Root Beer and Rainy Season Introductions

I continue to feel more and more confident in my decision to work with Casa Esperanza everyday.  I envisioned coming down here and having an impact on the youth and community in David, Panama, and I feel that this volunteer organization puts me in a great position to do those things.  The kids and I have a great bond by this point--either working together on their homework/studying for upcoming tests in various subjects or having fun with activities and joking around.  There was also a meeting in Boquete last week for all C.E. employees (from all over Panama) in which each branch gave a Powerpoint update regarding their progress and success in their own regions of Panama. They talked about how many children they have recruited from the streets in the past few months, how many meals they have provided, other work they have done in the community, etc.   It was really interesting to hear and see all of this behind-the-scenes action.
So, on Friday, the kids, Belbis (another teacher at C.E.) and I walked to a nearby soccer field and played a couple hours worth of kickball and soccer--needless to say I was living my glory days again and wreaking havoc out there.  Anyway, after the last game I decided to go get something to drink at the grocery store across the street--As I was searching for some water to quench my thirst, my eyes fell upon a bottle of IBC Root Beer.  Not believing my luck, I grabbed and paid for it before it somehow disappeared.  Once I stepped outside, opened the bottle and started walking back to the kids, I suddenly felt really awkward.  This bottle looked an awful lot like a beer bottle.  What do I do?  Try to chug it before heading back over there? No, that would look so much worse if Belbis or one of the kids caught a glance and thought I was downing a beer in between soccer games with 12 year old kids.  Other options? I could just take it over there and be discreet about it.  Hmm, sketchy glances? Lowered opinions? Bad influence?  No thanks.  After much debate I walked back to the field, bottle and all, sat back up on the bleachers and immediately started making conversation about my Root Beer.  "Man, this stuff is so good. Have you ever tried this?"   Belbis: "Is that beer?"  "No, no..look it's just root....beer" (ah crap I thought in my head)  She clearly doesnt know the english word "root" but definitely understands "beer"...Why couldn't I have just gotten that bottled water?....  The only thing that came to mind to prove it was soda was to offer taste tests.  She declined, but I was determined.  I made a desperate move and offered the last half of my root beer to the kids.  I then had a circle of kids passing this bottle around.  Definitely a disturbing sight for any passerby if there were any, I'm sure. None of them had ever heard of, seen or tasted root beer before--some liked it, while others spat it out...but, in the end and most importantly, no one disagreed that is was soda.
Well, speaking of being exposed to new things, I got my first real taste of Panama's rainy season this past week...one afternoon, it just started torrential down pouring and within 10-15 minutes the streets were completely flooded leaving all of the walkers stranded on the side of the road who, just 10 minutes ago, were enjoying a beautiful day out on the town. I wasn't about to give in to the rain that easily though.  Luis and I had plans to go shoot some pool that afternoon and darn it we were gonna play some pool.  So we sprinted/jumped across the intersections taking breaks in between to reflect on how unbelievably soaked we were and how we were the only ones doing this...stupid American/American-influenced Panamanian.  Yet, we made it. Sopping wet shoes/clothes, and all, and played an hour of pool with a little ceviche on the side to celebrate being indoors.

More from David..

I guess I'll start with my solo trip to el Parque Internacional La Amistad which is a nice nature park that is right by the Costa Rican border.  Even the bus ride from David to Cerro Punta (where it's located) provided some beautiful sights as we passed through the towns of Volcan and Cerro Punta.  Keep in mind that for this whole trip, I didn't really know what I was doing/where I was going--I just decided the night before that I wanted to go out and explore so I found this place in my travel book and decided I'd go check it out.  I was thinking the bus ride would be about half an hour and that it would be obvious where I should get off...so, after multiple stops and about 45 minutes with still no idea of where I was/where I should get off, I decided to become amigos with the bus driver.  Thankfully, after another hour and a half (of me wondering if he understood what we had talked about), he told me I should get off and where to go to catch a taxi to the park.  Once I got to the park, I stopped for a quick lunch inside and was surrounded by humming birds throughout the meal--unfortunately, these were the only animals I was going to see that day.  I was really hoping to see some of Panama's wildlife as the book/park's website indicated 5 different species of cat, among other animals, lived in the park, but with the exception of a few birds along the way, no luck in that aspect. However, the nature, which included waterfalls, large old trees, streams, moss-covered bridges, etc, was beautiful.  It was about a 5 hour hike in total, and there wasn't a minute of easy trekking.  It was misting/lightly raining consistently throughout and, because the trails consisted mostly of rock, you can imagine the difficulty of going up and downhill on these wet rocks, pieces of wood, descending broken stairs, etc.  I might have slipped and almost died once, but since I went by myself, those are things I will never have to admit to--I was flawless, best hiker this world has ever seen.

This past week I had a lot of fun with the reading club I taught.  We worked on prefixes, suffixes and root words, focusing on a few in particular.  After about 50 minutes of instruction and practice, I set up a Jeopardy powerpoint that we played as a class for the next 40 or so minutes.  My students hadn't heard of the game show before which made it a cool and new game for them to do in class.  They really enjoyed the game and the competition, so I'm thinking I'll have to utilize it again for future assessments.
Positive comments from my students have also been rewarding as some have come up and talked to me about how various things make a lot more sense after tutor sessions or clubs than when their teacher explained it to them (don't tell) as well as becoming more interested in reading. They are realizing they can visualize the stories just like movies (as I tend to act things out when I read aloud to them; embarrassing I know, but what are ya gonna do) yet understand the characters on a deeper level than they would in the movies--like I said, a main goal of mine is to go against the culture here and get them enjoying reading in order to eventually improve their comprehension skills.
I have recently made a few really good friends both from UNACHI and Casa Esperanza. Luis, who went to Casa Esperanza as a kid (20 now), invited me to hang out today and go to a public pool here in David (which I didn't know existed) where I was finally able to take advantage of the hot weather here instead of just sweating off 5 pounds a day in khakis and a collared shirt.  I've also finally found a great gym to quench my desire for pick-up basketball--15-20 guys playing pick-up everyday at 5 o'clock..I am content once again.
I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from Casa Esperanza...talk to you all soon.
Tomalo con calma.

Buddhism in Panama? Didn't predict that one..

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.  If this doesn't make sense to you, don't worry..it didn't to me either.   A colleague from the University invited me to a Buddhist service this morning.  It was an extremely interesting experience, but not like anything I had in mind or have done before.  It was at one of the members' house and there was a small altar set up in the front of the living room.  One man (seemingly a leader) sat in a chair directly in front of the altar, facing it.  There were a few rows of chairs behind him for everyone else; there were about 15 members in total.  I walked in with my colleague hoping she'd pick the couple of empty seats in the back row....of course not.  Instead, she picks the front row in order to really show off my cluelessness.  Once seated, I looked around and noticed everyone had their hands in prayer position, so I quickly got mine in place, attempting to act casual and like I've done this all my life.  The other obvious thing was that they were all chanting something...so with my hands in prayer, I listened as carefully as I could.  It sounded like a bunch of jibberish that was definitely not English or Spanish.....great.  But as a foreign newcomer who was sitting in the front row, I had to do something (and quickly) in order to avoid the sketchy eye from everybody in the room...so within about a minute of sitting down and listening, I decided to move my mouth and mumble sounds.  Before I knew what I was doing, I proceeded to try and emulate the mysterious sounds a little louder.  You can picture me trying to say this phrase really quickly in which I had no idea what I was actually saying. Well, apparently I wasn't doing as well as I thought I was, as my colleague went into her purse a few minutes into it and handed me the words (would have been nice if she had done this BEFORE, but what are ya gonna do).  OK, well now I knew how to say the words, but I still had no idea what I was saying.  And go figure, these were the only words that were spoken for the next hour.  The members would chant them in unison, sometimes speeding up, sometimes going very slowly.  (Turns out, via wikipedia, the words mean "To Honor/devote oneself to the Wonderful Law" and it is chanted to attain perfect and complete awakening--would have been cooler to have known that going into it)  You better believe I got darn good at this phrase after an hour straight of repeating it.  After the hour, the group circled up and had a sort of meeting for the next 45 minutes, mostly about their hopes of creating an official worship place in order to attract more people, etc.  Overall, it was totally different from anything I've been to which made it a really neat thing to see.

Other than going to Buddhist gatherings, I have also been establishing my role with the volunteer organization, Casa Esperanza.  I talked with the director of the program here in David and he invited me to actually go on the streets sometimes with other members of the organization in search of children being mistreated and thrown into the work force.  I told him I'd love to become active in that aspect as well.  The next day, I worked with the children and bonded with them throughout the day.  I actually ended up teaching an English lesson to them on the fly (about 15 of them ages 12-17)--it was very cool to see how eager most of them were to learn the language as several came up afterwards to ask even more questions.
Other news: Panama had a 6.0 earthquake whose center was really close to David Saturday morning.  At 3 a.m. I felt my bed sway and shake underneath me--a pretty wild experience since I wasn't sure if it was an earthquake or a scene from Paranormal Activity.  Glad it was the former..
I just took my first shower in a few days as a pipe burst on Friday, leaving our neighborhood completely without water.  Evidence:

A student at UNACHI came up to me earlier this week and after conversing for a while, we began talking about music and the fact that he plays the guitar.  As a passing statement, I said I would love to learn to play too someday...he responded with, "You want to learn now?  ...I can teach you if you want?"  Really? Well, uhh OK.  So he led me to a different part of the school where there was a guitar and long story short, I ended up having an hour long guitar lesson right then and there.
Last thing before I go, as I was sitting on the bus this past week, staring forward and lost in thought, a monkey pops up in front of my face and makes a terrifying shrieking noise as it's eyes bug out and are locked in on mine.  Needless to say, I jumped back (forunately managed to refrain a shriek of my own) and took a few seconds to process the fact that monkey was a foot away screaming at me on a bus.  Once I came to terms with it and he stopped screaming at me, I actually liked the little guy.
Alright, miss you guys.  Take it easy everybody...Tomalo con calma.