you won't see however is what lies in the interior of the country, deep in the jungles of the Darien or up in the Mountains of Chiriqui and the Comarca, the sheer poverty and simple lives that both Latinos and Indigenous peoples harmoniously share.  What I noticed between here and the other foreign countries I have traveled to is the great divide between the very rich and the very poor.  And that is why we are here, why the Panamanian Government has asked us to come and educate the people who need it the most in order to bridge the gap.  Brandon, my Training Director once put it this way, think of the rich city: high rise buildings, education, health care, and the availability of all things needed.  Then think of the campo: where sustainable farming means everything and a bad rainy season is devastating to humanity, where people can't just go buy what they need.  And think of a Peace Corps Volunteer as a bridge between the two.  We are here to make peoples lives easier, it won't be easy, but I will be proud to try!

Now that it is explained why I am here, and why Panama of all places, I hope to share on this blog, good times and bad, successes and challenges and of course some good ol' fashion Sina humor.

After the first 2.7 months of training we swore in (last Wed), said goodbye to our training family after 3 very fun filled days on the beach, and headed to our permanent sites (last Saturday).  After a great 2 dull days in San Andres, one of the children I live with in my host family, a 7 year old boy named Kevin was very curious to see what I was doing with my thin white "fishing line" in my mouth.  Ah Ha I thought, what a great way to share dental hygene.  I asked Kevin if he wanted to floss his teeth, so after he gathered up some siblings (he has 13) and some neighbor kids we began the lesson.  With wide eyes they stared as the gringa showed them how she keeps her pearly whites so fresh and clean when POP their goes a filling flying and landing on the cement floor.  The wide, excited eyes turned to those of terror and I am sure they will never floss their teeth for fear of loosing one since I couldn't say filling in Spanish and gasped "My tooth fell out".  The next day I was on a 11 hour bus ride to the city for an emergency dental visit, which proved to be easy and painless.  Now I just have to go back tonight on the red eye midnight arrive very early and explain.

Quote of the week:  "If you don't like it, change it; if you can't change it, change your attitude" -Maya Angelou

I will do my best to update this weekly!

Ciao, Sina

Day 1 San Andres

Let´s just see if this works!