Oajaca. Oajaca, Panama.

Today I took a little break from Penonomé to visit the three Volunteers staying in the town of Oajaca, located up in the mountains and out of the heat. I tagged along with Tony, our Youth Leadership Promotor, who will be supporting our Latin American Volunteers this summer from the Dominican Republic and Guna Yala, an indigenous tribe off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Tony hails from the Dominican Republic, and is as suave as they come. Here he is will Arnel, one of our Guna Volunteers. Tony is the one with the hipster glasses.

Tony and Arnel

Oajaca is an amazingly beautiful community, tucked away in a large valley, and full of exciting rivers to cross. Arnel gets to cross two on the way to the school each morning. He is in a constant state of wet feet, but he says it's worth it for the view.

River crossing

Arnel and I, during his first week in community. 

I was the one who went to the Guna Yala Islands a few weeks ago to recruit Guna Volunteers for our project in Coclé, so I met Arnel on that trip, interviewed him, and helped coordinate his arrival in Coclé. Ryan and I trained him and another Guna Volunteer, Jorge, and sent them into community last week alongside their Dominican and U.S. counterparts. Here they are with our entire staff. Jorge is wearing the blue shirt and Arnel the black one. Gregorio, our main contact in Guna Yala, is sitting behind Jorge. 

Both Jorge and Arnel struggle with Spanish, their second language, and training them in three days was somewhat of a challenge. On top of the linguistic challenges, however, neither of them have really left the islands, and this will be their first time spending any extended period of time on the mainland of Panama. Their experience serves as a reminder that even Latin American Volunteers experience linguistic barriers and forms of culture shock when serving in communities outside their own. They are up for the challenge, though, and I can't wait to see how much they grow as Volunteers this summer! We are hoping that the summer will bring, along with its obvious challenges, very rewarding experiences and leadership development for both of them. 

Okay, back to today.

Luckily, I arrived just in time for lunch. (The delicious "campo" food is one of my favorite parts of community visits.) We ate chicken, rice, and pasta. Yes, rice AND pasta. Good ole Panamanian carb load.

This is David, the incredibly cute next door neighbor. My favorite conversations with him today involved him asking how much I weigh and which was my favorite soccer team, the only choices being Barca o Real Madrid. I can't even escape Spanish fútbol even when I go to Panama!

Tony with David and one of the Oajaca Volunteers, Savannah.

Eunice, the Project Supervisor for Oajaca, and David

We played some fútbol.

Coconut popsicles!

Mmmm.

Do I ever have to leave Panama?

Arnel, Michelle, and Savannah planning for tomorrow's extracurricular activities. Michelle is from Walla Walla, Washington, and Savannah is from Washington, D.C.

To end the perfect afternoon, we danced.

 

 

True to AMIGOS, I spent today with a Dominican, a Guna, a Malaysian American, an amazing Panamanian family, and two different types of Washingtonians.