I don't know where to begin! I've been incredibly busy the last few weeks. The first week in June, my entire group of 40 volunteers that came in together in January had In-Service Training, or IST (as opposed to our initial 3 months of Pre-Service Training, or PST... Peace Corps is a world of annoying acronyms). It was nice to see everyone again, especially for my 24th birthday. I also learned a lot and was excited to return to site with a ton of new ideas, not to mention renewed confidence and enthusiasm.
My biggest news is that I've finally moved into my own house! The Peace Corps rule is that you spend the first 3 months in site with a host family (or a combination of host families) before you can move into your own place. My house is perfect. It's just the right amount of "roughing it." I love it. It's technically three rooms, but since it's all kind of open it's more like one big room. My friend Eira helped me furnish it, going into town with me to haggle the prices of my mattress, small fridge, and stove. Her brother Ari made my iron bedframe, surprising me by forming my name in the headboard. Other neighbors and community members helped by lending me tables, a water tank to store water, and a gas tank to cook. Eira's husband Enrique hooked up the gas tank to the stove for me. (I like to feel independent and do things for myself, but not at the risk of blowing myself up.) I have a latrine and "shower" (bucket bath) in the backyard. Water comes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for an hour or so, so when it comes I use a hose to fill up a big barrel tank with water. I use that water to drink, cook, wash the dishes, wash my clothes (by hand), and to bathe (bucket bath means throwing a bucket of water over your head). It's amazing how little water you actually need. I read somewhere that every time you flush a toilet, you use more water than the average Panamanian uses in an entire day. I certainly never run out of water in my storage tank, though it is frustrating to never know what time exactly the water will come. For example, this past week, on Monday it came at 10 in the morning, on Wednesday it must have come in the afternoon when I was at school, and on Friday it came at 4:30 in the morning. The trick is to go to sleep with the faucet in the backyard open, so when it noisily spits to life it'll wake you up. And that's when it comes at all, a problem that seems to be recurring, so I make sure to never let my tank get too low. We're lucky though, if we ever truly run out, at least we have the lake nearby to go jump in and get somewhat clean. The most exciting part of having my own house is finally being able to cook for myself! Though I do tend to do what volunteers call "strategic pasearing," where you pasear at dinnertime, knowing you'll be fed. I especially go to Eira's house because 1) I like hanging out there, 2) she's a great cook, and 3) she considers me rude if I don't eat while I'm there, no matter what the time of day.
My other exciting news is that I got a kitten! A volunteer nearby, Leah, found her in her site but was leaving to go visit the U.S. I offered to take her as long as I didn't have to give her back when Leah returned. I guessed (correctly) that I'd get attached. I named her Dora, after The Explorer, because of many similarities, mainly their bilingualism, the disproportionate size of their eyes, and their affinity for backpacks. Half the time she drives me crazy and half the time she keeps me sane.
Recently we had "English Week" at school which basically meant I was working my ass off for the weeks leading up to it. Every grade did some sort of English-related activity, ranging from a 3rd grade fashion show of occupations (farmer, teacher, lawyer, engineer, etc.) to a 9th grade rendition of Miley Cyrus. Of all the challenges I've faced in the Peace Corps, practicing Miley Cyrus over and over and over again was probably the hardest thing I've done here. I'm only half kidding.
Luckily, I've had a couple opportunities to get out of site, see some other friends, and relax a bit. One night I went to Santiago, a city about four hours away, to celebrate a fellow volunteer's 30th birthday. Another time I went to Panama City to see a friend from Zimbabwe who just happened to be here. Small world! In Panama City we discovered a New York bagel place that nearly made me cry with joy. That's going to be a welcome stop every time I go into the city.
Things are finally settling down now though and I'm settling into a nice new routine in my new home. I'll put up pictures soon!
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