Mission Trip to Llano Grande

Once I returned from vacation, it was back to work! Literally, the morning after I returned, I drove out with 40 other students and 3 other professors to the interior of Panama to go on a 2 week mission trip. Before I tell you all about it, here is a picture of the super cute group I spent 2 weeks with!

Part of the 12th Grade from San Cristobal

Llano Grande was our chosen destination for our mission trip. This mission trip is something that the rising seniors of San Cristobal do every single year, but the students are split into 3 groups. Our group was the group going to a place called Llano Grande, another group went to a community called Marignon, and the third group went to Chiru. These are all communities within the interior of Panama, simply meaning that they are located in an area of Panama that is less developed and much more rural.

The mission trip as a whole was simply amazing to me, for several reasons. I'm still attempting to wrap my head around the entire experience, but I'll try to start explaining why it absolutely blew my mind.

First of all, it was led by the students themselves. They held a vote and elected a Coordinator, an Assistant Coordinator, a Secretary, a Treasurer, Head of Discipline, and several teams such as the Tool Team, the Health Team, and the Nutrients Team. These students and teams were in charge of making sure that everything ran smoothly within their respective areas, and to my amazement, they were extremely efficient, organized, and respectful towards one another and the professors.

I think the reason that I was so impressed was because for 2 weeks, they had to live under very different conditions. To help you imagine it, I'll make a list of things they (including the professors) had to do:
-After work every morning, they had to hand-wash their clothes out in a field
-There were no showers, so the latrines turned into the shower. They filled a bucket with water and bathed with what little water they had
-The bathroom didn't have electricity nor a sink so they needed to bring lanterns and brush their teeth/wash their face in the front of the school from a small water source
-The girls slept in a classroom on cots with 26 girls
-The boys slept in another classroom on cots with 18 boys
-They were only allowed to use their cell phones for 20 minutes each day to call home (that was my personal favorite and naturally most distressing problem for everyone)
-They were able to experience all the different forms and species of insects including scorpions! We saw a few of those in our bedroom - yikes! But mainly mosquitos and more mosquitos, and other bugs that like to visit during the night

Simply put, the living conditions weren't the most luxurious, but as always with mission trips or experiences of this type, it allowed everyone to really understand how privileged and blessed they are, and how easy it is to take for granted what you have. This definitely includes myself! As much as the students saw me as a professor who knew what was going on, I was much more like them in the aspect that everything was completely new to me and I certainly haven't been on that long of a trip like this!

But, before I analyze the whole trip, I'll describe a typical day and include a few pictures!

First of all, every day there is a different kitchen team which is made up of 4 students. This team has to wake up at 4:30 to start making breakfast for the whole camp. Breakfast normally took 2.5 hours to make considering it was for 44 people, and the rest of the group woke up at 6:30 in order to be ready for breakfast at 7.

Two girls on the kitchen team preparing chicken

Half of the girl's room. It was basically like one bed

After breakfast, work started at 8. The kids had to work from 8-12, which is a pretty long time considering they were working right under the sun. They did all kinds of work, depending on the day. Painting, cutting the grass and weeds with machetes (seriously), painting, mowing the lawn, cleaning the school, replacing and repairing water pipes, digging a hole to burn trash, and whatever other tasks needed to be completed. Even though it was serious physical labor, the kids always had a positive attitude and rarely complained about the work they had to do, which really amazed me! Here are a few pictures of them working:

Typical day in the field with a machete - terrifying

After a long day of work!

Also, every day there is another team called the Bible School team. This is a group of 3 students that teach Math, English, and do Bible activities (kind of like Vacation Bible School) for kids from the community. The ages of the kids ranged from 3-12. There was always a really great outcome, usually about 20 kids. That was my favorite activity to watch, because at the end of the day, the students (the 12th graders) were so good with the little kids but also always exhausted and admitted that teaching isn't an easy job. Here are a few pictures from the classes:

After work, we had lunch at 12. During the time all the other students were working (whether in the field or in the classroom) the kitchen team stayed in the kitchen for the past 4 hours (from 8-12) to prepare lunch. After lunch, at 1:00 the girls can shower. At 2:00, the boys can shower. At 3:00, the professors can shower. 4-5:30 is free time for the students where they either played soccer, volleyball, or just hung out, and 5:30-5:50 was time to call home! At 6:00 we had dinner, and after dinner there was typically a night time activity such as preparing a skit or doing research on the local community to learn more.  Then lights out was at 10:00, and at 4:30 am the next morning (for the professors and the kitchen team), it was time to do it all over again!

At risk of writing a novel, I'll try to sum this all up quickly! I still don't really know if I can express how much these two weeks had an impact on my life, and even more so how these students and the community had an impact on my life. Granted that the majority of the students have been going to school together since Kindergarten, I was still amazed at how well they all worked together, respected each other, and got along. At that age, it's very easy to have cliques and different groups, but all of these students were literally best friends. It was pretty amazing! They were so sweet and supportive of one another, and most of them knew exactly who they were and had specific goals for their future. At the end of the two weeks, we had a closing meeting where each student had to talk about how they felt about their experience and suggest improvements or generally make comments about the experience. They all had profound things to say and I can honestly say I could see a dramatic difference in their attitudes and their outlook on their lives after the two weeks.

I'm really glad that every year these students have the opportunity to do something like this. I really think everyone should have to experience something like this in their lives, so I think these kids are really lucky that they had this opportunity and were able to share it together. Here are a few more pictures to close out the blog, and as always, thanks for keeping up!

The students set up a closing party for the kids of the community

Including a piñata!

One of the students - Michelle

Another student - Andrea

Nicole and Mariana

The 3 Profesoras

The Whole Team!

Panamanian Christmas and Costa Rica Vacation

First of all, wow! I am so sorry I took such a long hiatus from my blog. The months of December and January have been super busy to say the least, but in the best way! Since so much has happened, I'm going to split the past two months into two blogs, but I have a feeling it's still going to be a long one, so I'll try and post a lot of pictures so you won't get bored!

It all started when this lady came to visit!

I was lucky enough to have my mom come down to Panama to celebrate Christmas as well as tour around Panama a bit! It was a drastically different Christmas for sure, but we were still definitely surrounded by some of the most caring and fun people that have allowed me to be part of their family for a year. At my house, we had a day-long party where closest family and friends of my host family attended. I literally ate more that day than I probably should've eaten in a week, but that's just part of the tradition of the holiday. Actually, in Panama the celebrations start at dinner time on Christmas Eve, and after you eat dinner at one house, you go to another house and eat another dinner, and so on until midnight hits. Once it's midnight, there is an ABSURD amount of fireworks that go off and last for hours, and as I observed from neighbors, some people just never go to sleep and party into Christmas Day! Here are a few other pictures from Christmas Day:

Joseph and my mom - new friends!

Panamanian Parents :)

Panamanian mama meets real mama

One of the coolest parts about a Panamanian Christmas is that the festivities last much longer than a few days. Most people hold parties at their house and attend other parties until January 7th. However, since my mom was a newbie in Panama, we decided to do some touring around, so here are a few highlights from our adventures:

Showing my mom the school

Super beautiful view of the city from The Causeway

Really cool flower clock on the coast

View of the city from the rainforest

Touring the Panama Canal

After we toured around Panama a bit, we were lucky enough to be able to take a quick trip to Costa Rica to go see some of our favorite people, and oldest friends, the Errante family! The Errantes have spent the past few Christmas' in Costa Rica, so we though we couldn't pass this opportunity up since we were so close! It also was at the perfect time to renew my visa for Panama, so it was perfect.  We spent most of our time surfing since they are a little surfer family, but I'm pretty confident I spent most of my time face planting. Apparently surfing isn't something you can just pick back up :) Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of me falling, but here are a few other highlights!

Crater at the top of Volcan Poas 

Sunset at Nosara Beach

So glad I got to see this beauty!

Emmy surfing - had to post pictures of these surfer girls!

Casey surfing (notice how I do NOT have a surfing picture)

Errante and Carter girls

The holidays were super busy but also so nice and relaxing after such a crazy few months of school. Most of all, I must admit that it was so comforting to see family and friends. After meeting so many new people, doing new things, learning a new culture, and adapting to a new way a life, there's something so underrated and comforting about familiarity. I couldn't have been happier to see these cuties, and was beyond heartbroken to see them go. But, as soon as I got home from Costa Rica, the next morning I had to wake up and go on a 2 week mission trip with the 12th grade students from our school!

Stay tuned, that adventure will be featured in the next blog.

As always, thanks for reading and for the support. I hope everyone had a great time during the holidays!

Encouragement and Photo Booth

"Encourage one another" - a phrase that I have heard a surprising amount lately. At church as well as bible study, we have been talking about how important it is to encourage one another and take enough time away from your own concerns to be able to give someone else words of encouragement or a helping hand. It's pretty amazing how much it can change your day by just having one person take the time to stop what they're doing and say something kind.

I've found this to be super crucial for me during this year. I will definitely admit that being a teacher is not the easiest job, and I have developed an overwhelming sense of appreciation and admiration for teachers around the world. There is so much time, love, compassion, and long hours that are put into this job. But I can't take credit for learning about all these things by doing them and figuring them out myself. I have learned them through my co-workers, several of which have been teachers for up to 30 years. They're all incredible, and I especially love them for their encouraging and positive attitudes. 

I'm always pleasantly surprised at how willing people are to help one another. Most of these teachers are busily running around trying to grade papers in time for their next class, entering grades, planning  for their classes, or doing whatever random job that they need to do. But one thing i have always noticed is that everyone is willing to drop whatever they are doing in order to help someone else if they are in need. I have definitely been that "needy" person a few times (or several times), and I am beyond grateful for how caring and thoughtful my co-workers have been. So, I thought I'd give them a picture shout out:

Two of my beautiful amigas and myself at a Teacher's Appreciate Luncheon. Duyna who is a  Philosophy and Religion teacher and Itzel who is an English teacher

Me and Joseph at the luncheon!

Just had to share the beautiful view from where we had lunch!

Teaching my coworker Juan , professor of Accounting and Tourism, about the wonders of Photo Booth after  school one day

He especially enjoyed the special effects

A few of my other coworker friends: Laura who is a professor of English, Carmen who is a professor of Mathematics, and Juan again

Two professors that already know the art of photo bombing. Juan and Ramires ,  professor of Philosophy and Civics

I have been very blessed to have such a great community at work. Sorry that I actually just posted selflies on my blog, but it helps to give a good feel of how great these people are. 

In other news, tomorrow is the last day that students will be in school, and then it is the end of the school year! Since the seasons are backwards, this is summer break, so we will have about a month and a half off of work. But don't worry, I will definitely not be left with a month to lounge around and watch endless marathons of Friends and Modern Family. Here are some things coming up for me:

-Lots of teacher work days! Meaning lots of correcting tests and entering grades - it will be a good time
-Mom is coming to Panama! There will be a whole blog post of that one.
-I also will get to see my best friend and her family when my mom comes down!
-I am going on a 2 week mission trip to the interior of Panama with the students of 11th grade
-I (might) be going on another mission trip after that! More news about that later

So don't worry, I have plenty of things going on during my summer "break". Until all the Christmas festivities, my life will be consumed of this: 

Grading and then grading a little bit more

Thanks for all the support as always, and all the words of encouragement! They mean more than you know!

Polleras

It might not be too surprising that we just had another festival/holiday/parade/celebration! But this time, I have lots of pictures to help explain. 

Last Friday, the school had a Desfile de Tunas, which is basically a parade in which traditional Panamanian clothing is worn and there is loads of singing and dancing. Each classroom in the entire school represented a separate region in Panama, and therefore wore the clothing that was traditionally worn in that region. I really enjoyed seeing this whole day unfold because every student dressed up and they were all very passionate and excited about the celebration. Most of all, I loved how I got to see how proud they are to be a part of this country. At first I literally didn't recognize several of my students because I have only seen them in their uniforms, but everyone looked so cute in their traditional outfits! I loved it. It's a bit hard to explain, so maybe these pictures can help!

The day started off with "La Coronacion", or the crowning of the new Queen of the Pollera. The Pollera is "The National Costume of Panama" but mainly it is the traditional dress of women in Panama

Some cuties from elementary school presenting the crown and some flowers to the new queen

The beginning of the parade

 This is one of the boys that I live with, Michael. Definitely didn't recognize him

A few of my tenth grade students dancing in their traditional outfits

The start of the celebration

A beautiful outfit. This is often worn at Carnaval as well!

Two more of my students. Along with the Pollera, the women wear beautiful hairpieces like the ones that this girl is wearing in her hair

One of my eighth graders!

I really can't express how impressed I was with the entire celebration. Each class prepared a presentation, which included dancing and singing. This typically included one or two girl soloists, and the rest of the class sang in the background. I'm not even kidding, I'm pretty sure every girl in this school has a ridiculously beautiful voice, and it was really cool to hear how talented several of my students are! 

All you need to know is that November really is one gigantic holiday, and I'm totally okay with that.

Thanks for reading! Don't worry, I'm sure I will be updating you in a week or so with the next holiday!

Wedding in The Netherlands

Here they are! Mr. and Mrs. Fiddelaar. Have you ever seen two happier people?

There are so many things to say about this wedding and these two people. Mainly that I can honestly say I have never seen so much love and happiness in one community. Katherine and Stefan's family and friends were not only a lot of fun to spend time with, but are some of the most generous, caring, and genuinely happy people I have ever met. Which is a very convenient thing considering we spent 16 hours together on the wedding day! Literally, 16 hours.

Weddings in The Netherlands are SO different than what most of us are used to. However, once I was able to experience this whole wedding extravaganza, I definitely think I prefer weddings like this! All of their family and friends were able to spend a whole day together, sharing stories and mainly just admiring and adoring this super cute new couple. I'm going to include a few photos so you can have a little bit of an idea of how the day went:

Getting ready with the beautiful bride!

Cutting the Cake!

Kat getting serenaded 

Celebrations of the new bride and groom!

The two best friends that started it all and inspired this love story

The most beautiful bride!

Photo Shoot!

It really was the most incredible wedding. As absolutely heartbroken as I am that my sister will be living on a different continent than I am, I couldn't be happier for her and her new husband. Their happiness was contagious, and as long as they have a special guest room for when I visit, I will allow this marriage to happen :)

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but it was the happiest of times with family and friends, old and new. Once I flew back into Panama, I jumped right back into things and went to a parade the following day. This parade was to celebrate Panama's independence from Colombia, and all the kids in band have to march pretty much the whole day to celebrate. 

The month of November in Panama is FULL of holidays and celebrations. There were 3 holidays while I was gone, and now there is another holiday coming up this Monday! This holiday commemorates the uprising in the Villa de los Santos against Spain that led to independence. Endless parades, food, and celebrations. November is definitely my new favorite month.

Thanks for reading!