I cannot believe it but I have just completed my second month in Panama. At this rate a year will pass by and all of you will be living your lives in the states and I while be here far away missing you all in Panama. These past two months have been incredible and I honestly feel like I have learned so much in the last two months about life in general than I have in the last few years. Although I am not roughing it as much here in Panama as I would be if I had got assigned to another country or even compared to other volunteers here in Panama who are way out in impoverished areas there is still a lot of poverty here and I see it everyday. And although over the last few years I have worked a lot with money in my recent jobs and positions in various organizations over the last few years I have learned more about the value if money in the last two months than I have in the last five years. I have learned what the value of $0.05 is where in the states that's just chump change here in Panama it means a lot (3 nickels here will buy me a bag of chips & 6 nickels will get me a soda). One thing that I have already learned about myself is that I took money for granted and threw it around like it was nothing of value. Although I was in a position to that back in the states and although I will probably never be in a position of poverty or ever have to worry about money when I return to the states I now understand what it is for people to have no money, like not even enough money to feed your family. Its just a different perspective that I never had before. But anyways I don´t know what else is in store for me in the nest few years. So much more to learn about life and about myself. I am very close to finishing my training and leaving my familiar training site and all 38 other trainees and am ready to embark on a new adventure all on my own (well not really on my own but kind of) and head to my new home in Veraguasfor the next two years where the closest peace corps volunteer is about 45 minutes away (yes that means that if I want to speak English with someone they are 45 minutes away from me). I am actually in my new site right now writing you all this letter from the office (if you want to call it that its just a room with a desk and a bunch of paperwork)of my new work place on their computer. I´ve been here for about 5 days and return tomorrow to my training site for a little less than a week and then head to Panama City for a few days to get sworn in as a actual volunteer on the 25th. This is a huge day for me and I am very excited to have made it this far, it's a culmination of a dream that I have had for about the last 4 years to join the peace corps and an application/waiting process of over a year and half to make it this far. What I mean by that is that its taken me over a year and a half from the day I first submitted my application to join the peace corps to become an actual volunteer - a lot of waiting and a lot of patience but I finally made it!!! I am also excited about the next few weeks because it will also followed by about a week off at the beach will all of the trainees in my group and will probably be the last time we are all together as a group ever or at least till our close of service in 2009. We will all see each other again at various points and some more than others but it's the last time we are all together as group, kind of sad because we have been around each other everyday in training for the last few months. I still remember our first week after leaving Washington D.C. and after that first week it had seemed like we had known each other for months even though it had only been a few days because we were around each other all the time. So you can imagine after months of being together we´ve got to know each other pretty well. But we are going to Santa Clara about 2 hours outside of Panama City which is one of the most beautiful beaches in Panama so I am super excited for the time off and relaxation. After the time off at the beach I report to work Monday morning on the 29th of October and stay here for the next two years. Crazy!
But even though there is all this craziness here in Panama I also miss everyone back home a lot and I think about you all everyday and think about all the good times I would be having back home with you all if I were there. Just don´t forget about me everyone because I will return soon. But this was something I had to do, not because I wanted to get away from you all because trust me I miss everyone a lot but I had to do this for personal reasons. I get asked the question all the time, why did you join the peace corps?? And you know what I am still figuring out the answer to that question. Mostly it was because I wanted to test and challenge myself and see how far I could push myself. And being here thus far had been a challenge and I have so much more to go. I also came here so that I can say that I made a difference in the world. Although it has become evident already in my two months here that I am not going to change the world, I am not going to change the country of Panama, I am not going to make a difference in the overall grand scheme of things. Yes you heard it right I am not going to change the world here. It's a little disheartening for me even to write that and its something that I am struggling with here everyday its like well what am I even doing here. But what I am certain of is that I will make a difference in the community in which I am assigned, I will make a difference in La Mesa and even if I only reach one person or one child here and affect a positive change in their attitudes, way of thinking, or living situations than my job here was a success. I am here to make new friends, learn a different way of living, share a different way of living, explore Panama (its an amazing country people I know I keep saying it but its true as much as I miss Southern California, everyday I am amazed at how awesome this country is and am going to be sad when I have to leave), learn more about myself, and so much more. This is only a small list of how I feel right now about why I joined the peace corps and I am sure some of these reasons may change in the future as I form a better idea of why I am here. But before I go on and on I will leave you all with that for now.
I also have some more pictures attached – the beach pics are from a few weeks ago when I was traveling I stayed in a community for a week as part of a cultural training week, its was pretty good week for me. There´s also some pics of some awesome mountains in Panama called Cerro Punta where it actually gets cold, it's the one place in the whole country that gets cold. Its also where I will be spending my Thanksgiving with about 100+ volunteers from around the country who all meet up at this cool loge in the mountains and celebrate Thanksgiving "USA style" with Turkey, apple pie, the works. From what I hear its one of the highlights of the year because almost all the volunteers from around the country and different sectors get together for a few days. Oh yeah the last thing I want to share with you all is that the softball tourney that I helped organize was a complete success. With the help of the other trainees, community members, and peace corps staff we were able to organize a 2-day tourney that 10 teams participated in and raised close to $300 which will all go to the school and library to buy children books. Now $300 may not sound like a lot but for someone in my training community $300 is about the equivalent of a month´s salary so this a huge deal. We started the tourney on Saturday afternoon and then continued at 8 am Sunday morning played all day until the championship at 6 pm. We had a food/bake sale and was only able to pull that off with the help of the other volunteers and all the families who donated food and also had a raffle. All in all it was a great event for the community and all the volunteers and am happy to have been a part of it. Until next time everyone….Enjoy life!!
But even though there is all this craziness here in Panama I also miss everyone back home a lot and I think about you all everyday and think about all the good times I would be having back home with you all if I were there. Just don´t forget about me everyone because I will return soon. But this was something I had to do, not because I wanted to get away from you all because trust me I miss everyone a lot but I had to do this for personal reasons. I get asked the question all the time, why did you join the peace corps?? And you know what I am still figuring out the answer to that question. Mostly it was because I wanted to test and challenge myself and see how far I could push myself. And being here thus far had been a challenge and I have so much more to go. I also came here so that I can say that I made a difference in the world. Although it has become evident already in my two months here that I am not going to change the world, I am not going to change the country of Panama, I am not going to make a difference in the overall grand scheme of things. Yes you heard it right I am not going to change the world here. It's a little disheartening for me even to write that and its something that I am struggling with here everyday its like well what am I even doing here. But what I am certain of is that I will make a difference in the community in which I am assigned, I will make a difference in La Mesa and even if I only reach one person or one child here and affect a positive change in their attitudes, way of thinking, or living situations than my job here was a success. I am here to make new friends, learn a different way of living, share a different way of living, explore Panama (its an amazing country people I know I keep saying it but its true as much as I miss Southern California, everyday I am amazed at how awesome this country is and am going to be sad when I have to leave), learn more about myself, and so much more. This is only a small list of how I feel right now about why I joined the peace corps and I am sure some of these reasons may change in the future as I form a better idea of why I am here. But before I go on and on I will leave you all with that for now.
I also have some more pictures attached – the beach pics are from a few weeks ago when I was traveling I stayed in a community for a week as part of a cultural training week, its was pretty good week for me. There´s also some pics of some awesome mountains in Panama called Cerro Punta where it actually gets cold, it's the one place in the whole country that gets cold. Its also where I will be spending my Thanksgiving with about 100+ volunteers from around the country who all meet up at this cool loge in the mountains and celebrate Thanksgiving "USA style" with Turkey, apple pie, the works. From what I hear its one of the highlights of the year because almost all the volunteers from around the country and different sectors get together for a few days. Oh yeah the last thing I want to share with you all is that the softball tourney that I helped organize was a complete success. With the help of the other trainees, community members, and peace corps staff we were able to organize a 2-day tourney that 10 teams participated in and raised close to $300 which will all go to the school and library to buy children books. Now $300 may not sound like a lot but for someone in my training community $300 is about the equivalent of a month´s salary so this a huge deal. We started the tourney on Saturday afternoon and then continued at 8 am Sunday morning played all day until the championship at 6 pm. We had a food/bake sale and was only able to pull that off with the help of the other volunteers and all the families who donated food and also had a raffle. All in all it was a great event for the community and all the volunteers and am happy to have been a part of it. Until next time everyone….Enjoy life!!
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