Hello all my loyal followers (aka my family). I realize, at the gentle reminders (yes plural) from my Bapa, that I haven’t been keeping up with this blog as well as some would like. Let me go ahead and delve into the reasons why:

What have you been up to?

I’m busy. I know most people think of the Peace Corps as a two year vacation where you have enough time to read War and Peace, Swan’s Song and even Don Quixote (raises hand, guilty as charged because that is what I had also envisioned for myself). But as it were,  I hardly have time to read the instructions of my instant noodle package. Now, I know that is a BIT of an exaggeration, but it’s not far off. I’m not even sure where to start this blog to explain… So lets start at the fun updates and work our way up, shall we?

Do you travel around at all?

I went to Costa Rica. WOW KALLIE THAT IS SO EXCITING TELL US ALL ABOUT IT. Ok, ok. Here it is… it was amazing. Tico (What people call Costa Ricans) Spanish is at least 74% easier to understand that Panamanian Spanish. They speak slower and pronounce their words a bit more clearly. While I’m enjoying Panama and the chance to speak Spanish more and more (update-no my Spanish is still not improving but we will get into that later) it is really difficult to understand and communicate here. BUT that is not important. My friend from home came and met me in CR and it was amazing. We stayed in a small little beach town called Tamarindo and I fell in love. I’ve always aspired to be a beach bum and spend my time with my whole life perpetually sandy and being able to tell you when exactly the right tides are for surfing are. I would like to go back to said town again someday and spend more time in the water. While in CR We also visited the Ricon Valley Viejo which is an area with a volcano. We did some really cool zip lining in the mountains, what I would call low key solo white water rafting, horseback riding and then a nice volcanic mud bath. Over all I was really happy with my time there! I even got a few Dr. Peppers from the local shop and took them back to Panama with me (how exciting)! The first few days were by far the most relaxing and I even haggled and got myself a pipa fria (cold coconut) and drank that right on the beach. I spent a lot of time with my finger in there after trying to get all the flesh out. It was delightful. There isn’t much to tell because it was a very relaxing trip. On the way back to San Jose we stopped a beach called Playa Conchal because the sand is made of shells and the water is clear as heck! It was breathtaking-as was most of the country. CR is like living in Chiriqui (my province-arguably the best one in panama and that isn’t even just me being bias). There was mountains por todo lados (all over the place) and just the most green greens you’ve seen. The beaches are all ideal and the gente (people) are all super kind. I’m stretching to find more words than these. Besides reconnecting with my friend, and spending some much needed time away form work things… There aren’t many details that are worth sharing. I needed a week off and I’m really happy with how I spent it. OH! I went surfing, duh. It was so fun and I stood up more often than I wiped out (granted the nice 17 year old instructor was helping me time waves and giving me a loving push because my paddling is less than satisfactory). 

What do you even do?

As for work things-slammed. I came back from CR and hit the ground running. I developed three big projects that should have been done over the next year and my counterpart lovingly suggested we do them before the end of the school year. Since then my phone has been attached to my hand as I have to answer calls, texts and emails almost all day. Do I sound like an even planner? Because I feel like one. Gone are the ideas that my service will be boring, gone are the days when I believed things will eventually slow down. I have my next three months practically planned out. I have exactly 2 free weekends in the next three months and even those are looking like they will fill up soon. I’m grateful for the work, I am. I love my job, I do. But I’m not being some dum-dum making excuses when I say that I’m busy. 

Most (panama) Peace Corps services include a community. As I think I’ve mentioned before, mine does not. I live in a city too big for that and city folk don’t take as kindly to strangers walking up to their door as campo folk do. So while it took me some weeks of sulking and jealousy, I’ve finally come to terms with what my service is going to look like for the next year-and it’s (unfortunately) not reading Don Quixote. My community and job is my university! Which is super cool when you step back and think about it. I spend a lot of my time at the school chatting with students, tutoring, giving conversation classes, being in English classes, helping professors when I can and planning my own events. I’ve really come to learn to love the hustle and bustle. 

Recently I had a “social labor fair” in which the first year of a few careers came to listen to a few of my fellow volunteers come speak about potential projects the kids (uni students) can do for their required community service. I didn’t do much for this besides organizing it. My compañeros (co workers) did AMAZING jobs and I’m so so happy to be supported by such wonderful people. 

Wait… that’s it? What’s next?

This update is a bit sassy and a lot of bit scatter brained but ya esta for now. I’m sorry that my blog isn’t updates on funny community stories or helpful tips on how to integrate into an indigenous culture, but así es la vida. I am writing this quickly in the 20 min I have before bed because for the next two days I’ll be running around for 12 hours doing various things (12 hours both days) for the university and Peace Corps. This is an update to tell everyone (I’m looking at you Bapa, your 100 texts reminding me to blog have not gone unnoticed) I’m doing well and busy. I’m happy and have come to terms with my life here! In November I’ll have a bit more time to sit and write a bit more about living in the city and piloting this new university program. I’ll also write about the cool events i’ve been helping with and the bit of traveling around I’ll get to do for it!

Until then… be of no violence, be vegetarian.