Address/Sending Packages

Hello All!

My mom sent me a package almost 2 months ago, and I've yet to see heads or tails of it, so I'm writing a post in response to that.

If you want to send me a letter, you can send it to the address that's listed there, no problem. If you want to send something that's more package-like, follow these steps.

1. Address it to "Hermana Maureen Petersen" (It'll get here a lot faster if it's coming to "Sister Maureen Petersen". Maureen alone doesn't carry much weight. Sad, I know.)

2. Throw some crosses and "Bendiga Dios" on the front of the package to help it through.

3. Be sure to list, along with what is in the package, that "religious materials" are included. I don't know why, but it works better.

Cuerpo de Paz means Peace Corps, but it also sounds like a religious organization ("cuerpo" also means physical body, and "paz" means peace, so it's not without reason.) It helps to play that up a lot where mail is concerned. My mom did not know to do that, so that package may be a lost cause.

Okay, that's all I've got right now. I'm in Ciudad del Saber finishing up with some office stuff before swearing in TOMORROW. Crazy.

Miss you all! Hope you're all well!

Commenting!

Hey Guys!

I hope everyone is doing well. I've just been in the Peace Corps office the last week taking care of office matters. Not very exciting to write about. I just wanted to tell everyone that, if you feel so inclined, please comment on what I'm writing! Either I'll know that no one is reading my blog (except for my Mom...hi Mom!), or that you're reading it and hate it, or that you're reading it and it's interesting. Let me know!

Later!

The Lost Photos!

Here are some new photos for everyone to enjoy! They´re actually kind of old, but it´s pretty hard to keep up with the photos that I take, so this will have to suffice. Some are from my Cultural week in Colón and some are from my Technical week in Soloy (or the Ngäbe Buble Comarca). Some are from the beach that I went to after Culture and Tech week. That was a highlight.

I just got back from seeing my site for the first time. It was intense. I´ll have to debrief on it and get back to you though because I´m sort of over-interneted right now. It was pretty interesting, though. I suppose I also have the next two years to get back to you on it!

Missing you all and sending love!

Buenas! I hope everyone at home is happy and well!

I arrived in David, in the western part of the country, a couple of hours ago after spending a week in the province of Colon for culture week. I was in Colon at an Embera site with 4 other aspirantes and 2 volunteers. Before I left, my APCD told me, half-kidding (or so I thought) "enjoy your week vacation!" Well, he wasn´t kidding. I bathed in a waterfall everyday, I ate patacones and fried fish, I had my body painted in the traditional style (pictures soon to come, I promise!), I sat around and talked to my home stay family and then community members as well as the other volunteers--it was pretty wonderful. We had a pretty wonderful time.

The body painting is called jagua, and the next time I get a chance, I will absolutely post pictures of it. It´s beautiful, and they paint it in patterns all over their bodies for ceremonies and celebrations. And for tourists. A lot of what this particular community does now is for their ecotourism. But, they did jagua this week because they were having a big presentation on Friday and they were all dressing in the traditional dress. So I got painted all over my upper body! The jagua comes out dark blue on my skin, black on theirs. It lasts 8 days, or so. It´s beautiful, and I promise anyone that comes down a little paint action at my site!

This week I´ll be in the Ngabe-Buble Comarca (reservation) for tech week. Tech week will not be relaxing, but it will be informative. It´ll be the first time that I´ll actually get to do hands on stuff, which is what I´m really looking forward to. We get to build latrines and look at how to fix aquaducts. It`ll be great for me, because I don`t have any idea what that requires! I`ll report back afterwards.

Things are good otherwise. Training is flying by! I`ll be sworn in as a volunteer in just under 5 weeks, which is nuts! I feel like I just got here! Soon enough I`ll be reporting from my site in the Darien. Wish me luck!

New Pictures!

I've added some photos from my trip up to the Comarca to visit another volunteer, Danny M. There are some of the general vistas (which were gorgeous!), some off Danny's house in the Comarca, and a couple of his community members. As well as one of a scorpion that I found in Danny's house. I couldn't kill it. I was afraid that it would fall of the wall and sting me. I waited for Danny to come home to do the honors.

Since you guys probably don't know, the Comarca is like a reservation in the U.S. It's where many people of the indigeneous Ngabe tribe live, and it's a semi-autonomous state. The Ngabe kids love having their photos taken, but the Ngabe smile is pretty much just a straight face, so if you see a lot of photos in the future of people that seem really unhappy, they're smiling inside. I will find out on Wednesday what my site assignment will be (or where I'll be spending the next 2 years), so I will try and update again next week. Chances are pretty good that I'll be at a Ngabe site, but you never know!

I've added my address down here during training to the column on the side. If you feel so inclined, send me a letter! There's also a photo of me smiling at all you folks back home that are reading this. I miss you all, but I'm having a blast!

Sorry it´s been a couple weeks since I´ve posted! It´s been eventful, to say the least. I´m going to do a top five real quick, because I don´t have a lot of time left at the internet cafe. I´m going to mix the good in with the bad here, to make sure I´m giving fair representation.

1. Sweating profusely can cause armpit infections.

Who knew? I found this one out the hard way. I got infections under my arms then I had to tell my APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Director) about it so I could go to the doctor. What a lame illness.

2. Mountains = cool weather

Kind of obvious, I know, But I spent this last weekend up in the Comarca in the Chiriqui region with another volunteer, and I actually put on a long sleeve shirt. Especially after the rain, it´s cool and refreshing. Danny, the volunteer I was visiting, lives in a Ngabe community (pronounced NO-bay) and showed me around. It was an amazing experience. We got to help out a community member build an aquaduct, take a long hike to neighboring community and speak with their water committee, and cook on a fogon (a three-rock cooking technique).

We also were witnesses to a very serious medical emergency about an hour and a half from any hospital, which was probably one of the scariest things I´ve been involved in. The young woman that was sick could hardly breathe, and I wasn´t sure she´d make it off the mountain, but we heard later that she did. Thank God.

3. Popes in a Volkswagon

So, the way up to Danny´s site is by chiva, which is basically just a Range Rover. To maximize their time and space, and to make more money, they pack the chivas to the brim. And I mean PACK them. I was in a chiva with 23 other people, and Danny said that he´s been in one with 30. To be fair, I wasn´t in it, so much as riding on top of it. There were 6 men hanging onto the back as well. It was nuts. But it was either ride on the top, or sit in the back with 12 drunk men and listen to them talk about the gringa that´s in the car with them. I chose the roof.

4. Air conditioning and hot showers are gifts from God.

I got to enjoy both last night in the hostel in David, and they truly are the work of the Lord. And I´m not even religious.

5. Machetes are awesome.

I love my machete! I also love getting dirty and mixing cement. It´s great. There´s never any reason for me to look cute, which is sometimes a downer, but there will be plenty of time for that after my 2 years of service, so I´m not too worried. Right now I´m enjoying because a cachimbona (hard working woman--it´s what my homestay family calls me because they can´t pronounce my name).

Alright, that´s all for now. I´ll post pictures next time I´m on. I promise! I hope all is well with everyone at home!

Much love!

A Panamanian Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. 25 years ago today, I was born. That's crazy! I don't know where last year went. Last year at this time I was by the swimming pool enjoying some beer and guacamole. Where has it all gone?

Today was a little different than that. I went to another volunteer's site with my Environmental Health people today. It was the first time that I actually saw a volunteer's site in person. It was pretty...rustic. I prepared myself pretty well for it, but I was still struck by the community that we stepped into. The problems in this community, and I imagine in many others, are relatively basic. Why do I keep getting sick after drinking the water? Well, who else is using the water and, more importantly, what is it being used for? They're questions that seem obvious to us, but for a rural community that hasn't had a lot of education about germs and parasites and what causes them, they're issues that need to be addressed.

I'm leaving now to head over to Santa Clara for training (woohoo!). I'm meeting my first host family today, which should be interesting. I'm nervous about it, but the volunteers that are here with us trainees assured us that, although it's awkward at first, it gets a lot better. And, eventually, they end up becoming a good support system for you. I'm sure I'll be exhausted every night after my 10 hours of Spanish and technical training. But, I'm going to make an effort to stay engaged and talk to them.

Here are some pictures of the trip out to Panama este (Panama is a city, province and country name--so East Panama is in the eastern part of the province). We were very close to the Darien, which is the big jungle just north of the Columbia border. The Darien is off limits because of the FARC presence (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia). The woman is part of the Kuna tribe, and she's in traditional Kuna clothing. Enjoy!

I will try and post soon, but it may not be possible. So, until next time! Chau!