Oh boy that was a long trip. I was SOOO tired after all that traveling and mental stress, not to mention I had a nervous stomachache for the first three days. Once we arrived in Panama, though, I felt fine. Anyway, besides being a little tired I am still doing fine. Except I totally sucked on my spanish interview that is supposed to place us in our language classes, so I'll probably end up in the beginner class. I wish I would have had more opportunities to practice speaking, I'm fine with reading and ok with writing. Oh well, I guess it will be good practice.
I've liked the food so far, it's just been a caterer coming in with pretty much the same meal over and over with a few variations but it's been good for my stomach to have simple meals of beans, rice, chicken, veggies, and fried plantains.
We are right by the canal, you can see the ships in the locks a few hundred yards from the Peace Corps offices. Also, right now we have air conditioning, which is pretty nice, as well as internet, phones, and tv. Yesterday we had to do a swimming test, which was just swimming for 10 minutes without touching the sides or bottom. Then we had to learn how to make a floatation device out of jeans, in the unlikely event that we were stuck in a large body of water without a life jacket. That was an interesting experience trying to take the pants off in the water and inflate them, I think it would be more tiring than swimming to shore. It started raining while we were in the pool, and those huge rainforest drops splashing back in your face while swimming makes it about impossible to see where you are going. The girls all had to have a blood test to make sure they weren't pregnant, so the guys got off lucky. However, I got off lucky today because I've already had my yellow fever shot.
This is a huge group, the biggest yet in Panama I guess. There are 48 of us, with 19 in my sector. I still need to have my interview with the sector leader and also my medical interview, which I was supposed to have yesterday but things are behind schedule. I've been bitten by about 15 mosquitos so far, mostly after I got out of the pool and hadn't brought the deet with me. I had mailed my old passport and drivers license home while in DC, but when I got here all of a sudden they said I needed my drivers license for my bank account as a second form of ID, and I was like, well the guy at staging told me that I didn't need it anymore so I mailed it home. But it was all good, they just have to make an affidavit saying that I am here and I am me.
The humidity is pretty much what I expected it to be, but there's one thing about humid heat, it sure makes it nice to take the cold showers. Otherwise I'd dislike that.
Anyway, I guess I'd better go now because I need to head over to the next session, which I believe is survival spanish. Hasta luego!
I've liked the food so far, it's just been a caterer coming in with pretty much the same meal over and over with a few variations but it's been good for my stomach to have simple meals of beans, rice, chicken, veggies, and fried plantains.
We are right by the canal, you can see the ships in the locks a few hundred yards from the Peace Corps offices. Also, right now we have air conditioning, which is pretty nice, as well as internet, phones, and tv. Yesterday we had to do a swimming test, which was just swimming for 10 minutes without touching the sides or bottom. Then we had to learn how to make a floatation device out of jeans, in the unlikely event that we were stuck in a large body of water without a life jacket. That was an interesting experience trying to take the pants off in the water and inflate them, I think it would be more tiring than swimming to shore. It started raining while we were in the pool, and those huge rainforest drops splashing back in your face while swimming makes it about impossible to see where you are going. The girls all had to have a blood test to make sure they weren't pregnant, so the guys got off lucky. However, I got off lucky today because I've already had my yellow fever shot.
This is a huge group, the biggest yet in Panama I guess. There are 48 of us, with 19 in my sector. I still need to have my interview with the sector leader and also my medical interview, which I was supposed to have yesterday but things are behind schedule. I've been bitten by about 15 mosquitos so far, mostly after I got out of the pool and hadn't brought the deet with me. I had mailed my old passport and drivers license home while in DC, but when I got here all of a sudden they said I needed my drivers license for my bank account as a second form of ID, and I was like, well the guy at staging told me that I didn't need it anymore so I mailed it home. But it was all good, they just have to make an affidavit saying that I am here and I am me.
The humidity is pretty much what I expected it to be, but there's one thing about humid heat, it sure makes it nice to take the cold showers. Otherwise I'd dislike that.
Anyway, I guess I'd better go now because I need to head over to the next session, which I believe is survival spanish. Hasta luego!
I am glad you made it there safely. I am excited to hear about all your adventures. I hope you have a great experience and meet lots of neat people! Good Luck!!
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