Mamá sure can throw a party.

Mi mamá was working at the secondary school where I help, but she has changed careers. (A little strange to me, since the change happened over our 1-week school vacation break, but that's how it seems to go down here.) There's apparently no promises that teachers will remain at a school until the end of the school year. For instance, my sister now has a new government teacher. Her former teacher was an attorney, but he realized he had too much work to do both. Now she has a new attorney-teacher.

(Tangent: One PCV commented that she found out a teacher was retiring in the middle of the school year and could not believe that a teacher would be willing to abandon her class in the middle, even if that is when the teacher's retirement date fell. I commented that I absolutely would believe that, and I was asked whether or not I care about the kids. Jigga whaaaa? Firstly, it's not the teacher's fault when the retirement fell - that seems like an administration problem - I don't understand why or how retirement can fall in the middle of a school year, but that teacher should never be shunned for taking it on the date it falls. Additionally, no one would say (in their right mind), oh my goodness - I cannot believe that doctor took his retirement - he still has patients! Even the Pope was allowed to take retirement. It frustrates me when people act like the fate of the world seems to be in the hands of educators. And to act like the teacher is selfish for taking retirement - I'm over that sentiment. I do understand where the PCV was coming from. It seems sad for a teacher to not finish the school year, but the reality is - teachers are replaceable. I left my school year this year right in the middle of the semester after exams. Yes, my students were surprised to learn I'd be leaving at Christmas, but by the end of January at exam time, they were given enough time to emotionally prepare for the change. Anyway. Good teachers are, of course, invaluable, but don't put the fate of the world in the hands of a group of underpaid, overworked, societally under-appreciated workers and then say it's absurd for them to desire to take retirement. Ranteth completeth.)

Back to the party. So, mom now works for MEDUCA, the school system here - oh hey, connections! :)  And she has upped the ante of her other business. In her other business, she delivers perfume, shoes, and other beauty products to people in Santiago. She keeps meticulous records and collects money. I'm not really sure what you would call this, but it seems to be a form of Avon lady, but for more stuff and without any real allegiance to one brand. Last Wednesday, there was a huge party celebrating the grand opening of her business. We visited the office in the past, so I knew something was going down - but I didn't grasp the extent of this business. I thought she had 2 partners in her business, because during the ribbon cutting ceremony - yep, there was one - two other people held the scissors with her, but it was just clarified that they are her employees. Mmm hmmm entrepreneurial mom. Take that traditional social roles! There was an awesome spread of food, a champagne toast, some soda, a Priest gave a longer than expected blessing of the building (there was a reading and reflection involved...), a drag queen gave a performance and MC'd a bit, and there was a DJ pumping the jams.

Firstly, WOW. I had visited my mom's office maybe 7 days prior, and the walls were still being painted and there were some splatters on the floor, but SHAZAM! Just like that, the office was ready for business. The party displayed many of the options you could have for your upcoming event. For instance, wedding attire, quince attire, food spreads, drinks, etc. One girl was walking around in what I presume was a Princess ball gown modeling a quince dress. Some of the teachers from the colegio (secondary school) showed up, so I was delighted to see "my people." I also spent a lot of time hanging out with Marina and her daughter. Marina is our housekeeper.

So, let's compare Panaparties to American parties. Firstly, when we arrived - no one was allowed to touch the food and there were no drinks. We were given about 1.5 hours to just look longingly at the food. (Otherwise known as socializing and paying attention during the many presentations.) Then after all the business was finished, we got in massive lines and buffeted the heck out of that food. It was demolished. I'm not saying the American way is better here, but we were pretty darn hungry by that point, so tensions were high. I would argue that people would've been a little more calm had we been able to eat the food at the start, but that's probably just my hunger talking. ha. Also, no booze except for the champagne toast. Not gonna lie, smart move, mom. Way cheaper for a party full of potential customers, plus, it was a work night. I did feel a little left out of the family stuff at times, but I get it - they were busy, but I did make an attempt to hang with Abuelo at times. He insisted I take my picture with the decorations, so I could update my Whatsapp picture. Oh, Abuelo. 

It ended up an excellent night, and it was definitely a night of immersion, since we only spoke Spanish and I learned tons about yeye Pana-party customs. Really impressed with mi mamá for taking this leap in her business. Pretty darn brave if you ask me. 

   

                     The Legendary Abuelo!                                                                    Y Marina!

My potential new Whatsapp pictures. Thanks for the suggestion, Abuelo.

To See Waters: Ver Aguas.

Torio Beach

                       
Firstly, I'm not sure what Veraguas really means. But it is the only province that touches both the Pacific & Atlantic, so I'm gonna go ahead and say it is literal "Ver" To See, "Aguas" Waters.

Friday we had our regional meeting, which I had been very excited about, since it meant I got to meet the mysterious other PCVs in my province of Veraguas (to be said in a whispered parsel-tongue like tone as you elongate the "as" sound at the end.)  Ver-ahhh-guaaassssssss.

So, I made it on time - much to my relief with all my stuff and waited outside for the meeting room to open up. My first observation was that when I approached the group of people, they did not seem very warm and did not introduce themselves. Hmm weird, I says to myself. I waited for a good time to be the initiator, but it just did not happen. The country director, Pete, and the assistant country director, Sue, were both there in the circle, and I was able to chat with Sue a bit.

Finally, more people arrived and I chatted with those folks. It was initially a little off-putting to think that my region did not seem very inviting. Ouch. But then the doors opened, and we entered the gloriously a/c'd room, and I went out of my way to introduce myself to people and try to remind them of how normal social situations go down at home in the states. Maybe they've been too far removed living in the Panamanian Campo. Ha. People seemed very friendly upon introductions.

It seems that a normal regional meeting consists of signing some papers, getting shots when required, listening to Pete and Sue, listening to the Regional Leader, and hearing from representatives from different parts of the Peace Corps program, also my current RL Bridget likes to include something silly in the mix, which I appreciate. I'm going to miss having her as my RL. This meeting we had a haiku contest, and I got 3rd place! You will find my award winning haiku at the end of my post. So in terms of groups, Veraguas has CEC, SAS, and TE in the region, but soon it will only have SAS and TE. (If these terms don't make sense to you, you have failed at keeping up with my blog. For shame!)
I was especially excited to meet the non-TE folks, since I hadn't met anyone from the other sectors other than CEC 76. No one lives super close to me, but there are some interesting folks that live off the grid. I'd love to go see their sites and maybe learn how to do some stuff. The major plus could be that while I go visit, I could return to my own site and ya know, have electricity and showers, and easy access to a washing machine again. :)

Also, I really like how the other sectors have some other people that are my age! Hurray!

1/2 priced ritas on Thurs!

I really love some of my TE and CEC folks, and after teaching HS and connecting with so many students, I do know that age is just a number - BUT - I am grateful that there are some people that will understand my movie/tv references more readily. It's painful (comically, of course) when a joke falls flat because people don't understand the allusion. (For example: While sipping margaritas one night in Santiago, Varsity Blues came on the tv in the restaurant, so we're kind of watching and talking, since it's just video, no audio. I'm not proud to have seen this movie. I can't help but assume I watched it because of my brothers, but who knows. Anyway - the coach (Jon Voight) is flipping out about how the team refuses to play for him anymore, and he gets so red and he's yelling. So I say, this is when he rips his face off and we realize it's Tom Cruise. No one knew what I was talking about. Are you telling me a Mission Impossible reference is too old for people? Double ouch.) I know - I'm hilarious.

After the regional meetings, people tend to get together to go on some sort of trip to celebrate the beauty that is their province. We went to Torio beach, which is to the south - so it's the Pacific Ocean. There were 12 of us total that stayed in the hostel together. After hitting up the grocery store for hostel supplies, we headed back to the terminal for the bus departure. The 2 hour or so bus trip was unbearably hot, but there were some beautiful sights along the way.

Cows impeding our road to the beach.

Once we got to Torio, we made our way to the hostel and dropped off our stuff, changed for the beach, and headed down to check it out.  It was really beautiful. The sand was only okay, but in terms of the view - wow. It felt like I was on my own private beach.
 I swam for a while Friday, and then we had some beers and a fish dinner at the restaurant/bar on the beach. Delicious. I really had a great time getting to know some of the Veraguas folks. That night I finally slept on my Therm-a-rest because the hostel only had 8 beds. I slept well and saved $4 for the hostel. :) Woot! I decided to sleep outside of the dorm room, which was awesome. I got to see so many stars and wasn't eaten alive by mosquitoes, believe it or not! Saturday I woke up to rain, which I loved (because I had a roof overhead), and I got to watch the rain fall on the beautiful landscape. It was like comfort camping. And the hostel even had hot water in the shower, which was beyond luxurious. Saturday, I sort of just hung out and read, and later, we all headed to the beach. That night I splurged on a $8 dinner of lobster pasta. The sauce was so rich; it was yummy. Definitely made me wish I lived closer to the coast. That night we sat around the hostel telling some tales before heading to bed. And the next day we all headed back to Santiago before going our own ways. We lucked out and were able to fit into a busito together. So, my assessment is that Veraguas may have been a little prickly at first, but overall - it's a good group that I think I will fit in with just fine! 

 Needed a change of

Scenery in life. Ready

To see what comes next.

No Cable Cars Here - San Francisco Treats.

The beautiful San Francisco.

I visited Roxana's site in San Francisco, which is about an hour from me. First I take a bus to Santiago, and then I bus from Santiago to San Fran. She had spoken about how cute her site is, and it really is. I'm just doing my best not to have site envy at this point.

When I arrived we headed to her host family's home, which is too nice - So classic! It's beautifully and thoughtfully decorated and is so clean and lovely. It's what I dream my future grownup "home" will look like. Just clean and smart. No clutter.

Me, Roxana, & Kara overlooking SF

We (the Veraguas crew: Rox, Kara, and I) decided to hike this huge hill in her site. Roxana spoke to her friend and she volunteered to be our guide. That might sound a bit ridiculous, but a guide was essential because our route cut through all these cow pastures with barbed wire, and it was not a direct path. It was easier than I imagined it would be in the heat, since looking up at this hill made me wonder why I was the one who literally had suggested to Roxana that we use our vacation time to "go hiking." Luckily the other 3 gals were still game on, and so began our "cerro hike." En route to the cerro start, our guide, Josie, showed us some of the beauty of her home - San Francisco. The two "water features" photos are in fact actual cascading waterfalls. Stifling my site envy... Back to the hike.

Did I mention it's beautiful?

Admittedly, I haven't done any major hikes in a while, but I do enjoy the workout of it. I had been in the middle of the group, and I moved to the caboose, where I could set my own pace. I realized the hardest part for me this time was just having to stop a lot because the people in front kept stopping and before that.  It was fine - I think they thought that was a nice thing to do? I don't know, but once we got going, it was clear where the trail was, so it wasn't as necessary. And I don't like being right on top of people while hiking, so I left a little bit of space between me and the person in front of me, since sometimes I move faster, and sometimes I definitely move slower, so maybe they thought I was being left behind.   And with all that sweating and huffing and puffing, the last thing I wanted was anyone too close. At the top we got to do some rock scrambling, which was really fun. The whole trip was pretty funny. Pre-hike, I drank a lot of water, made sure to use my inhalers that I rarely use, but perhaps should use daily, since I breathe so elegantly while hiking. I brought my backpack of stuff with me: sunblock, 2 water bottles, umbrella, and stuff for swimming later. The girl guiding us? She brought nothing. Literally nothing, and she was wearing a super cute Tommy Hilfiger looking outfit with matching shoes that looked like Keds. I was wearing hiking boots. I will say though. My boots did a great job. I felt very secure. But compared to the bad ass Josie (our guide), I looked ridiculous.

After hiking, we visited the bakery. We were given a heavenly concoction of tutti frutti and lemonade. It reminded me of the drink I made in college mixing the two drinks in the cafeteria, but this was way more delicious. It had a great zing to it. We hung out and relaxed at the bakery and then toured a little bit more. Jenn (another PCV, not from Veraguas) joined us at the bakery.

We visited a sort of swimming hole looking thing. There were two waterfalls leading into it. It was magical. We got to swim for a long time, which I adored. I swam against the current of one of the waterfalls and it was like I had my own lap pool. My arms were sore the next day.

Where we swam!

Following our swim, we went to Roxana's home and cooked dinner and made some zucchini bread. Rox is essentially the Betty Crocker of the group. But how lucky because I got to get some super yummy bread before I headed home that night. I really lucked out with visiting her site because there is a bus that leaves her house after 7 PM, and my last bus leaves after 8 PM, so I can always visit her and still make it home to my place - should I desire that.

Relieved Exhaustion.

I had a great day seeing my future swimming hole. :)  I'm certainly jealous I do not have my own place to swim nearby, but such is life. Two buses and I'm there!

 You Hate Us, 'cuz You Ain't Us - V E R A G U A S.