Life in Panama!

Celebrations and more Celebrations

2009-11-16T12:15:00.002-05:00

After a relaxing weekend in a beach haven, the sworn in-volunteers of group 64 Peace Corps Panama are on their sites. For most, that means getting to know people with whom to work, and show communities how they help their organizations.

But that's not the case for me. Since I'm a follow-up volunteer, I know exactly what I will be doing (for the most part) and just have to shadow a fellow PCV (Peace Corp Volunteer) until she leaves in January. In many ways, it makes my job quite easier, since I can get working from the get-go. But still, It's no piece of cake, as she is quite liked both by our our community and Peace Corp Panama Staff. High expectations are coming!

For now, however, we have focused on celebrating the many panamanian holidays in late October/all of november. That means

that we have celebrated in only 20-something days here in my site, the following days:

Student day at the school
Independence day
Flag Day
Day after Flag day(today)
Grito de Los Santos
Festival Mi Ranchito (2 days)
Day after "Mi Ranchito"

This entails plenty of tipico music (traditional panamanian music-more to come on future posts), games, Balboas (the most popular national beer), and "arroz con pollo". What surprised me the most was that the bailes (dances) for these patriotic days had as much non-panamanian music as panamanian music. So I heard some good reggeaton, bachata, and merengue. I was also surprised at the amount of poetry and memorized speeches given for these patriotic days.

I have updated my pictures, in case anyone wants to see more new things about Panama (in particular of two events, a party or our community where we trained, and another for our swear-in ceremony)

36 out of 36 Volunteers Swear-in in Panama!

2009-10-22T11:19:00.003-04:00

Today is a special day, because all 36 of the original Trainees of Group 64 of Panama's Peace Corps are swearing in as volunteers! I have been given the special honor of giving some small words on behalf of the Community Economic Development group during the ceremony. Here is the speech (in Spanish) so you guys can see some of the things we have done during the past 10 weeks here in Panama.

Muy Buenas Tardes distinguidos miembros de la mesa principal, invitados especiales, y compañeros.

Cuando nosotros, los 19 miembros del grupo de Desarrollo Económico Comunitario vimos la ciudad de Panamá, el 12 de Agosto desde la ventana del avión, muchos no sabíamos mucho de este país hermoso. La mayoría no sabía a lo que venía, solo teníamos el interés de trabajar con la misión de Cuerpo de Paz.

Durante los 2 meses pasados en nuestra capacitación, hemos aprendido más sobre la misión de Cuerpo de Paz. Con el equipo de capacitación, aprendimos como desarrollar un plan de negocio, como trabajar con la juventud panameña, y como conocer a la comunidad. Sin duda, lo más que nos gustó fue el concepto de la hora panameña.

Al cabo de nuestra capacitación, el pueblo panameño ha abierto sus hogares con una gran hospitalidad. Con ellos, hemos bailado la música típica, comido como por ejemplo un poquito de arroz, y compartido historias de nuestras vidas. Mientras nuestras familias anfitrionas se asombraban de todo lo que se encuentra en los Estados Unidos, nosotros nos asombrábamos de los 10 tipos de guineos en panamá.

Hoy día, en una ocasión tan importante, nuestro grupo afirma que va a hacer lo mejor posible para ayudar a nuestras nuevas comunidades en Panamá. Desde de Chiriquí hasta en Darién todos vamos a empeñarnos para demostrar que es posible mejorar el bienestar de nuestras comunidades.

Voluntarios, hoy día quiero terminar con un dicho muy aplicable para esta ocasión. La madre Teresa dijo: A veces sentimos que lo que hacemos es tan solo una gota en el mar, pero el mar sería menos si le faltara una gota. Espero que nosotros podamos contribuir a crear un gran charco en Panamá.

Muchas Gracias.

Afterwards, we plan on celebrating in one of the city's hippest districts - Calle Uruguay. Good times!

It can get cold in Panama....

2009-09-21T15:41:00.000-04:00

Sorry to the 5 people that read my blog! I have been busy here in Panama for a while now.

After "Culture week" with the turtles and long walks by the beach, we went to the comarca Ngobe Bugle region of Panama. This is a region much like a reservation, where the indigenous of Panama live. In our case, we visited a very breathtaking Ngobe site in the mountains of Panama. In here, we had what Peace Corps/Panama calls "Technical Week", where we do the things that
our specific project does. In our case, that means that we analyzed businesses and taught leadership classes. Our group in particular worked with a gentleman who had his own kiosk and wanted to make more money. With him, I can tell you I had my first "Peace Corp Moment", where I felt like I truly helped someone out.

As I was saying, we were high in the mountains, which means two things that I would not have expected to find so well in Panama. First, we had a breathtaking view of the Pacific and the mountain range of the Continental Divide. Second, it was COLD at night. I mean like mid-fall weather in the Northeast of the US (well..maybe DC, MD, and VA mid-fall). Regardless, do not be surprised if you find yourself cold in Panama. It
happens.

For more pictures of this particular part of my trip, see:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jannick.taboadaPC/TechWeek#

Turtle Watching and Riding Horses in Veraguas

2009-09-19T18:36:00.002-04:00

Last Wednesday, we found out where we were going for our services. It was a great time, and I found out that I will be following up a very successful volunteer in the southern part of the Veraguas province, where I will be assisting with a youth coop, IT instruction, and other organizations in a small town of about 250 people. There will be electricty and running water, so this will not be the super rustic experience that many people think about when they think of the Peace Corps.

In order to acclimate to the life of Veraguas, the three of us who are going to th province have descended on a small town right on the beach. In what seems to be a great respite from the hustle and bustle of our normal training site, we are divided in smaller groups and do more cultural activities rather than (often dragging) presentations.

As you can gather from the title, this means that we are turtle watching and riding horses around the beach. In addition, we have visited a very awesome waterfall, learned how to make hammocks, gone fishing, and learned how to cook. YES--Peace Corps life is tough.

I now have a cell phone! Call me at 507-6895-9112!

Suprising facts about Panama

2009-09-08T11:15:00.005-04:00

Rather than continue giving a recount of things about my life on every single blog posting, some of my postings will talk about random things about life in Panama that people with some Latin-American experience may find interesting..so here is my first list of things that have surprised me so far in Panama...

1.) Bachata is HUGE..and by bachata, I mean mostly Aventura
2.) People drive MUCH better than they do in the D.R., Peru, and even some bigger American cities.
3.) flavored drinks (aka drinks where you mix a powder and a water) are very popular
4.) You can drink water from the faucet. Can't do that in the DR, Peru, Mexico...the list goes on.
5.) On TV, you will see Sabado Gigante....on Sunday

We'll other than that, I'll be finding out where i'll spend my next 2 years on Wednesday September 9th. This means soon I'll buy a cell phone! Watch out!

Training Continues...

2009-08-30T17:10:00.001-04:00

Our training in Panama continues. We have learned a lot about development, panamanian customs, and the panamanian way of life. Last Sunday, we were given a day off and a group of us went to the Casco Viejo, the old colonial part of Panama City.
This week, each of us went to different parts of Panama to get a better glimpse of the life of a Community Economic Development volunteer. As for myself, I went with a fellow CEDer to the Azuero region of Panama, to a community that is even shown in Lonely Planet. Pictures have been updated!

Community Based Training - Panama Style!

2009-08-22T18:28:00.005-04:00

On Sunday we reached our community-based training location. We have each been graciously assigned to a host family. My family is a great elderly couple who has a very comfortable house just down the hill. My bed is actually bigger than the one I left at home! Everyone is great here, and we are all getting accustomed to the Panamanian way of life (with its intricacies). Training is pretty much like college, most likely like summer school (if any of you have experience). In case you want to see a few pictures, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jannick.taboadaPC

Staging, and the Peace Corps Panama Retreat

2009-08-15T21:04:00.002-04:00

We're here in Panama. On Tuesday, we began staging, where we met 35 others like us joining Peace Corps in Panama. We are a group with diversity (racial, age, education, everything!). On Wednesday, we took our flight to Panama City, where we met our training director and boarded a bus to the City of Knowedge, a former American army base that guarded the Panama Canal. After plenty of testing, practical training, and theoretical training the following two days, on saturday we visited a typical Peace Corp Volunteer site. We saw how the Peace Corps is a giving lasting, sustainable change in Panamanian communities. Click the following link to see several pictures of staging and the retreat (our first 4 days in Panama).

http://picasaweb.google.com/jannick.taboadaPC

A week of goodbyes

2009-08-10T23:32:00.005-04:00

This past week I had the pleasure of saying goodbye to many people important in my life. In addition to the going-away party/FSR get-together that my fine colleagues at Booz Allen gave me when I told them about the news, my mom invited many of my friends to my house on Saturday night. Thanks to everyone that came this week! Seeing you before my depature has made me quite happy!

On Tuesday, August 11, I will be reporting to the Washington Plaza Hotel for pre-departure staging! I expect to many people and learn a little more about my project in Panama. If you want to read about what I will (most likely) encounter, go to peacecorpsjournals.com and look at the Panama Journals. There are 3 or 4 outstanding journals that have given me a good idea of what to expect!

Michael helped me bring my Fridge Back!

Paula invited me to Chilli's!

Got to see a lot of friends!

For the rest of the pictures, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/raloli/DespedidaJannickAgosto2009#

Short Update!

2009-07-16T21:09:00.003-04:00

This week has been a very productive one so far. For starters, I have finally been given the exact details about staging. As expected, the staging will be taking place in DC, which is great. The only funny part will be having to sleep in a DC hotel; I never thought in my life that I would have to do that!

But the bigger acomplishment was giving my resignation from Booz Allen. Without a doubt, this is one great company that has given a lot of room for personal growth, while still working with people that are down-to-earth. The countless miles and points have been great too :-p. Much like Jerry Seinfield and Jay Leno from the TV show and the Tonight Show, I am happy to be leaving while on top of my game. Having to contain myself from visiting Peace Corps-related sites or websites about Panama has been the most difficult part of the past 6 weeks or so(when I got fully accepted). Big sigh of relief there.

Also, because of west-coast trip last week, I will have Friday and Monday off! Time to enjoy the DC area for my custom-made 4-day weekend!

How Did I Get Here?

2009-06-18T00:08:00.005-04:00

A lot of you may be asking themselves...why Peace Corps, especially with your self-professed love for your current job?

Tis a fair question indeed, so let me dive into how all of this came to be.

Ever since I graduated college, despite all my travels, my main goal has been to buy a house. In December, I started looking for properties around the Northern Virginia area. As I looked and looked, it dawned on me that there were many things that I would forever be locked out of by virtue of purchasing my house. Frankly, buying a house is a major expense that restricts your life.

At this time, two friends from college (you know who you are :-p) came back from Peace Corps. Since graduation, the Peace Corps was something I had always thought about. Indeed, in my job traveling around military bases, I saw how soldiers gave up so much for our nation. In a rather odd way, I have correlated Peace Corps and the military. I wanted to do something for a greater cause, and I know (for a fact) that I don't want to join the military.

So I started reading about the Peace Corps in the web and realized that it's not only teaching English and doing agricultural work! In fact, my computer skills are needed in the developing world! At this point, I became enticed. The thought of teaching people how to work with computers in order to develop their businesses, improve education, and aid in communication was something that I could do!

So in December, nearly seven months ago, I started the process. As you can tell, it is rather lengthy. I may decide later to write about it, but for now, all you need to know is that I will be leaving on August 11, 2009 to staging (pre-departure). From what I gather, it's going to be either in DC or in Miami. Either way, good deal! As you can see, I'll be going to Panama!

Future topics to cover in coming posts include
1.) Why did it take 9 months from application to staging (as the PC calls pre-departure training)
2.) What will I be doing?
3.) Expectations

Feel free to let me know what interests you!