Thursday: Cultural Day. Our Spanish language classes got together to prepare a Panamanian-style lunch (except without the rice, which usually accompanies every meal). The preparation involved killing a chicken. I definitely wasn´t up to the task of taking its life, but I helped remove the feathers and cut up the carcass. Now more than ever, I truly appreciate rotisserie chickens available in the US, because with those it´s much easier to consider it food, as opposed to a dead animal with a face...and organs.
(Defeathering the chicken...pobrecito)
(GUTS!)
Our meal consisted of chicken, spagetti, and pico de gallo with tortilla chips. In addition to cutting up the chicken, I also served as the chicero (juice maker) and made chicha de maracuya. We all drank passion fruit juice that I personally prepared. It was a tasty meal, and more importantly, an accomplishment for all the trainees.
Friday: Site Announcement. We went to the Peace Corps office to find out the fate of our lives, where we would spend our two years of service. And I will be placed in the lovely province of Veraguas! (E-mail me if you´re dying for more specific information.) They certainly built up the suspense for quite a while, though. First, our Program Directors talked about the placement process. Then, we met our Regional Leaders (third-year volunteers who have extended their service to assume a leadership position), who explained their role in our service. Only after an hour and a half did they finally start announcing the sites, divided by province or region. It´s exciting to know where we´ll be, but we know very little about our sites, so it´s difficult to make any real judgments. I´m ready to visit my site in about two weeks.
(The trainees who will be placed in Veraguas; all great people with whom I´m very excited to work)
Saturday: Carnaval (kind of). I ventured to a nearby town to check out the festivities, but it turned out Saturday was a slow day and a good amount of people were still working. A group of trainees and I scoped out the place, but there wasn´t much going on. However, we did catch the queen passing by for a short--and I mean short--parade. I finished off the day by taking a dip in a nearby river.
(The reina of El Espino coming down in her float)
Sunday: (Carnaval again). I spent the majority of the day at my host mother´s mom´s house, the same place I was for the birthday celebration a few weeks ago. Later, I went over to the town where the Environment trainees are living for a Carnaval coronation and dance. It was great to hang out with everyone, because usually the two groups are segregated and only see each other on Fridays when we go to the Peace Corps office. The ceremony took far too long. The hosts sure dragged it out, even long after the judges (three Peace Corps trainees and therefore unbiased parties) were finished deliberating. Finally, after all that was over, the dancing started. Some interesting African dances, and then lots of baile tipico, the standard. However, one of the trainees requested reggaeton. When the music started, Panamanian pena (shyness) kicked in and they formed a circle. A perfect opportunity. I decided to take center stage and get the party started with some serious krumping. Other trainees joined in and it became a hip-hop spectacle the likes of which that small town had never seen. Then, we made a dramatic celebrity exit, quickly packing 20 people into one bus and heading home.
(They ain´t never seen dancing like that before!)
Monday: Casco Viejo. A group of trainees and I visited the historic district of Panama City, an area crawling with foreign tourists, but beautiful nonetheless.
(A pretty little part of town)
(A picture taken in Casco Viejo, with a nice view of the Panama City skyline in the background)
Tuesday: Chill Out Day. Decompress. I didn´t party hard, but it´s still nice to just lounge. Right?
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