Sal Se Puede

Today was the third day of school with students AND the first half day.  Every Wednesday is a half day with the afternoon devoted to staff development (and coincidentally time for SACS preparation....)  The morning flew by with every minute taken up with classes.  The kids were a bit better, not much, but a bit.  Because of their upbringing I believe that teaching them they are not in charge and cannot do as they please will be a difficult task.  

After the students left and I sat through an excruciatingly long meeting about God knows what and then it was almost time to go.  This afternoon it was like a saying here (and also what they a call a road leading into and out of the old city) "Sal Se Puede"  Get out if you can.  We were all on a mad dash to get out of school.  It's not felt like actual teaching yet because everything about my situation is so impermanent.  It makes me feel like a visitor.  I am enjoying the longer class time with the older kids BUT I am finding the long classes with kindergarten TOO much especially because I see them twice a week.  That is almost twice the attention span of a 5 year old and then add in the fact that most of them don't speak english well, if at all.  I am still completely fascinated by the many different nationalities represented in my classes.  In my fourth grade class alone I had 11 different countries represented.  It is amazing.

Sadly and much to my amazement, the board has asked me to remove my nose ring.  Even though there are four other teachers with them AND I had it when they hired me.  They say that mine is more noticeable because of my small nose and light skin.  I, however, had a meeting with them in which I have agreed to look for one without a stone and that is a bit smaller.  I told them that if, when they hired me, they had told me about this I may not have taken a job where I had to change something about myself. Hopefully, this solution will appease them.

At home: my roommates and I are getting along.  I am so glad Jodie, the girl from RI, is here.  She makes me feel a bit more at home.  We have hired a maid to come twice a week (never in my life have I had a maid) and I have LOVED coming home to a clean kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, clean clothes that are ironed and put away, and mopped floors.  It makes it more possible to relax.  I love it.  I love her.  I may ask her to run away with me.... ok maybe not, but you get the point.

Things are going fairly well here.  I am still adjusting to being here but I feel I will be ok.  I miss everyone at home and I miss familiarity but that's part of the reason I am here.  To make change easier for me.

So, for now, I am here to stay and to make it work.... but find me at 3:30 in the school parking lot and it's "Sal Se Puede".

Stars Falling

A meteorological event has had a strange effect on me today.  It has marked the passing of a year where my life has changed completely and, I believe, with it I have changed as well.  One year ago a relationship changed, I began to love myself, I found friends that I love more than my own life, I took the first steps in a long journey, my heart has been broken, I’ve fallen from the top to the bottom in minutes, I’ve left people I love, I found myself only to lose me once more, and I ran from everything I have ever known to a place that is completely foreign to me.  It’s been a long year and not always a good one. 

 

Knowing what I know now and where I would end up, would I go back and do it all again?  Would this be the life I choose?

The Apartment

The Living Room

The View from the Apartment

The Kitchen

My Room

First Day of School

Well.  I made it through the first day.  It was very hectic in the morning because of the construction/various ages of children/rainy weather/and overall disorganization.  I only had three classes today because kindergarten does not stay all day.  I traveled to all three classrooms and found this both difficult and an ineffective way to teach.  We are so cramped for space that some teachers are sharing rooms.... so my first class today was while another class worked on the other side of the room.  Ineffective and ridiculous.  My initial observations of the kids are this: they have been allowed to live without structure and discipline and so now they seem to think all decisions made by anyone else can and will be ignored.  They better just hold on to their seats if they think that is how I will work.  I have gotten the same response from other teachers that have taught in the US and Canada.  Overall, in Panama, there is a total lack of structure which is evident by the absence of a set curriculum, two recess times scheduled during the day, and a willingness to let kids make decisions for themselves all the time.  Now, I think the kids are sweet and I can't begin to tell you what it's like to have 10 different nationalities represented in a classroom.  It is very interesting.  I am hoping tomorrow that classes will be more organized.  We'll see.

On a similar, yet different note.  Our furniture that we ordered STILL has not arrived a week later even after a promise it would be delivered on Thursday.  I had to have a co-worker from the school call to track them down and make them swear they would bring this evening.  Fingers crossed.  I am reminded over and over that I am in Panama and it's just the way things are done.  Maybe, before I leave, I'll get the hang of it.

Pictures of Playa del Palmar

A storm came up on the beach while we were hanging.  

Me.  In Panama.  Having fun.

Black, sandy beaches and grown men in tiny swimsuits.

Este is muy divertido......

I am really excited to have my first really positive day in Panama.... 

Let's start with yesterday:  After a disappointing day at school (that's another story) I left school with Andrea, Jodie, and Marilyn and we embarked on an adventure to get manicures and pedicures.  Over an hour later we reached the city (it's only 15 miles) and we waited for another hour..... long story short, it was fun to just hang out with worrying about time and to-do lists.... PLUS a mani/pedi only costs 14 dollars.  If that doesn't make you happy, I'm not sure anything could.  We went to dinner afterwards at a great Lebanese restaurant with Mike and Jon and just relaxed.  We got up this morning and LEFT THE CITY to go to the beach.  Now, you think, Kari you are already living on the water and yes, that's true BUT the water in the city is so polluted that you can't swim in it.  You have to get an hour or so out of the pollution.  Anyways, we drove over the bridge of the Americas (it's the first time I've seen it despite being here two weeks) then headed to the beach.  It took us about an hour and a half.  We stopped at a veggie stand, drive through the town of Playa del Palma and found the black sandy beaches.  It was absolutely beautiful and HOT most of the day, rained in the afternoon (we found shelter at a bar with .80 beer.....) and swam again before leaving.  It was so interesting to see the mountainous terrain that reminded me of Asheville sprinkled with Palm trees, bananas, and coconuts.  The people were mostly friendly and all entertaining.  We saw a movie after we came back to the city.  It was a complete day of fun.  No responsibility, no stress over language, no worries.... really, no se preocupe.  I needed just one day like this.  A reminder as to why I came to Panama.  Tomorrow, I'll prepare for the first day of school.

 

I'll try to post a picture of the beach tomorrow, but for tonight..... I'll sleep well, slightly sunburnt, exhausted, and on my way to happiness(I think).

No Se Preocupe

Ok.  So I know this has been a week too late.... but here I am.  In Panama.  It's been one of the longest weeks of my life.  The people that I have met that I will be living and working with are amazing.  Everyone is just as nervous and excited as I am.  The process that I had to go through to get an apartment was just insane and hard.  I've been doing considerably well, I think, considering.  That is, until today.  It was my last day before school started and I ran around all day trying to buy things I needed for the apartment with my roommate, Jodie.  Nothing has been easy.  No matter how hard I try, my spanish is not good enough, cabbies don't want to pick up a white girl, I can't get the modem to work because I can't call and talk to the internet company because (again) I don't speak spanish, shopping at the mall for things I need was hard because when buying things like laundry baskets, pots and pans, and kitchen supplies you have to carry them around.... and when you have no car to put them in it makes the whole process DIFFICULT!  To top it all off the Panamanian attitude is "No se preocupe"   meaning..... don't worry about it  Thats right.... nothings going well for you?  don't worry about it.  If you know me you will know that's not possible for me.  

Don't get me wrong, everything here is ok.  I just would like one thing to be easier.  I am here, in the country, with no friends, where everyone speaks another language that I am desperately trying to learn and everything is hard and new.  

SO..... no se preocupe, verdad?