Four Month Visit

Last week I received my four-month visit from one of my Peace Corps bosses. They visit everyone in their fourth month in site. It was really nice to get one-on-one attention and support. We discussed a lot of things, both good and bad, and I felt incredibly supported by Peace Corps. It's easy to forget, with such independence on a daily basis, that there really is an office full of people I can call for help or support whenever I need it. It also felt good to conduct the entire visit in Spanish, compared to the awkward Spanglish conversations I had with her during training. The most important result from her visit was the reiteration of my role here -- mainly, that I'm not a Panamanian teacher, but a Peace Corps Volunteer. I shouldn't be going to every class. Instead, I should be sitting in the teachers' lounge, planning lessons and preparing activities and materials. It's a much better use of my time.

This week I've made a lot of progress with the junior high English teacher, Leiby. She spent all of her free periods actually planning with me, rather than merely taking my plans and ideas and butchering them or ignoring them completely, like she has in the past. Not only did we plan together, but she had some really great ideas. Of course, who knows how these lesson plans will translate into the actual classroom, but it's a start. I'm much happier with the job aspect of my Peace Corps life now. I'm really seeing some progress and changes, no matter how small. Of course, with every step forward, there are usually two steps back, but we'll see.

The rainy season, or "winter," is in full swing, which means most mornings it's incredibly hot until the afternoon when it starts pouring. Sometimes the storms are so strong, we lose electricity. (Though we also lose electricity when the storms aren't that strong...) Sometimes the rain is a sudden downpour, coming from nowhere and lasting only a few minutes, and other times it will be a steady heavy rain that lasts all day. For the junior high students, whose school day goes from 12:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon, the rainy season severely effects their education. Their classes are constantly interrupted by thunder or the lights going out and back on and out again. It's impossible to hear anything over the sound of the rain hitting the tin roof. (I've lost my voice trying to teach while it's raining.) The rain also effected the water supply at one point, leaving the school without water for a couple of weeks, though it recently got fixed. A five-hour school day in reality is more like three. Not to even get into the quality of the education they receive in those three hours. The rainy season lasts most of the school year. How are these kids supposed to compete on a global scale? On the bright side, my school just receieved a bunch of new desks, so at least all the students have seats now.