Bus Chronicles & Privilege

"Eres la india más bonita" (You are the most beautiful Indian)

is his opening line as he approaches me as I'm waiting at the bus stop, reading my book. It's a driver for one of the nice double-decker David-to-Panama City buses. I know he means it as a compliment, but hearing it is a punch in the stomach. I am not a beautiful Indian, I'm an outsider who has been given precious permission to wear a nagua. I wear one every time I go visit potential new sites because I feel that people are instantly a little more relaxed seeing a foreigner come in when he/she is wearing local dress and greets them in Ngäbere. On instinct I narrow my eyes and reply curtly, I'm not a native, sir. He asks if I'm a pilgrim for World Youth Day happening currently in Panama City. No, I live here. I explain how I lived in the Comarca for two years and am now doing a different job here in San Félix. Oh good, that you're living here, so much better down here than in the Comarca, he states. No, I reply, actually I liked living in the Comarca better. Cooler climate, beautiful views, less pollution, surrounded by friendly neighbors. I change the subject because I'm not in the mood to hear his opinion on the Ngäbe.

He tells me about his son, who is 9 and loves cars. They took a trip to the US last year for auto-themed attractions and went to the Henry Ford in Detroit! So we talk about that a little. He tells me that his wife is my age. He looks like he's about the same age as my parents, mid-fifties. Turns out she's 28, he shows me some photos of her on his cell phone. She's beautiful, I say. Yes, he replies, I love younger women. *gross*

The bus is about to leave. He motions for me to get on and I tell him no, I'm waiting for a Tolé bus because I want a bus that takes me directly to the chiva terminal so I don't have to pay for a taxi. I'll take you for free, he says. I hesitate, and I want to say no because it's not fair, but I can't pass up a free ride on a nice bus. When we reach the Tolé entrance, I get off without paying while the Ngäbe man behind me digs through his wallet for change.

I feel ashamed, enraged about this: I get a free bus ride simply because I'm a white person. It truly makes me sick thinking about the racism I see and hear every day. This is not covert racism like the US where people save it for at home or behind a keyboard. Nope, you will hear "The Ngäbes are dirty", "The indigenous people are irresponsible", "The people of the Comarca just don't understand" out loud, in public, sometimes right in front of Ngäbes. Whenever I'm told something like this, I counter it with an example of someone hardworking or clever that I know from the Comarca. Maybe 90% of the time my story is quickly dismissed.

I got to Tolé, got my busito up to Alto Caballero and had an awesome meeting with a technician from the Ministry of Agriculture about potential new sites and how to improve the partnership between Peace Corps and the ministry. I was in high spirits coming back down to Tolé. I went to buy some veggies and as I was leaving the stand I pass two guys around my age. As soon they're behind me one of them says in a loud, snarky voice, "It looks like they left a pilgrim behind" and they both laugh. I turn around, shoot them the stink eye and say "I'm not a pilgrim." Ugh.

Bus back to San Félix, gotta pass the security checkpoint on the highway. As the busito is pulling to a stop I dig through my backpack for my passport. I look up and the officer is glaring at me. He says sarcastically, "So you're trying to camouflage yourself, huh?" Everyone on the bus turns to stare at me. He's referring to my nagua, I guess? I stammer something, not sure how to respond to this question. Peace Corps? he barks. Yes. He lets me off the hook and demands to see ID from only one person on the bus, a young guy in the front row. A Coclesano, hmm? I share an eye-roll with some of the people sitting around me. Why is this officer allowed to single people out? I ask the woman next to me. She shrugs, that's how it is.

I've had confrontations with much more aggressive officers at this particular checkpoint. Ever since one of them yelled at me in November 2017, my pulse quickens and I feel anxious every time I approach the checkpoint, hoping I won't be harassed. As a white person in this era I will probably always be a part of the dominant race so I'll never really know whats it's like to be part of the marginalized, but I will say I understand more clearly how it feels to be racially profiled, to be singled out solely because of how you look. I can imagine myself as a "foreign-looking" American worrying every time I go through airport security about getting questioned or pulled aside for a "random" pat-down. I imagine myself as black man driving at night, worrying a police officer might pull me over and assume I'm a criminal or worse, point his gun at me. And I understand now, more than ever, being a white woman is kind of like an invisible shield. If an officer is unnecessarily harsh with me at the checkpoint, I can (and I have) expressed my annoyance because I know that my whiteness is protecting me. But what if that black man driving at night responded with some equally sassy words to the officer? We know that he doesn't carry that same protection.

This post doesn't really have a rosy ending; the reality that we live in can be pretty grim. One thing that I am so much more grateful for now than I was before Panama is the diversity we have in the US. After living two years in a mono-ethnic community, where I had to get used to being constantly gaped at, being an anonymous person in the US surrounded by people of all colors felt amazing. I was walking through Chicago Union Station in December to catch the bus and I couldn't help but smile at how all different kinds of people were just coexisting and no one was staring at anyone because everyone looked different. This may sound ridiculous to you, but it was honestly magical to me haha. Obviously we have a long way to go in the States, but after Peace Corps I will cherish living in a diverse place every day of my life.

Alright, ending this post on some more positive notes:

1) Señorita Panama 2018 Rosa Montezuma, who represented Panama in Thailand at the Miss Universe Pageant in December, is part indigenous and went to elementary school in the Comarca. She's amazing! Here is my favorite photo from her Instagram. You should check out some of her other photos too, despite her fame she's incredibly down-to-earth.

2) Here you can watch Pope Francis' message (also read the English translation) to the world gathering of indigenous youth that took place in the Comarca on January 19th. At 4:41 HE SPEAKS IN NGÄBERE and totally butchers the pronunciation, but A for effort!!

3) Okay I admit this song in not empowering in any manner as Kenny Man is singing about women basically as sex objects, however, I have to say the song makes me smile. It's about how he doesn't want some foreign woman, don't want no blonde ;), he wants a dark Panamanian woman who appreciates the yuca boiling on the fire. He mentions every province including the three major indigenous provinces:

Coclesana, Guna Yala, Embera
Ngäbe Buglé nuestra Miss Panamá
Tenemos de todo no hace falta ma' na'

"We have everything, we're not missing any part"

A Peek at 2019

A few highlights of 2018, chronologically: Acting Out Awareness camp, hosting in-service training in my community, climbing Volcán Barú, all of the HIV charlas, going to Batata, accepting my offer to stay a 3^rd year in Panama, Courtney and Mara’s visit, building the storage tank with my gente, my despedida from Cerro Gallina, planning regional meeting, going to Kankintú, seeing Dinora, Mayela, and Lucila graduate from high school.

I have so much to look forward to in 2019, you guys! Meeting World Youth Day pilgrims, site development, some in-country travels, welcoming new volunteers, Panama elects a new prez, ringing the gong, two dear friends’ weddings, running my first half marathon in Detroit in October (lol help me), hopefully getting a real professional job and moving somewhere cool?!

It’s scary but also so freaking exhilarating not knowing what I’m going to be doing a year from now! “What are you planning to do in September?” was definitely the most frequent question on my trip, and I was forced to ponder this a bit. My current plan is to find an entry-level environmental engineering job. Grad school is hopefully in my future too, but I want to get some experience in industry first. I have a list of potential cities to live in and I’m getting started with the job search via friends, LinkedIn, and whatnot.

Some other random resolutions/goals:

• Read an article from the New York Times every day I have access to my computer. There was a holiday deal so I decided to subscribe to the NYT online, and I am loving it so far.
• No more than half an hour on social media a day (this one is going to be hard)
• Study for the GRE a bit each day. I hope to take it in September or October.
• Continue to improve the Regional Leader house for all the current and future PCVs that enjoy this house
• Visit each of my volunteers in their sites!
• Dedicate myself wholeheartedly to site development. For two years I reaped what previous RLs, staff members, and community members sowed, and now it is my time to plant. Will post more about what site development entails in a future post

Being in the US was SO NICE and I started to get pretty comfortable during the 4^th week, and I didn’t want to come back. I spent one day in my house in San Felix and then really needed to get out to the campo, so I visited Jo and hauled some buckets of sand, drank cowboy coffee, slept in a hammock, bathed in a creek and pooped in a hole and I felt like I was back at home again!

Ships are safe at harbor...but that's not what ships are for.

Wishing you all health, happiness, and success in 2019!
xoxo Sierra

Bonus: some photos ~

Summer: dry grasses and a rain shadow over the mountains

Check out this badass abuela, guys. Beach trip with some gente from Elena's community

Jo and her gente working on their water storage tank

Skiing/boarding Snowmass with Zach, Sophia, and Michael! I am so grateful Peace Corps gifted me this weird and wonderful family.

p.s. watch this video for a pretty darn accurate anthem representing the life of a PCV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTZ--7EYj9w

Life Lately

Hi, hello, it's been too long since I've written! I'm in the US right now on my one-month "special leave", a major perk of being third-year extension volunteer. Here is a short recap of life over the past couple months.

Living in San Félix is kind of a mixed bag. I'm still basking in the amenities - a refrigerator, a freezer, WiFi, a washing machine. I've been continuing to make house improvements like having my handyman neighbor install a skylight in the main room! But there are downsides... the blaring bass on nights when there are parties (I live only a block from the main party venue in town), the stifling heat, and the overwhelming machismo. Some men here are soooooo gross. I can't go on a run at 6:30 AM without getting at least four catcalls, poorly executed English pickup lines, or wolf whistles. I was the only white person in Cerro Gallina, but I was Bei Kwitubu and everyone knew me. Here, I know a few San Feleños but not many. So I'm just the mystery white girl that everyone stares at, haha. I don't feel at home in San Félix like I did in Cerro Gallina, but it's okay because that's what I was expecting.

Being a Regional Leader is also both wonderful and difficult. I have volunteers almost every day at my house, and I love hanging out with them and coaching them through issues. I also love visiting them in their sites. My fifteen new volunteers finished their three months of integration and got to move into their own houses a couple weeks ago. They all seem to be in pretty good spirits, which is awesome. At the same time, it has been a bit more challenging than I expected having people in my tiny house and sharing my space all the time. But I continue to remind myself that being a giver who shares without a second thought is a process. October was super busy with site visits and regional meeting, and then I planned agency visits for the new cohort in early November. Besides the técnico from the Ministry of Environment showing up an hour and a half late to our meeting, it all went quite well, haha. I was feeling increasingly restless during November and early December on the days when I didn't have much work to do. I was so ready for a break from the heat and a brief return to the comfortable and familiar life at home in the US. I am hopeful that I will go back to Panama in January in high spirits and ready to tackle site development 2019 with animo!

I've been filling my free time with reading, puzzles, yoga, music, Netflix (I admit), and some new hobbies. Jacob looked in my fridge one day and said "Sierra your refrigerator looks like a science experiment." I was making bean sprouts and also attempting to do some fermenting. I made fermented pineapple juice (pineapple wine?) that came out so-so and fermented kiwi juice that tasted like straight-up vinegar. Still working on it. I've been having fun baking with yeast, so far I've made bagels and challah that both turned out very yummy. 

I almost forgot! A big success on November 30th was our World AIDS Day event. It was a collaboration between Peace Corps, MINSA, and the American Embassy to Panama. There were speeches, games, presentation of gifts to special guests, dramas, and free HIV and STI testing. Over 300 people came!! The Health Center in Hato Chamí created all of these beautiful decorations and it was a super positive day. Photos below.

G83 WASH volunteers after our tour of the San Felix water treatment plant. My neighbor Serafin (far right in the blue) who is a plant operator, was gracious enough to offer to take us on a tour after our meeting with MINSA. It was really cool to see all of the steps: intake pumps, primary disinfection, flocculation, coagulation, filtration, secondary disinfection, and storage. We also got to check out the control rooms water quality testing labs. I learned that they even add fluoride to the water, and the intake pumps in the San Félix river automatically shut off when the storage tanks are full. Coming from a place with rudimentary at best gravity-fed aqueducts, I was quite impressed with how high-tech it was.

Erick, the técnico at IDIAP, giving the SAS volunteers a tour of their office orchard. We came all dressed up, forgetting it was casual Friday, haha.

Kids dancing jeki for the distinguished guests.

Comarca volunteers giving a presentation on the transmission of HIV.

The awesome young actors who created videos on healthy relationships and HIV prevention!
View the videos HERE!

With Rigoberto! A friend from Quebrada Honda who lives in Panama City and came all the way to Chiriquí for this day.

Alvaro (ponytail, collared shirt) crushed it with his freestyle rapping. He is truly a warrior for HIV prevention in the Comarca.

Some of the kids got really into writing positive messages and decorating this banner.

The female RLs plus Shellee at our Thanksgiving celebration in Chitré, Herrera // G83 SAS + Shellee + Eliana at another celebration that I hosted in SF. We had ridiculously good meals. In Chitré we all had to lie down on the floor after eating and then take a long walk around town to process all of that food. Making up for 2016 when I didn't get to celebrate at all, stuck in my community with a dead cell phone during a hurricane!

Life in Rainbow Colors

Just a few photos today! I've been super busy this past month visiting all 15 new volunteers in the field. A new text post coming soon.

Comarca Ngäbe-Bugle regional meeting! It was overall successful.

Look at that nagua coordination.

The world map painted on Courtney's future house.

Maria and her host sister's daughter Yamileth in her beautiful mountain community. Such a cute & smart little girl!

Separation from Colombia Day parade with bands from all over the Comarca. So impressive!

Trying to get the kids in Chantal's community to pose with me.

Will & his neighbor up in the clouds above his community.

Super fun Sunday. Two brothers in my volunteer Elena's community decided to plan a 24th birthday party for her, and she invited me to join. They had bought a cake and snacks, and had a mini gathering at the church for her. Then we all went down to the river to swim. The brother Elvin led a bunch of competitions - swimming race, breath holding contest, relay race, rock skipping, splash-each-other-in-the-face-until-someone-surrenders. It was incredibly sweet of the brothers!

What a gorgeous swimming hole.

Comarqueña <--> Chiricana

In September I moved to San Félix and began my new job as the Comarca Regional Leader. A few musings on adjusting to this new "city life" as a Chiricana (Chiriquí resident):

• I've started going on runs in the morning! (sometimes haha). As I jog north along the back roads of SF and Silimín, I gaze up at the tree-covered cerros of Gallina and Mesa looming in the distance and wonder what my gente are doing at that moment. I also get to hear how the town wakes up. The quebrada laundry slaps and gravelly voices singing hymns in the Comarca becomes the whirring of washing machines and accordion riffs of típico on the radio in San Félix.
• Going out into the campo for a few days to visit volunteers and then getting to come home to a comfortable house is a really nice thing. I've been particularly enjoying my real mattress instead of the foam pad I had in site, the smooth, cool concrete floors, and having ice cubes in the fridge.
• When volunteers stay at my house, some of them have been super enthusiastic about helping me clean the place out. We've gotten rid of a lot of filth and junk so far. This house has been in Peace Corps for many years and so much stuff has accumulated. I'm still not sure what to do with the multiple snorkel sets I found?! I also found (and disposed of) a huge mouse - over a foot long including the tail. So glad I wasn't alone when that happened, everyone got a kick out of my shrieking.
• The San Félix band has been marching around town, busy practicing for the 3rd of November. But their rehearsal hours just seem odd to me. They parade past my house playing Despacito and Olha a Explosão on repeat at 10 pm... I guess marching at night beats the heat?

One of my first tasks as RL was to deliver rejection letters, and boy was I dreading it. Every year, Peace Corps has to prepare more communities than there are volunteers, because there's always a chance that something could come up at the last minute and a community isn't able to welcome a volunteer. But this year, no communities dropped, so there were three sites in the Comarca that were anxiously awaiting their first PCV...and they didn't receive one. And I was the lucky messenger that got to go deliver this news. I showed up at one site I had never been to before with my only instructions to "find Jesús that works next to the school". After asking around a bit, I found him. He excitedly greeted me (in English!) and invited me into his house. He seemed like a smart guy so without beating around the bush I handed him the letter. He carefully read it over and then looked to me for more explanation. I explained that Peace Corps loved the community - the WASH project manager had just told me on the phone the day before - but there were simply too many good communities and they have to give preference to follow-up sites. I expected annoyance, anger, disbelief, really anything but the forgiving and understanding response I received. He said that they would be eagerly awaiting a volunteer next year. He said they would do anything they could to make sure that next year they made the cut. I assured him that his community was on the top of the list for 2019. Then he brought me to meet some teachers in the school and meet all of his extended family. We sat down and ate spaghetti with chicken and chatted for a hour or so. Then I left for the chiva stop and he wished me God's blessings and invited me to come back to visit whenever I wanted. Later that night I was making my way through folders on the expansive Comarca RL Google Drive and learned that many communities wait years after reaching out to Peace Corps to receive their first volunteer. My own community, in fact, filled out the paperwork in 2010 and received their first PCV in 2014 - I had never known this before. So I ended that day incredibly humbled, as always.

I also spent two weeks helping out with a research study of adolescents in the Comarca, including surveys, STI testing, and health education. One of the weeks we traveled to Ñökribo (in Ngäbere, "big water place") and it was amazing to see how the Northern side of the Comarca lives. Instead of going up the mountain in a chiva, you go up the river in a lancha or cayuco (dugout canoe with a motor). I'm not going to write much about the study here on this blog since it involves human subjects.

Up next...regional meeting! Thirty-three volunteers, three Peace Corps staff members, and several Panamanian agency counterparts will convene for a two-day event in San Felix and at the beach in Las Lajas, and I'm the gal in charge. *nervous laugh* We'll see how it goes, I'm excited to have all of the Comarca together for the first time since the arrival of the new group!

Heading out to the port on the 6 AM motorboat from Kankintú.

A kra big enough to fit an adult!

Our team for the 9th week of the study.

Dressing up in ridiculous costumes for the self-empowerment and healthy relationships portions of the seminar.

We teach comprehensive sex ed to the teenagers. We talk about all of the options: getting tested, being faithful to your partner, abstinence, condoms, and birth control. And two volunteers in the Bocas del Toro province were upset because their local government health centers continually were "out of stock", even though they are required by law to have free condoms available. So we went to the HIV clinic in San Félix and talked to the doctor. He gave us some people to contact and promised to hold all of the clinics accountable in the future. And then in the meantime gave us many bags of condoms for our seminars! So we had to take a selfie. 

Leaving Chiriquí Grande in a lancha (launch).

Visiting new volunteer Ailyn.

Cleaning out the bookshelf in my house. Termites rather artistically chewed through this one.

Visiting new volunteer Forrest. Here's neighboring volunteer Ailyn and me with his counterpart Monchy checking out a water source.

Having a lunch meeting with an agency counterpart in San Félix with some agriculture volunteers! Chantal, Lucy, me, Chaneen, Aziza, and our counterpart Fela.

Jatuaita Kwitubtä

I’M DONE. I can’t believe it.

Well actually, I’m not done. I have a whole 11-something months of Peace Corps left before I am actually an RPCV. But I have finished two years of service in Cerro Gallina and it feels really good.

My despedida on August 28th was a day I will never forget, and I want to tell you, my dear readers, about it in detail so you can envision my last day as a Cerro Gallina resident.

On Monday morning, I hiked out to purchase all of the food & supplies for the party. Good thing I live frugally because I used over three-quarters of my monthly stipend on just this single meal!! It was so worth it though. The shopping list included 100 lbs. of rice, 65 lbs. of chicken, 45 lbs. of vegetables, 5 kg. of tomato paste, etc. My host brother Victor met me at the road with Mogo (my host family’s two horses are named Cariñoso and Mogo, “Caring” and “Idiot” respectively) to load him up with all of the goods to hike them to the community. He was an hour late and there was a downpour, all was well though. The women got to work salting the chicken and a barrage of people arrived at my house. I had been running around like crazy the past two days and was pretty wiped, and all of a sudden I got the worst stomachache, like I actually had to lie facedown on my yoga mat on my front porch while Jairo, Dionicio, Melvin, Carmen, Dominga, etc. continued to hang out at my house haha. But I made some mint tea and eventually they left and I was able to finish making some posters and prepping for the next day.

On Tuesday I woke up early to do a last-minute load of laundry (maybe my last time washing my clothes in the creek, sad!!), made breakfast, and then starting hauling things from my house to the galera, the location of the party. Corbyn showed up and helped me a ton. My five chefs Benita, Dominga, Ana, Lleya, and Celia and cooking pailas arrived, and people started coming around 10 AM. I made the rounds talking to people while trying to arrange all of my stuff around the galera for the raffle. Charles, Jake, Raúl, and DJ also came! Before the food, I led some games for the kids (and adults, let’s be real haha) - balloon stomping, pass-the-orange-without-using-your-hands, marble tossing, and a slingshot competition. The gente trickled in and then came in droves. To my surprise, nearly every household in my community came to the despedida, which meant the world to me. The food was finally ready around 3 pm, and we had a short program with Reynel as the master of ceremonies. My host mom Benita led a prayer, then I gave a welcome. The floor was then opened for the gente to speak, and Victoria, Luciano, Javier, Dinora, and Clemente gave some heart-warming palabras of gratitude to me :) Then I gave my speech. Honestly I don’t remember what I said, haha. I tried to write something beforehand, but then I just said screw it and spoke from my heart. It was mostly various words of thanks, of how much my community has enriched my life forever and made me a better person. Then we ate! The cooks had made three pailas of rice, two of guiso, and one of potato & beet salad. There was enough food for everyone, and that was the only thing that mattered to me. I was the last one of 170+ people to eat and there was a liiiiittle bit left over - success! Then the piñata, the raffle, the chaos. I don’t want to get into much detail here but I’ll say that the raffle was an utter disaster. I distributed a number to each person and called them one by one to choose an item. But no one could even see the items available because there were so many people pushing & shoving. Between Reynel, who is a muscular police officer, Corbyn, and I, we literally could not control the crowd descending on my stuff! But in the end, I was just satisfied to get rid of all of my things - most of my possessions honestly, I didn’t bring much to San Félix - and hopefully my gente will enjoy the recuerdos they received. 

And then by the time the raffle mayhem subsided the sun was sinking, and I hardly got to actually say goodbye to anyone. I wanted to give everyone hugs and proper goodbyes, but it’s okay because I’ll come back to visit this upcoming year and see the important people. Some kids and teenagers came to my house, and Dinora and Jeuris actually kissed me on the cheek when saying goodbye, it was the sweetest thing. Corbyn and I hiked back up to the galera with our solar lamps, and it was a MESS. We cleaned a little but got hungry, so we went back to the house and made stovetop pizza. Enrique & family came over for a final movie, so I put on Zootopia out on the porch while Corbyn and I sat on my floor and ate pizza. I was so grateful to have a PCV friend with me for that last night in site so I wasn’t alone. 

The next morning, Luisa, Enrique, Dionicio, Reynel and various other gente came over. They helped me finish cleaning out the house (read: took all the stuff that was left over haha), we took some last-minute photos, and I closed El Castillo Kwitubtä and handed over the key! I already miss my house. I said goodbye to my host family and Enrique’s family one last time. Dionicio helped me carry my stuff to the Gallina entrada. I stopped in Mesa to gift Chavelita my favorite non-stick skillet and spatula because she couldn’t make it to the despedida. And then I was off! 

A shout out to my community members that made the two years vale la pena. I wish I could write about each person individually and what they mean to me, but there are too many so I am going to list them. These people are my family and each one of the names below has made a lasting impact on my life.

Thank you to mi papa Victor, mi mama Benita, Victor nuevo, Diana, Jairo, Debora, Walter, Pricila, Roderik, Tito, Nulio, Lleya, Domingo S, Ever, Roger, Reynel, Enrique, Ana, Tatiana, Elvin, Ana Doris, Dionicio, Claudina, Rosibel, Melissa, Yoriel, Melvin R, Luisa, Eduardo, Yesi, Lucila, Lucelina, Ehinar, Emil Yohany, Clemente “Chiduli”, Emilia, Rodolfo, Dalky, Hiraldo, Juliana, Melquiades, Dominga, Vidal, Jorge, Melvin P, Oscar, Carmen, Xavier, Leila, Yolinda, Edilsa, Emiliana, Julio, Felicia, Asaiel, Petra, Alejandro, Gloriela, Justavino, Marcelino, Elsa, Miriam, Leopoldo, Daniel, David, Victoria M, Milton, Henry, Marita, José, Chavelita, Rudy, Carmen, Marisabel, Jackson, Dinora, Jeuris, Christian, Rustia, Ernesto, Fidel, Tomasa, Walter, Raquel, Yelenia, Danitza, Nila, Reynaldo, Fermina, Victoria P, Hilda, Moises, Venancio, Cecilia H, Carolina, Gloria, Rosa, Plinio, Edgar, Maicol, Juanita, Luis, Aminda, Nina, Hilario, Celia, Manuel, Vladimir, Maira, Darinel, Ubaldino, Cindy, Dina, Rosa “Bei”, Meibi, Javier, Girljolie, Gracie, Merilyn, Winner, Isaías, Casilda, Catherine, Joel, Yosel, Nereyda, Isaías nuevo, Manuel “Otilio”, Ermelinda, Maritza, Eugenio, Felix, Ylka, Marisol, Elieser, Amado, Fredy, Gabriel, Calixto, Israel, Cecilia M, Simeon, Manuel R, Luciano, Marta, Rigoberto, Javier R, Yolanda, Jacquelín, Juana, Domingo R, Rosina, Aisa, Edgar, Minerva, Lucas, Roswell, Minerva nueva, Adriana, Monica, Adrián, Valentín, Dioselina, Melida, Javier, Tatiana P, Tatiana nueva, Elida, Vladimir, Geronimo, Ester, Emilio, Elodia, Israel P, Dori, and MANY MORE people (whose names I may or may not know haha) from my community. As well as all of the gente from Cerro Mesa, Salto Dupí, Soloy, Hato Julí and various other parts of the Comarca whom I also consider family.

"See you on the other side, my family. -Bei"

Juan, Yohany, Lucila, and Jonathan. Partial muchach@ squad

Matando la piñata Diego

Yoriel, Ana, me, Dionicio at their house

Dinora, Lucila, and Carmen. Seeing them grow up these past two years has been a delight.

BYE

I’m now living in San Félix, Chiriquí! I spent a week and a half in Panama City meeting my new volunteers, getting in some much-needed friend time, daily ice cream, and relaxation, and learning how to be a Regional Leader in training at the Peace Corps office. I’ll write another post soon with all the stuff I’m working on now as the Comarca RL.

 Visiting Santa Rita

Group 83 swear-in - WASH ladies!

Chelsea & I climbing La India Dormida in Valle de Antón, Coclé

My 15 new Comarca volunteers from Group 83 after site announcement!

New crew - the regional leaders :)