Chickens Climb Trees... And Other Facts About My New Life

So, the other day I came home from class around 5:30 as usual. Normally my host mom has a plate of dinner waiting for me and everyone's talking and milling about the house, but this day no one was inside. I heard voices out back so I went out there and everyone was standing looking up at a tree. Deivy (pronounced like Davey), who is 12, was throwing rocks at the tree. I thought he was throwing them at the chickens in the tree... that's a pretty weird sight, right? Do chickens in the States fly from tree branch to tree branch? I thought it was pretty mean to throw rocks at chickens, but no one else seemed to think so, so I didn't say anything. It turns out that Deivy was throwing the rocks at the fruit in the tree, trying to knock it down so we could eat it. It had nothing to do with the chickens.

So in case you haven't guessed, we've moved in with our host families. And in case you also haven't guessed, there are some awkward encounters sometimes (like what we're throwing rocks at) when I don't understand the language all the time. My family is awesome though. My host mom, or Panamom, Señora Carmen, is 66. She has about four teeth so it's difficult to understand her sometimes, but she is warm and kind and ferociously protective of me. Her daughter, also named Carmen, lives in the house with her eight year old son and one year old daughter Nicole. Sister Carmen is 28, always makes sure I'm included in conversations, asks me questions... she's great. Little Nicole is adorable though hard to understand (like any one year old in English would be) and she has taken to climbing into my lap a lot. There is also Deivy, another grandson of Señora Carmen, who lives with us but his parents don't. Don't ask me to try to explain Panamanian family dynamics; it would take me years to figure it all out.

My house is a simple concrete structure with a tin roof. I have my own room though the door is just a sheet. The bathroom is a simple latrine outside a few feet away from the house and my shower is a bucket of water outside. (I'm actually liking the bucket baths. They're quite refreshing.) We have electricity but don't really use it that much except for the TV.

Right now we are trainees. We are not technically Peace Corps Volunteers until we finish 10 weeks of training and get sworn in at the end of March. Training is very intensive and I feel like my brain is about to explode by the end of every day with the amount of everything we are learning. From 8 to 12 I have Spanish class with 3 other girls who are the same level as me. (The results from the interview I previously spoke of: I got placed in the 4th level of 9 with 9 being totally fluent, so I'm at the lower end of the intermediate level.) I feel very good about where I was placed, especially since I haven't taken a Spanish class in 4 years. I am definitely appreciating my quality education though - it's amazing how much is coming back to me without me even thinking about it. In order to be sworn in as volunteers we have to be at the 5th level so I think I will be fine. We get tested again in 3 weeks and I am hoping I will be at the 5th level by then. So from 8 to 12 I have Spanish class at a house 5 minutes away from mine. Class revolves more around speaking than writing or grammar. Then I walk home for lunch. From 1 to 5 our entire group of 42 gets together for technical classes. Since we're in the Teaching English program, our technical classes involve learning about the Panamanian educational system, the Ministry of Education whom we will be working closely with, and specific ESL teaching techniques and methodologies. Starting next week I will only have 2 hours of tech class and then I will have an additional 2 hours of Spanish class in the afternoon.

I usually get home around 5:30, eat dinner, and hang out with my Panafamily. I'm slightly concerned about the level of my emotional attachment to the novelas (soap operas) that are on every night. Deivy also likes to watch The Simpsons which I love because it's really slow and basic vocabulary and I understand almost every word.

I got my first hug from Señora Carmen the other day. She was bragging to our neighbors how good of an eater I am. I keep trying to diplomatically ask for less food on my plate and explain that I don't want to get fat. But she told me that it's okay to get fat, I shouldn't look like Barbie. Thanks, Panamom.