Back by popular demand we have some more commonly asked questions that you might be interested in:

1) What did you do on your birthday, mister 25?

B: We were in the middle of our site visit on my birthday. It was a pretty low-key day. Our host family took us into Aguadulce to meet some relatives. The house we visited was really nice and they had WiFi so I was able to Skype my family for the first time since we've been here. I received a sentimental email from my mom which included photos of me from years past so I got my nostalgia on for a bit as a scrolled through the photos and recalled the days when I was just a squirrely little guy (thanks Mom).Then our host family treated Lacey and I to a pizza dinner.

2) How is the tan going? Have you got sun burnt, or are you blocking up?

L: When we got back from a 3 day beach trip with the Teaching English group we got a little more sun than normal. The beach trip was our little way of all saying goodbye to each other before we headed to our sites for good. We spent a lot of time on the beach and I may have got more burnt than bronzed.  However, now I'm sporting a pretty nice tan!

3) Have you pretty much figured out the transportation? When you talk about a place being 1 ½ hrs, or 4 hrs from Panama, is it because it is that far or is the roads/transportation is not so quick? If you rented a car would it take that long?  

B: Yeah transportation to and from Calobre is pretty straight forward and relatively convenient. We even have a direct Coaster from our site to Panama City which is almost unheard of for PCVs. So much for that 2 hour hike and canoe ride...

L: Yeah transportation around Calobre and Santiago (our closest main city) isn't too difficult. We have a little bus stop in Calobre that has chiva's coming every 30 min. to go into Santiago. Also there is a direct chiva from Calobre to Panama City, which is amazing that we don't have to switch buses or make any stops. Super convenient if I say so myself. In Santiago the bus system is pretty straight forward as well and a lot of the main stores and restaurants are in walking distance from each other.

4) When you talk about a place being 1 ½ hrs, or 4 hrs from Panama, is it because it is that far or is the roads/transportation is not so quick? If you rented a car would it take that long?  

B and L: It really depends on where you live. Some places really do take as long as people tell you and have good roads. However, our site takes a bit longer to get too once you get off the Interamericana and head through the towns before Calobre. That is due to the abundant amount of speed bumps and having to dodge the pot holes every 30 seconds. It takes us about 1.5 hrs to get to Santiago from Calobre, but if we had better roads it would only take about an hour I believe. The upside is we are getting use to the long chiva rides and they don't feel so long anymore. We could never imagine driving a distance like from Eugene to Portland just to get a few food items every other week, but now it seems so normal. And to get to Panama city it takes almost exactly 4 hours with our direct chiva from Calobre. Not too bad compared to what it could be.

5)How was your beach trip with the PC gang?

B and L: Very relaxing and nice to get some beach time. It was our first experience on the beach in Panama. The water was a bit more rocky and murky than we had anticipated. This made swimming a little precarious but we replaced our swimming time with long walks on the smooth sand. Despite being less than idyllic, we still really enjoyed the beach aspect. Oh, and we also got stung by jellyfish. Not the best part of the trip, but not to worry, we survived. The villas we stayed in were amazing. Each villa had a kitchen, lounge area, bedrooms, bathrooms, a pool, and hammocks to relax in. Brennan and I were lucky enough to score our own little room in a separate house because we were the only married couple there. For meals some ladies in the group made the classic mac n' cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs for breakfast, and burritos. The trip was a little bitter sweet because we had to say our goodbyes to all the other volunteers, but we were also really ready to be settled in our site and not to be hauling all our luggage around. We will definitely miss the company of the other volunteers.

6) How close will you be to other PC folks when you move to your assigned town? Will you have some friends you will try to stay in contact with? If so how do you stay in contact with them, via phone?

B and L: Our closest volunteer is about 35 minutes away. Her name is Becca and she was in my Spanish class. We really enjoy her and we will for sure stay in touch with her by phone or email. Most of the volunteers in Veraguas are about an hour to an hour and a half from Santiago so I believe we'll occasionally meet up there when we want to see each other. Definitely feasible on a weekend just to meet up for dinner or to hang. The whole Veraguas team is really great so I'm sure we'll stay in touch with everyone and do some group outings every once in a while. Did I mention that Santiago has a cheesecake restaurant! A month ago we all stayed in Santiago as a group before we went to our sites. We eat dinner at Mexican restaurant called Jalapenos, their nachos weren't half bad, they just might become our replacement for Matador nachos while we're here. After dinner we strolled downtown and stumbled upon an International dance festival happening right in the center of town. A group of several dancers preformed the traditional dances of each province in Panama and those of its neighboring countries. The costumes were beautiful and it was so entertaining to get a glimpse of Latin American culture. The final score of the performance was pretty entertaining. It depicted a typical Panamanian Baile (dance party) and showcased just about every Panamanian stereotype in the book, from Salimaring (men making loud, sea-lion like noises) to a drunk homeless man attempting to dance with disinterested women. Also in the process of exploring downtown we ran into a indie rock music festival. We really scored on fun activities that night and they only happen once a year so it was great timing.

7) How is the continued birding? Have you seen anything real striking?

B: My list continues to grow but now at slightly slower pace. The first few months almost every bird I saw was new to me but now I find that I generally see the same handful of birds all the time, most of which are Great-Tailed Grackles, Clay-colored Thrushes, or Tropical Kingbirds. Occasionally I'll add a new bird to the list; the beach trip was nice opportunity to spot some sea birds, like the Magnificent Frigatebird (huge 90" wingspan), the Spotted Sand Piper, and the Willet. I also saw a group of Parakeets from afar during swear-in week in Ciudad de Saber, I wasn't able to ID them but they were most likely Orange-Chinned Parakeets. I look forward to traveling around Panama and, while doing so, seeing a wider variety of birds. I phrase it like this because a while back I promised Lacey that we would never go on any birding specific trips and I hope to reach the age of 40 without breaking that promise.

8)What is your living situation like with your host family, you have your own bedroom and stuff? How big is the house? Do you have a hammock? Animals in the backyard, children, tell us about their family.


B and L: So we live with 2 retired teachers, Francisco and Zoila and their 3 grandchildren, Dayana (middle school), Erik (5th grade) and Nelson (1st grade). Nelson was shy at first and rarely responded to our questions to him. However I gave him a little toy the other day and now he won't stop chatting my ear off anytime he sees me. I think he just needed a little incentive to warm up to me:) A family friend also lives with them and their daughter stays at the house on the weekends with her baby when she's not working. So you can say there's a lot of people living with us. We do have our own room, which consists of 2 twin beds, which we pushed together to create a makeshift king, a desk, a shelve, and a fan. It's a little cramped with all our luggage and no place to put clothes but we are just grateful for our own room and a wonderful family to live with. The house itself is big in comparison to the rest of the houses around Calobre. It has 4 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 bathroom with a shower, and a laundry room. Unfortunately there is no hammock at this house to lounge on, but Mabel (our host mom in Santa Rita) gave us one as a going away gift so we are looking forward to putting it up once we move into our own place.

9)You said you eat all meals at the restaurant, how does that work out and does that help in meeting town/community people? Do they get you in the kitchen to clean dishes?

B and L: Yeah so our host family also owns a restaurant in the center of town called La Mano Amiga, which we eat at every day since the house doesn't have a kitchen. The food is good and they definitely feed us well. Brennan even gets 4 meals a day sometimes, we're pretty sure they're trying to fatten him up. Usually our meals contain some sort of meat, a starch such as patacones (fried plantains) or rice, some veggies, and usually watermelon to top it off. Francisco owns a farm that produces watermelon, corn, beans, and other veggies so he's always bringing us things to try. He is super knowledgeable about agricultural methods, international trade, and Panamanian history. The man can spit a tale, but if you have an hour he's very informative, we've learned a lot from him thus far. Eating at the restaurant is a good way to meet people from the community, but sometimes it's a crutch because it's so much easier to just hang out in the restaurant instead of leaving our comfort zone and visiting people in their houses. We have to work on being more outgoing and pursue others where they live.

10) How does your funding work out, PC gives you a daily allotment to pay for your food, water, housing (host family), and extras?

B and L: They give us monthly installments for housing, food, utilities, entertainment, transportation, and travel. They officially break it up like this, but it boils down to us receiving a lump sum each month to use as we please/need. With dual-instalments, we won't be living large, but we'll probably get by pretty well without spending out of pocket. Also we get a larger amount each month because Calobre is considered a city so those volunteers living in a city get paid more for monthly living.

11) In three months you will then be living on your own? What will that look like? Will you then be cooking?

B and L: Ideally, yes, in 3 months we are allowed to live on our own. Lately we've been searching for our home to be, but our options so far are less than ideal. All one room homes and nothing yet with a kitchen. Our host family plans to build a home that we can rent, so we're hoping there will be a better option than what we've seen thus far. However, the house that they plan to build is also consists of only one room, with the possibility of a kitchen so our living space will be tight nonetheless. Those that come and visit will probably need to stay with another family in town due to space limitations, but the host family we are staying with now has already offered an open invitation to all of our guests to stay in their house. Don't worry you guys will love these people.


12) Drinking Water, how does that all work, do you drink water from the tap, or does it come from bottles? Are you drinking plenty to keep hydrated and prevent headaches, cramps….?

B: The tap water in Calobre is drinkable. I've been drinking quite a bit and hounding Lacey to drink more (she's doing a pretty good job).

L: I'm trying!!!!

13) Farmers market, sounds like fun, just ideas at this point or is this something that is needed and could be done?

B and L: At this point it's just an idea. Calobre is a community built on agriculture, so a farmers market or a food co-op makes sense to us. Also, the cost of food is rising in Panama so that's another factor that makes our idea seem legitimate. Time will tell if it's truly something that might be successful, sustainable, and worth initiating.

14) So does your host family attend the catholic church in town, is this a place you think you will go? Is this an area you plan to be involved with also?

B: Yeah our host family attends the catholic church in the center of town. The church has a pretty large congregation so Sunday mornings are pretty active here. Lacey and I probably won't be regular church-goers, but we already were roped into having roles in the Passion Drama, which was quite an experience. I was a High Priest and Lace was one of Peter's accusers. Brought me back to my days as a blind man in "The Victor".   

L: We won't attend church service very often because for one it's hard to understand all that the priest is saying and also it's pretty traditional. However, I would like to get more involved in activities with the church youth group just to get to know the youth better in town. And yes Brennan mentioned we already took part in the Passion drama, which I was scared out of my mind to be in. For one I hate speaking in English in front of people now I had to do it in Spanish in front of like a thousand people!!! Good thing I only had two lines.

15) How are your devotions continuing?

L: We have been listening to a lot of sermons online (The Peasant Princess by Mark Driscoll) and we are both reading Acts. I have felt very mentally and physically drained so I would like to get more into the Word more consistently to receive more encouragement in my days.

16) Have you been journaling and taking lots of photos?

L: Taking pictures yes any time I have the chance, but journaling not so much. The only journaling that is done is for the blog. I would like to write more, but it just seems like the last thing on my list of things to do. Once things calm down a little I hope to get more into it. I have been using the present that Hilary gave us for Christmas and writing a sentence or two on my note cards about something that stood out each day. Thanks Hilary cause one or two sentences is all I have time for! Such a great present.

17) Have you been able to keep up with news from the States?

B and L: Not really. Internet access has been sparse for us so far . We've rarely had enough time to read news or keep up with current events. As we mentioned above we just bought wi-fi so now it should be a little easier to stay informed.

18) If you need, is there a local doctor in your new city, how does that work with the PC? You wouldn’t travel into the Panama City like you had been?

L: I can answer this question since I'm the one who seems to be a doctor magnet:) Calobre does have a health center, but it's not on Peace Corps lists of medical centers to go. If there is an emergency we can go to the health center, but for any other health issues it's best to head into Santiago (1 hr 30 min chiva ride) and visit the health clinic there. I've already been there once for a check up and it seems decent. If I start having any big problems I believe Peace Corps would send me to the hospital in Panama City since it's one of the best in Central America. So we have a few options. Hopefully we won't have to use any of them any time soon though!

Sorry this blog post has been long over due, but like we said, up until now, internet access has been pretty inconsistent. Now that we have wi-fi we'll try posting more often. Now you won't stop hearing from us!

 

Day trip to the river with the 3rd grade class.