GRADUATION

On Saturday all the the high school students taking classes at the University went to an end of term party at the Adventist compound near Volcan.  It is a huge place with many buildings and sports fields which is a private school during the week.  We took over the huge covered patio that had bleachers on one side and had many activities and games for the kids, which they seemed to enjoy.  All the classes  had different colored T shirts and gave their groups names so they could compete against each other.  We had a parade with all the different groups and the banners they had made.  Many of the groups were my former students since I assisted with two groups each term over two terms.

The entrance to the Adventist school

Some of my fabulous students

...and more

...and more

...and more

...and more

The parade goes on for a quarter mile

My advanced students

Student groups had to make a flag out of newspaper and twigs (Survivor style) and fly it

Ball relay the hard way

Bees loved the cake so much we didn't get to eat it

Some volunteers served a nice lunch one of the families provided which included the usual rice, beans, and potato salad.  There was a gorgeous store bought cake with the Survivor logo on it.  More than half of the students who started the program in January had dropped out for various reasons, so "Survivor" was the theme of the day.  The brother of one of the teachers works on the TV program and she was able to get the logo, some T shirts and bandannas.  Unfortunately, the bees just loved the beautiful cake, and they ended up giving it to the people that worked there so the students didn't get bee stung.  One of the teachers did get a nasty bite and her whole hand swelled up.

So it is goodbye to my high school students, but now I can spend more time on my adult classes.

SANTA FE

Entrance to Hostal La Quia

This weekend almost all of the WorldTeach volunteers met in Santa Fe to meet the new cpuntry director, Amanda Colon, and to celebrate Anna Reusink's birthday.

Santa Fe is a small town up in the mountains between Santiago and Bocas del Toro.  It is an up and coming retirement haven and the land is much cheaper than in well established Boquete.  You can get a few acres with waterfalls and a tropical feel for little money (although prices are going up fast), but there is not much else there.  A curvy two lane road leads there, whereas in Boquete they are completing a four lane highway from David.  I had to take a bus three hours from David to Santiago, then transfer to another bus for 1 1/2 hours to get to Santa Fe.

We stayed at the Hotel La Quia.  It has one main building and several outbuildings with dormitory and private cottages.  I stayed in a room upstairs in the main building.  It did have a mosquito net, which seems rare here.  Malaria was conquered early in the 1900's so they could complete the Panama Canal.  There are still bugs though, because the walls are unchinked wood boards.  That serves as air conditioning.  I came a day before most of the group, and they took over the whole dormitory of eight beds.  The facility has been sold to an American University, who is turning it into a research center.  I am not sure what they will be researching, but it is a beautiful location.

 

 

My room.  You have to stand on the bed to attach the mosquito net to the ceiling

View from upstairs balcony

Santa Fe cemetery

The two Michaela's in front of the dormitory

For dinner we walked to the Blue Iguana to celebrate Anna's birthday.  It is run by an American couple from Texas and has decent American food.  We sat outside and were soon attacked by chitras (like sand flies).  Veraguas province is apparently noted for them.   You can't see them, but you certainly feel them biting.  I rarely use insect repellent because they aren't a problem in David or Boquete, but I could have used some here.  On Monday I went to an already scheduled doctor's  appointment to get something for the itching.  He had taken a week off, so I went to the pharmacy and got an anti itch pill and some Caladryl lotion.  I still ended up scratching in my sleep and by the time I saw the doctor the next Monday, my legs were full or sores.  I blame him for taking an unscheduled week off.

We met for dinner at the Blue Iguana.  We certainly look a lot scruffier than when we left Panama City

Happy Birthday to Anna!

MERY'S BIRTHDAY

Today we celebrated my host mom, Mery's, 64th birthday.  The two sons and their families came, as well as Juan's sister and her granddaughter and daughter.  I skipped the dinner but had a little cake and ice cream.

Mery and Juan Lara

Marisol is expecting in December

Juan's sister

Juan Alberto and family

Mery never lets me help clean up

VALLE ESCONDIDO

Church at Valle Escondido

On my trip to Boquete this weekend I visited Valle Escondido (hidden valley), which was established as a kind of survivalist stronghold.  It was founded in 1991 by an American nicknamed "John Galt," who was one of the main characters in Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged.  They have a river running through the valley but also springs for water and a hydroelectric plant to supply their own electricity.  People from many countries have bought homes or condos here for a safe haven in case the world falls apart.  The guards all speak English and carry guns.  I looked at homes and condos here with a realtor, who doubles as a pilot for a private air company and has pictures of famous people he has flown all over the world.  Some of the homes are mansions, and the condos range from small to huge.

They have a cute church, a hotel, golf course, tennis courts, a fitness center with a knockout pool, and trails.  The prices are similar to what I paid for a condo in the upscale area of Asheville, but the monthly fees are a less, even including electricity , cable, and water.  Asheville has more to do.  All in all, it didn't make me want to move there.

Hostal Refugio del Rio is just down the road.  Former vacation home of Noriega's secretary

Downtown Boquete

If the world truly starts to fall apart, I may change my mind.

BOCAS DEL TORO

Finally I have four days off in a row and can go somewhere!  I decided to go to Bocas del Toro, a resort area on the Caribbean side of Panama.  It was formerly the headquarters of Chiquita Banana Company.  The region has many tropical islands and hosted the Survivor show at least once.  The WorldTeach volunteers in Santiago are going there the next week, but they have one or two weeks off since they teach in elementary schools, which have a regular spring vacation.  I will have to go alone (which seems to shock my host family) since this is my only longish stretch of time off.

I took the bus to the other side of Panama, which took about five hours and cost $8.50.  Then I took a 40 minute water taxi to Bocas Town, which cost $2 (senior rate).

My hotel is the rear building

I stayed in the Hotel Palma Royale, which was a splurge at $80 for a room with air conditioning, a small patio, and breakfast.  I later looked at some of the hostels in town.  They cost $10-20 but some look pretty noisy and potentially unsafe.  I booked a boat tour to a nearby island which had snorkeling and lunch for the next day but it ended up raining.  I skipped the boat tour and took a bus to Drago Bay on the other side of the island.  We went through a lot of jungly areas for about an hour and ended up at a kind of low rise hotel complex with an outdoor restaurant, a small beach, and an ecology institute.  I had red snapper for lunch and browsed through the souveneir stands before taking the bus back to Bocas.

Taken from the water taxi

Across from my hotel

Restaurant in Bocas del Drago

I cancelled my boat tour because the sky looked like this

Small boats to get to other islands

It rained pretty much the rest of my time there,which is typical for Bocas.  At least I felt like I had a little vacation.

BOQUETE

The mountain town of Boquete is where I go on some weekends to get out of the heat.  It is an less than an hour and only $1.75 to take the bus up there but seems a world away.  It is famous for coffee and flowers.  It is always high on the list of places to retire.  One reason I like to come is to get a hot shower, since most of the houses in David seem to only have cold running water. 

My room at Hostal Boquete

View from my room at Hostal Boquete

My first time I stayed at the Hostal Boquete and had a room overlooking the river.  I walked all over the town, something it is harder to do in David due to the heat.  I took a tour of the Sarracin coffee plantation for $25.  It is family owned and the first male descendant is always named Francisco.  The original Francisco came from Italy in the 1800's and married an Indian woman who knew how to grow coffee beans.




I also went to the Boquete Community theater to see a comedy revue.  The participants and attendees are mostly Americans.  I met and talked with many of them.  Many live her only part of the year, but most are full time residents and seem happy with their choice to move to Panama.  They get discounts on almost everything, from food to medical care to transportation, hotels, movies, etc.

The latest Francisco Sarracin at the coffee plantation

Peanut butter glazed salmon over a corn fritter

On other weekends I stayed at Hostal Gaia, which is $8 for four bed dormitory, Refugio del Rio, a nice house turned hostel on the river and formerly owned by Noriega's secretary, and Hostal Doraz, which is more on the main drag but has private rooms  with shared balcony for $20.

My host mom, Mery, is a great cook but it is nice to have a change from the typical Panamian diet of rice, beans, and chicken.  Memorable meals included peanut butter salmon ($15 at El Oasis), coffee rubbed filet mignon with chipotle sauce and yucca fries ($14 at The Fish House), and Peruvian corvina fish and langostino shrimp ($17 at Macchu Picchu).  I also enjoy breakfasts at Punto de Encontrado, where they give you a cheese, bacon, and tomato omelet with orchid garnish for $7 or Central Cafe downtown overlooking the central plaza where you can get scrambled eggs, fruit bowl and local coffee for $6.

DAVID, PANAMA

I arrived in David on June 30, after a brief stop at the National Hotel in Santiago for a lunch meeting with one of the WorldTeach sponsors.  There I met Drew, Katie, and Jennifer, who are volunteering for a year, as opposed to the rest of us, who are here for only six months.

Our last meeting before going to our sites: Jennifer, the two Michaelas, Ariel, Anna, Matt, Halimah

 Drew and Kari at National Hotel, Santiago

Kari, the WorldTeach country director, had arranged for me to stay with the Guerra family in David for $110 a month, not including food.  AbeI is a teacher who commutes to Bocas del Toro and Kattie is an NICU nurse from Bolivia.  I had my own bedroom and a fan, but we all shared the one bathroom and small kitchen.  The window in my room looks out into the hallway.  There was a park near their complex, but they told me it was dangerous to go there.  I later learned that the whole neighborhood is considered one of the worst in the city.  To get to school, I had to walk a few blocks, take a shared taxi to town (50 cents), walk two more blocks, then take a bus (35 cents) before walking six more blocks to the university.  Since some of my classes are at night, I was not too happy about this.  The couple also had a four month old baby, who was basically good but did have a few crying spells.  They spoke no English.  I paid $110 a week for the room but that did not include food.

The kitchen.  Not a lot of room for storage

My room at the Guerra house

Kattie and baby Abel

In front of the Guerra house with neighbors

 When I called the University, the director of the language department did not know I was coming.  She had apparently been on medical leave when this was arranged, so the only people who knew about it were the director in Panama City and the secretary in David, who had forgot to tell her boss about it when she came back from leave.

I went to work on Tuesday.  The director was appalled at where I was living and had a new place for me by the next day.  For $150 I have my own room, bath and three meals a day.  This is paid for by the university, plus they give me $200 a month stipend.  I had to pay the first week at the first place out of my own pocket, since it is apparently in the contract with WorldTeach that the university provides the housing.  I gave the Guerra family $50 since I only gave one day notice I was leaving.

I now live with the Lara family.  Juan works for a government agricultural agency and will retire in December.  Mery is 63 and retired.  Women retire here at 57 and men at 63, which goes against all kinds of equal opportunity laws in the US.  They have two adult sons and one daughter, all married with their own homes in David.  The boys are twins.  One has two young children and the other a baby on the way.  The daughter lives recently graduated from University in Panama City and lives there with her husband.

Mery and granchildren in typical afternoon activity

I rarely see Juan, although we did all go up to his finca (ranch) one Sunday to see his cows.  He has someone watching the place full time but usually goes up there every weekend.  It is beautiful, with a river on one border and  unobstructed views of the mountains.  I see Mery a lot, since she serves me all my meals and won't let me do the dishes.  She goes to the Lion's Club four days a week for an exercise class.  I only have one day I can go with her due to my schedule.  It is free and has about 20 local women and a young male instructor.  We did a lot of bouncing balls, floor exercises, and hand weights.  Mery also goes to bingo for five hours every Saturday afternoon, but I have not tried that yet.  I think I would just fall asleep after being in class five hours that morning.

It is only about a mile walk to the university, which is nice in the morning but can be very hot or raining in the afternoon.  I try to carry an umbrella with me all the time, for the heat and the rain.  This is the kind of rain that can soak you even if you have an umbrella.  There is often a lot of thunder and lightning, as well.  Hurricanes tend to be on the Caribbean coast, however, so I feel safer here on the Pacific, although we are about an hour from the beach and there is apparently no bus that goes there.

I co-teach high school students from 8:30 to 11:30 Monday through Thursday, adults Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. and 8:30 to 1p.m on Saturdays.  My office hours are 3 to 6 on Wednesday.  So my days off are Friday and Sunday.  The kids and adult weekday and Saturday schedules are all on different vacation schedules, so I always have to be here at least part of the week.

Teacher Susanna

Teacher Henry

My grand plans to see some of Panama and Costa Rica on my vacation time are out the window.  The good thing is that it is only an hour bus ride to Boquete up in the mountains, so I can go there overnight and enjoy weather about 10 degrees cooler than in David.  It is too hot or wet to walk much in David, so that is where I go to get in some long walks in beautiful mountain scenery.  The area is known for growing coffee and flowers.  Also, there are many American retirees there and I have seen almost no foreigners in David.
 

There are two malls in David, but both are outdoors so you can't go hang out in the air conditioning unless you are in a store.  Neither mall has much of interest.  There is a PriceSmart (like Costco) and a DoIt Center (like Home Depot), plus another store like Kohl's.  Other than that there are shoe stores and expensive clothing stores with only small sizes.  I really don't need to buy anything, since all my food is provided.  Only one mall has a food court, and it is small.  There is a Pizza Hut and McDonald's near one of the malls.  There is a Java Juice, Dairy Queen and McDonald's a few blocks from where I am living now.  Also a Curves, which I am considering since it is hard to get in all the walking I usually do due to weather issues.

I went to the dentist here to get a cleaning, since I had not had one in over a year.  I didn't find any dental hygienists in Africa and I couldn't get an appointment in the short time I was in the USA.  I paid $25 for an ultrasonic cleaning and flouride application.  I haven't had one of those in years since it is in our water supply in the US.

I also went to a dermatologist for a rash on my neck I have had since coming to Panama.  I tried antibiotic ointment for a month before finally seeking medical care.  I was told to come for my appointment between 3 and 6.  I got there around 4 and they finally saw me about 5:55.  Luckily the waiting room was air conditioned.  The doctor did not take a medical history ( I have had skin cancer), just asked a few questions about the rash and gave me a few local steroid injections.  He also gave me a prescription for an anti-itch medicine to take at night and skin cream, and an ointment.  The appointment was only $25, but the prescriptions were $75, even with my 20% senior discount.

There are two movie theaters in town.  Movies are usually subtitled or dubbed.  I walked to the multiplex and saw Batman with subtitles.  One of the other volunteers in Santiago said she went to see it in the dubbed version and she was the only one laughing, because the jokes just don't translate.  The senior price for a movie here is $1.85 versus $3.25 regular price.  It is air conditioned, which is a good reason to go.  There is no air conditioning in the house except for the master bedroom,  but the classrooms at the university have it.  The temperature may be only 85, but the humidity makes it really uncomfortable.  They tell me that January and February are a lot hotter, but thankfully I will be gone by then.