One Week Down!

I have officially been in my host town a week! Well a little over a week, since I got here last Sunday.

I'm not sure if I posted about it when I first got here, but the first Sunday night there was a party. Apparently it was my host sister's birthday (but I didn't know that until later), and there was a lot of drinking, and dancing, and eating. My sister is 25 (as of last Sunday) and has two young kids. The kids live with us, but my sister works in Panama City about three hours away and only comes home every other weekend.

The next day, a Monday, we went to Aguadulce, which is a bigger town about 15 minutes away. We were supposed to be buying school supplies, but as I have learned, the people in Panama are a lot smaller than me, and they didn't have all the stuff I needed for my uniform. Though I am about the height of the average US American, Panamanians are MUCH shorter. Today I learned that I am the tallest in my class, even out of the boys. The stores in Aguadulce didn't have skirts to fit me. They were all too short as well as too small in the waist. The rest of my Monday was spent reading on my Kindle, which I would ABSOLUTELY recommend taking on an exchange if you go on one! It's really handy for the down time and you can download books in the language of your host country.

There are three more exchange students from AFS in my town. Two are from Germany, and one is from Austria. The Austrian girl and one of the Germans are on a volunteer program here and are working at the local primary school, but the other German girl goes to school with me. The student from Austria lives really close to me, and on Tuesday I went to her house for another party. This time it was her host sisters birthday. This party was a little more tame than the first one at my house, and it was nice to spend a few hours with Ana from Austria and Veronika from Germany who both speak English. Earlier on Tuesday me and my host Dad returned to Aguadulce to see if they had a skirt for school.. they didn't.

Wednesday the local AFS volunteer took the four of us students to a dance class where local kids were learning traditional Panamanian dances. I will post a picture at the bottom of the post. It was really cool at first to see the outfits and watch the kids dance, but after about two hours it got kind of boring, not to mention HOT!

About thirty minutes away from my host town is a city called Penonome. It's not HUGE, but its bigger than Nata and Aguadulce. On Thursday we went to Penonome to look for a skirt.. we didn't find one there either. We ended up buying fabric and paying a woman to sew me one to fit. Unfortunately it's actually too big. Haha. The school uniforms are really different from the US. That night me and my host brother (19) went out with some of his friends. We started watching a video that was in half spanish and half english. It was kind of offensive from what  I gathered. One of the parts I remember said that many more people go to church in South America than the US because in the US we are all sinners and are scared to show ourselves to God. That was kind of irritating, but it turned out to be an OK night. We ended up just getting snacks and playing UNO for the rest of the night.

Friday me, my host mom, and my host sisters kids walked to my aunts house. It was kind of a long walk, but I got to meet my cousin, who happens to be in my class. We went to the park near her house, and watched some local boys and girls play baseball, volleyball, and soccer. I like their spirit. Even though they don't have a great facility to play their sports, and even though there are not teams here, they still get out there on the crappy grass fields and give it their all because they love the game so much! We came home that night to find the other exchange students at my house. It turned out that they came over to invite me to another party at Ana's! I'm not sure what this one was for, but I went with them for a little while. We had barbecue which was kind of comforting, because mostly my family here eats rice and some sort of meat. Often with plantains.

The next day me and my host Mom went back to Aguadulce to get my skirts for school ironed. It was a pretty uneventful day.. we went to the store, and the laundry shop and back to Nata. Later, I went to watch more of the dance class. I wasn't very excited about this since it was kind of boring the last time, but it's better than just sitting at home :)

Yesterday, me and the other AFS girls here planned to go to the beach in another town a few hours away. For some reason the local AFS volunteer let them go, but not me. It was kind of irritating, but it ended up being an okay day. Me and my host mom went back to my aunts house, and I spent more time with my cousins and went and watched more football. Also, I found some peanut butter and jelly at a little store in my town and made everyone sandwiches. Its SO comforting to have some of the same food you have at home, even if it's not Jif Peanut Butter, and the only kind of Jelly available is peach :)

Today I started school! It was really different from school in the US. For one, I only go to school in the morning. I am in the 'Comercias' track. There is also a 'Siencias' track of classes in the afternoon, which probably would have been easier, but I wanted to go to school with my cousin and the other exchange student, Paulina from Germany. I think my classes are different every day, but today I had informacion (which is some sort of tech class),  ingles (I think its funny that they teach english at the schools here and NOBODY speaks it!!), spanish (which is like a language arts/english class), and a class called cooperativas. I'm not sure what that one is. School was okay over all. It's nice to be in the same class as my cousin and all her friends are very nice. Unfortunately I'm not with Paulina. The uniforms we have to wear are very different and I don't like them at all! But I guess at least I don't have to pick a school outfit every day. This country is very religious. We even have mass at school, which would be illegal at a public school in the US. It's really different.

a panorama of the Panama City skyline. 

My first day in Panama

At Orientation Camp in Panama City, the kids from Thailand did a traditional dance in costume.

Some fresh coconut from the tree in our back yard.

The kids dancing

First day of school! I'm a sweaty mess, but you can see the uniforms and tell that I am a giant compared to the kids here.

The first week

As of today, I've been gone from Oregon for about a week. I've been to sleep away camps that were longer than this, but I have never been through anything this challenging.

I left Oregon on Wednesday, the fifth, and arrived in Miami for an orientation. Unfortunately, I didnt really find it very helpful. On friday, a group of eight students left the US for Panama. We had another orientation, this time in Panama city, and left for our new homes on sunday.

Since I have arrived in my small town of Nata, I have gone through a roller coaster of emotions. Luckily, my host family is very understanding and does their best to make me feel better. I will try to post pictures soon of my house and family, but right now everything is kind of crazy!
Hasta luego

One more day

At this point, I will be on a plane leaving Oregon in less than 24 hours. It's just hitting me that I am actually leaving for 11 months. I've been so busy these last few weeks with getting everything together to leave, and packing my bags that it didn't even hit me that I won't see my friends or family for eleven months! I know its not permanent, but it's still a long time.

Now I know why people tell me I'm brave for going on an exchange year. Saying goodbye is possibly the hardest thing I have ever done. Also, even though I know that I will absolutely love Panama when I get down there, but right now I just want to stay in the comfort of my home and my home country. I want to be surrounded by my friends and family, I want to go to a traditional american high school, and be able to walk down the street and hear passers by speaking English!
But I also want to be challenged.. and what about staying in my comfortable little life is challenging!!

So I'm leaving.. as hard as it is gonna be to go. I'm gonna weather the hard times, because I know there will be good ones to come! And next July, when I am back home in my comfortable Oregonian box, I know I'll be glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and left.

Next time you hear from me, chances are I'll be in Nata, with my host family! If you wanna contact me in Panama, email me! brelyn.rose@gmail.com

Buenas noche!!

Host Family!

This week I finally received the email I have been waiting on for months! I got my host family in Nata, Panama! Nata is a small town with only about 6,000 residents. I can't find much about the town online other than that it is the oldest town in Panama, and was originally colonized by Spanish settlers when they invaded Central America.

My host family is much bigger than I'm used to, but it will be a good experience! I will have a mother, father, two brothers (19 and 10), a sister (24), and my sisters children live there too. I think she has a girl and boy, around 4 and 5! They also have three dogs and a cat! Definitely gonna be different from what I'm used to with my two sisters and outside pets.

I have talked to my host mother, brother, and sister and look forward to meeting them in two weeks! It's been hard to communicate since my spanish isn't so great, and none of my family in Panama speaks english, but I'll make it through. Since I leave so soon I've been rushing around getting immunizations, having doctors appointments and making sure my passport and everything is good to go! I have to finish my online english class this weekend, and then I'm in the home stretch, packing and saying my goodbyes!

Firsts and Lasts

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, things have been crazy!

From here on out I will only be home in Oregon about a month! I fly out of Medford September 5th, and wont return until next July. As excited as I am, I'm also kind of sad. Only one more month with my friends and family!

Though I still haven't received my host family placement in Panama I am getting more and more prepared for the trip every day. Whether it's shopping, packing, seeing friends and family, working on my spanish and online classes, or just reading up on Panama online, I hope that when I get on the plane I'll be as prepared as I can.

August and September will no doubt bring many firsts and lasts. The last times I will see my friends and family, the last time I will walk out of my home in Oregon, the last time I'll be able to drive! There's a lot of things I'm going to miss, but I know all of the firsts in Panama will be even more rewarding. The first time I meet my host family, or am in a Spanish speaking country, or  leave my home and family for more than a few weeks at a time. It's kind of surreal, being fifteen and moving farther away from home than many adults ever do.

Sorry for the delay on this blog, I hope everyone's having a great summer and staying cool!
-brelyn

Europe!

Tomorrow I will be on a plane headed out of North America for the first time! We fly out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, have a brief layover in Detroit, then on to Frankfurt, Germany. While in Europe I will get to see Trier, Saarbrucken, and Heidelburg in Germany! I'm excited to see Trier especially, because there's apparently Roman ruins that are still pretty well preserved there!
We also get the chance to go to Amsterdam, Paris, and Strassburg, France! I'm SO excited for my first international adventure and will post pictures as soon as I am home.

Though this month of traveling and seeing family has been, and will continue to be, really really fun, I'm sad that I will only have one more month with my friends and family back home before leaving for Panama! I am still waiting on my host family and my definite travel itinerary, but I will be leaving the US in the first week of September, just under two months away. The Chip-In widget on my blog doesn't work anymore, with the trip so close. However, if you are still interested in donating, or have any questions about my trip, please email me at brelyn.rose@gmail.com . Thanks! Hope everyone's summer's going as good as mine :) I've got to go get packed!

Summer!

Since June 21st passed, its officially summer! For me, this summer started off early with traveling to see family, and next month traveling to Europe!
We left Oregon the seventeenth, and loaded in the car to head to Michigan. On the way we got to see the Grand Canyon, which was really really cool. We finally made it to Michigan the 21st. Another super exciting trip is going to be going to Europe in July! We get to see Germany and France, so it'll be really cool! I'm hoping this international travel will prepare me a little more for Panama!
Earlier this month, there was a conference call with the rest of the students who are going to Panama, and a few returnees. Even though I have done a lot of research online, I didn't know anything about most of what they said. It's making me even more excited!
The Chip-In widget for my blog stops working two months prior to my departure, and since I am leaving two short months after July, you can no longer donate online after the first week of July.
Hope everyone's having a great summer!
Brelyn