Pictures from the beac, awesome host families, and our partner agency friends for the Youth Festival and some Randomness

Getting busy

So my summer is getting super busy.... I was go, go going for about the past 15 days. We go to go to the beach for our middle of the summer vacation for 2 days which was amazing... it was the best beach I´ve ever been to! But we also had volunteers and didn´t really get the break of a weekend like normal so by the time yesterday rolled around I was pretty ready to be Mary Ann the Real Girl and not Mary Ann the Supervisor.... definitely needed a day to pasear (that´s what they call walking around and hanging out) and a night to go out with my fellow supervisors... it´s totally important for my sanity and emotional well'being .... so we got our fair share of salsa and typica and merengue and just plain reggaeton in for the night.... and I feel rejuvenated.... sometimes I just need a good time. Ha.... and although Panama and Amigos kicked my butt for the last 2 weeks or so it is still absolutely fabulous.... once I got rejuvenated. Ha. Also I got told by one of my vols last week that there host family didn´t want any volunteers to live with them until they met me and that they enjoyed me so much that they decided they wanted volunteers.... It really made me feel warm and fuzzy inside and was definitely one of the many moments that I came here for. I got to hang out today at an encuentro with all my vols and a lot of the kids from my communities and watch them all play in a soccor tournament and it was so fun.... a lot of the older teenagers thought it was a good idea to go the cantina before they played soccor.... and so I come into town on the bus, pass the cantina and realize half of one of my towns is there..... they lost the game. But were also quite amusing... All of my vols are doing great on there projects with a little prodding from me to get stuff done and it is really nice to see there journey through the summer and be a part of it... Makes the next couple weeks of hellish closing summer paperwork kind of worth it. Anyway above are more pictures from the summer... Enjoy

I love Latin America

It´s been another fun week in Panama. A lot of grumbly tummies with people but nothing that is unmanageable or out of the ordinary. I am getting used to being here and starting to get to know the people in my communities and have real cool conversations about cultural differences, Panama´s history, how the Panamanians feel about Noriega... it´s one thing to read about it... it´s totally different to hear the perspective of someone who lived here during it... way more interesting... Getting used to sitting around and this weekend I get to go out to one of my communities and have a picnic day at the river if it doesn´t rain... so it´s a 50-50 shot and we´ll see what happens. I get a lot of down time on buses in between communities and really need it. By the time I get back to staff house I prefer to avoid Spanish movies, and meals of beans and rice... they feed us so much in community. It is ridiculous portions. So everything is moving along smoothly and I am enjoying a lot of moments and getting some perspective on life. It´s so much slower and more tranquil down here. love it.

Pictures from this Summer

Here are a bunch of pictures from this summer.

Todavia Aqui

Hey!

Every day I am more and more in awe of the fact that I am in Panama. I´ll tell you what, I love Latin America... catcalls, wierd latrines, and showers aside. Ha. I went out to communities again this week and was amazed at how much the volunteers are actually getting done.... I have some rockstar kids to supervise and I definitely didn´t give them enough credit to get this stuff done... Still getting used to my role as a supervisor and not a volunteer and going from community to community... not really staying in one place long. But it´s really cool because I see a lot of people from my communities and Santiago (the city I live in) on the bus and randomly around... It´s a small area so I get to see a lot of them randomly and I get to experience 3 communities instead of one. In my last community there is this CRAZY grandma who gossips about people and laughs at herself all of the time... she´s 92 and freaking hilarious and there are a ton of teenage kids in the community and a large group of guys who play soccer really freaking well. And we got to go dancing this week... Love it. Got to Merengue and really be lead... which I am still trying to get used to and I love being pushed around the dance floor and twirled.... but I don´t think I´m going to pick up Salsa real quick - especially with a partner, it is damn hard.... It is always good getting back to staff house on the weekend and spending time with the other supervisors... we have such an awesome group and work well together.... So I am loving it still and doing well and trying to relax into Mary Ann the supervisor role and be myself and a supervisor at the same time.... which is a REALLY wierd transition but it is happening slowly and awkwardly... funny how that works. I still don´t deal well with awkward... Oh well. I love Panama. And my Spanish is getting so much better every day.

that´s all

Panama! Panama-a-a-a-a.... via Van Halen.

Hello!!!

I am still in Panama and has it been a rush... the volunteers got here last week and we had to keep 55 highschool kids interested in what we were doing 4 days straight - no breaks unless sleeping and that wasn´t even very much... It was totally exhausting but there were a lot of moments that made it totally worth it as well... like seeing how pumped the kids were and hearing them talk about how they thought our whole staff was awesome and it´s true... we really pulled it together. Then I got to drop the kids off in the comunities I went to last week... and it was really wierd being on the other side of it... leaving them instead of getting left... to tell you the truth I´m a little sad I´m not the one staying in community... this experience is totally different... and some parts are amazing and others sad and others frustrating, but that´s life, right? I went to communities last week and hung out for 24 hours in each of the communities my vols are in and I played Dominoes for the first time in years (the right way) and I walked around one of the entire towns with a kid from the town and got to talk bastante Espanol... needless to say at times my tongue and brain got so tired... Ha.. but it is getting better everyday and I have had a lot of moments where I can´t believe I am in Panama.... truly amazing.

Love it and all of you. And I miss home a lot more than I thought.

Panama!!!

Hello all,


My plane got delayed an hour and a half in KC and I was afraid I was going to miss the plane to Panama, but they bused me across the airport in Dallas and I made it.

I am officially making myself comfortable in the city of Santigao which is about a 4 hour bus ride from Panama City. I got my first flashback to culture shock our first night in Panama City. We squished 3 girls in questionably clean beds at the dim "The Paradise Hotel." Oh yeah. Totally forgot about some of the sketchy Central American locales. Ha. Eh. I am getting used to the adjustments I forgot about. Toilets that you can´t put toilet paper in, cold showers (which seem a little more pleasant when they are not in the present) and crowded buses. My staff is awesome and everyone has there own quirky personality, but we are getting along great.

We got assigned our communities we´ll be working and I am so excited to go visit them tomorrow. I have 3 small communities who (on paper) seem really organized and enthusiastic abuot working with Amigos. We´ve been going nonstop for the past 2 days training. I am as ready as I will be to head into the communities and represent Amigos. Ha.

Also, I am super frustrated about trying to figure out my e-mail down hear.... so if you don´t hear from me, now... it´s not you, it´s me.

E-mail and write me!

Getting Ready

So this Saturday I am leaving for Panama and I am super excited. I've been rushing around to get packed and all my loose ends tied up. I feel like I'm trying to fit an entire summer of seeing people into 2 weeks. Needless to say, it feels a little rushed and overwhelming. I am so excited (and anxious) to be back working with Amigos De Las Americas. I absolutely love the program and it's goals. What a beautiful chance to get to experience different cultures. Hopefully I can affect some people and I have no doubt that I will be affected by the experiences and people I meet. Once again, I get a fresh and new look at our world and how I relate to it. What a seriously obvious blessing! I keep getting asked exactly what I'm doing - so here's a little clarification:


About the Program:


Amigos Mission:

Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS) builds partnerships to empower young leaders, advance community development and strengthen multicultural understanding in the Americas.

Vision

AMIGOS operates quality, youth-led programs throughout the Americas which improve the health and well-being of millions. Supported by a vigorous network of Pan-American chapters and partner agencies and a sound financial base, youth from diverse backgrounds and from throughout the Americas challenge themselves and expand their world view by participating in self-directed, meaningful service with communities different from their own.

Core Values

AMIGOS Values:

• Leadership by youth
• Health and safety of our Volunteers and Project Staff
• Respect in all of our relationships
• High quality programs developed with and relevant to the communities we serve
• Programs that transform both youth and communities

Veraguas Specifics:

SO WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO DO? General Project Objectives:

1. increase active youth involvement in communities
• work with community youth to facilitate educational activities
• hold workshops with local youth
2. increase knowledge and awareness of cultural, environmental, and health issues
• facilitate educational activities with children and young people (ages 5-12 years) with a focus on culture, health and environmental education, social skills, group leadership, and creative expression
• work on community projects related to these themes
3. collaborate with community members on Community-Based Initiative (CBI) process

BREAK IT DOWN… the specific components of our project:

There are four main components to our project in Veraguas this year:

1. Workshop-style health and environmental education classes with kids (ages 5-12)
2. Educational seminars for teens
3. Community-Based Initiative (CBI)
4. Youth encuentro/cultural festival