I spent the day itself in my site. That particular day was actually quite typical Panamanian: there was no official class, as a nationwide event was going on. A contest was going on that day, Childrens' Storywriting. Wow, sounds fun, a creative outlet for the kids, right? Yet they found a way to suck the fun out of it, making the kids write perfectly in pencil with meticulous detail and then write over their stories in pen after they had finished. So that was a bit sad. I spent the day doing small, menial tasks, feeling a bit worthless, like I often do when I'm not doing anything of interest. I did get a bunch of hugs and kisses and congratulations from coworkers. Later, at the end of the day, the gym teacher bought me lunch in honor of my special day. The remainder of the day was the result of luck. My Regional Leader, a supervisor for volunteers, was visiting my closest volunteer, who lives within walking distance. After their meeting, they came down to my house. I made them a nice lunch, and then we had a pleasant afternoon together, enjoying my new hammock and each other's company. Then I Skyped with some friends, local and international. So although I was a bit selfish, not sharing treats with the neighborhood kids like I did last year, and a bit reclusive, not even venturing outside of my house the whole afternoon, I enjoyed myself.
The weekend was my training group's One Year celebration, where we volunteers got together to party and realize that we made this far, and that time will fly by from this point forward.
Before heading to the beach for our One Year celebration, I went most of the way to a friend's site, where a dozen or so volunteers crashed at her house. Those wonderful people made me a Pana-cake, or birthday cake with melty frosting. Way too humid for that stuff to maintain good consistency.
The One Year party was a lot of fun. On Saturday night, the group held a Talent Show. It was great to see people displaying their various talents. A few recited poems they'd written, we had a girl do a belly dance routine, and then there was my favorite performance. Pictured above is a group that did "Look at Me Now" by Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne. They got dressed up and memorized the whole rap, which is especially impressive considering how fast those artists spit. It was cool. And of course, I sang a song. I finished off the show with "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" by Frankie Valli, as performed by Lauryn Hill. It was nice, since I really don't have a creative outlet here. I never, ever get to sing, unless I'm in my house or bucket bathing in my latrine. And even then I'm sort of conditioned to be conscious and shy about it. So I sang my heart out for that one, and it felt good. Gosh, do I miss Glee Club and the Dicks and Janes!
This year has been incredible. I've met loads of new people and have experienced all kinds of wonderful new things. This upcoming year of service holds such potential in store. I feel more comfortable in my community, and settled into my work, even if I've made only a little headway. The most important thing I've realized is that no matter what, I should focus on the positive and not dwell on the negative, my shortcomings, my failures at work or in the community, or anything else. It's so much easier to forget that stuff when I don't allow it to plague my mind. As the past few weeks have already demonstrated, I probably shouldn't blink, because it will be over that quickly.
One year down, and one to go.
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