Volunteer Visit

I am back from Cocle and more pumped than ever to get going!

So I went to a campo community outside of Penonome. I had to take a bus from where I am into Penonome and then a chiva (little bus/van thing), and then hike up 30 minutes to the school where my volunteer met me. I visited with Jake, the same person we went to visit as a whole group. I had mixed feelings at first about going back to someplace I had already seen. But on the flip side, I felt more comfortable traveling, and had really already seen about the projects, and was able to spend more time really getting to see how he integrated in the community. And really that is what I want to know more about. Projects come and go, but the impact you make personally on people is what is most important!

It was soooo nice not really having a schedule and just hanging out. On Saturday we worked at the school, helping finish a basketball court. It was really interesting watching the pace of work and the inginuity of the people. As the day started, I was not really sure that it would happen, but every problem was worked through and the hoops were put up! It was totally a real live PC project in action, with all the ups and downs. On Sunday we went to La Pinta for a festival which was really fun. Google it. Its a cool place. Lovely story about travel on Sundays...its nearly impossible. There was one chiva running. One. And on the way back we accidentally got on headed toward Penonome. Oops! So we got a bit of a ride. The joys of travel in Panama!

Pasear-ing was awesome! People were a bit shy about talking to me at first, and I was the same way. But once I got in with the kids...I was golden. One of the little boys Adrian was so stinking cute. We whistled back and forth and played which hand has the rock for hours. I started to feel more confident and was able to talk and joke with the family. I was really sad when I had to leave. I feel like we do that a lot in the Peace Corps, form relationships and then have to leave.

It was also really nice just to talk and have a real conversation. We have been so busy training and spending time with our host families, that we really haven´t had time to really talk about why we are here and what we want from this personally. I know that everyone here is similar to me, but to talk to a volunteer and just get that reassurance that what we are doing is pretty awesome and we are all on the same page.

Two final things that I learned from my visit....I will have a hammock and I will have a dog.