Update

Here is a quick update for last week.
Hello All! (Warning this is a bit long)
We have officially been living in Panama for a month! It is quite hard to believe. We have done and have learned so much since we have been here, and we still have 26 months to go! So much has happened I don´t even know where to start. We have been continuing to take classes (technical and spanish) every day, and have been learning a lot. We had our spanish placement tests last week, where both Brandon and I had improved quite a bit since first landing in the country. Conversations with our families are a bit easier now, but we are definetly still working on improving. Last week was also the week when we had our ¨Site Announcements¨. Everyone in our group (of 47 people) came into the city of Chorrera last week for classes (which happens almost every other week) as well to find out where Peace Corps had placed them for the next two years of their lives. This is a BIG deal. The week before we had second interviews with our Associate Peace Corps Director as to where we would like to go in the country, what type of work we would like to be doing, and what type or size community that we wanted. Brandon and I were a little unsure of where we thought we would be going, and I spent the next several days quite anxious to find out where our actual site would be. SO.... we were extremely exited to find out that we will be living in the Province of Colón at a beach site. This city is built directly above the high tide line, and has approximately 130 residents. The Carribean ocean is said to be extremely calm and clear here- and great for spear fishing! Brandon and I will be working on sea turtle and iguana conservation, trash management, and promoting environmental education in the schools. We also have the chance to work with an indigenous tribe to the east of us, named Kuna Yala. This group currently has no Peace Corps volunteers working with them, so we might be an avenue to open that door. We will also be working with another community across the river from us. This community formerly had a Peace Corps volunteer working with them, and is comprised of approximately 500 people. Most of the people in the two towns are of Afro-Antillian backgrounds, as well as a combination of indigenous people. Acording to our Associate Peace Corps Director- this is his favorite site this year for the CEC (Community Environmental Conservation) group, as it is spectacularly beautiful, and has a wealth of development opportunities. We are very exicted to move there at the end of 2 months. As for right now, we are about to leave for two solid weeks of traveling and training. Next week is ¨Culture Week¨ where Brandon and I will be going to the Province of Colón to live with a new host family for a week and visit a current volunteer on the Carribean coast (very close to where we will be living) to learn more about the Afro-Antillian people. Part of our training includes learning how to open a coconut and make rice w/coconut, learning how to samba, as well as hiking on the beach and snorkelling. It is not all fun and games though, as we will also be working in the schools, and meeting up with agencies in the area that we will be working with for the next two years. After next week, we will leave for ¨Technical Week¨where we will travel to the province of Herrera to learn more techinical skills such as how to build a vented stove out of mud (a lorena stove, or estufa llorena), how to work in the schools, and how to work with the agencies in the area- among other things. We aren´t necessarily looking forward to this week quite as much, as we will be in one of the hottest places in Panama (think Phoenix in the summer) and most likely working outside. But we will be glad to have two more weeks under our belts.


We love and miss you all and hope to hear from you soon.
-Ashley and Brandon