The last weekend in January, we all had the opportunity to visit a current volunteer in his/her site. I went to visit Simone in San José de Soná, Veraguas. Basically, the PC told us where we were going, gave us money for the trip, and set us loose to travel on our own. It was exciting and scary at the same time because we don't have a ton of freedom or free time in training. A group of us all going to the same province caught a bus to the provincial capital (Santiago) where we had lunch at a fabulously American café called Cheesecake +. From there, we went our separate ways. It was interesting because this was really the first time I had been out on my own at all since I arrived here. It was good to learn that I can do it, though.
When I arrived in Soná, I met Simone and within 15 minutes we discovered that she has family in Ankeny! She is from White Bear Lake, MN and I think is the first person here to whom I have not had to explain CSB/SJU. It was pretty exciting!
While I was there, we mostly hung out and I picked her brain about generally being a TE (Teaching English) volunteer. We made chicken curry and baked cookies, went to the río and laid around in the hammock reading. We also spent a lot of time walking and hanging out with the kids who live next door.
My thorn of the weekend was on Sunday. We were on the front porch and the kids started wandering over. Apparently their dad had gone somewhere to drink (as most men do on Sundays), so they were left with their elderly grandmother and didn't totally know what to do with themselves. It made me sad, but I'm also glad we were there to hang out with them. I had 2 roses for the weekend. One was just having nothing to do/nowhere to be. The other was that I finally got to go to mass! I was able to follow what was going on, but it is going to take a while before I can keep up with all the responses. On the whole, it was a good weekend. I got to just hang out a ask a bunch of questions as I thought of them. It makes me even more excited to arrive in my site!
When I arrived in Soná, I met Simone and within 15 minutes we discovered that she has family in Ankeny! She is from White Bear Lake, MN and I think is the first person here to whom I have not had to explain CSB/SJU. It was pretty exciting!
While I was there, we mostly hung out and I picked her brain about generally being a TE (Teaching English) volunteer. We made chicken curry and baked cookies, went to the río and laid around in the hammock reading. We also spent a lot of time walking and hanging out with the kids who live next door.
My thorn of the weekend was on Sunday. We were on the front porch and the kids started wandering over. Apparently their dad had gone somewhere to drink (as most men do on Sundays), so they were left with their elderly grandmother and didn't totally know what to do with themselves. It made me sad, but I'm also glad we were there to hang out with them. I had 2 roses for the weekend. One was just having nothing to do/nowhere to be. The other was that I finally got to go to mass! I was able to follow what was going on, but it is going to take a while before I can keep up with all the responses. On the whole, it was a good weekend. I got to just hang out a ask a bunch of questions as I thought of them. It makes me even more excited to arrive in my site!
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