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.