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Tuesday, February 25, 2014
1 year
I am really bad at doing blogs.
In my defense the ‘a’ key on my
keyboard doesn’t work.
With that said, let me catch you up to speed on
my service so far.
We just hit the 1 year mark for Peace Corps, and
as I write this there is a naked toddler screaming next to me. I think he’s
just congratulating us on a wonderful first year. Thank YOU baby.
For those of you who don’t know, I no longer live
in the community of Teobroma. I truly did love the lifestyle of bucket
showering in the dark, pushing kids out of the way to be the first one in line
for duros at recess, pooping into half dug holes and just overall Viviring mi
Vida. But as it turns out, just because you can live that far removed from the
amenities does not mean that you aren’t still just a…um…stone’s throw away from
your neighbors. In all seriousness I am incredibly grateful for the 8 months I
lived and learned in the gorgeous province of Bocas Del Toro. Most of all I
miss my friends and family that are still there.
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| Me, Red Velvet, Kimbo, and SZN |
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| Teachin some E |
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| The White Giant |
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| Choli |
Other things I have done during these summer
months:
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I was a camp counselor/Youth facilitator for the annual gad camp. It
was a week-long blast with kids from all over the western half of Panama
learning about life-planning, health, and sexual development.
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| Our team "the red stars" |
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I helped Keara with her English camp. I made a total fool of myself
but don’t worry because the kids are now fluent in English.
-
My family came to visit. This was probably the best time I had all
summer, being able to share this adventure with them.
-
Right before school ended I had a recycle day event at the primary
school in my new site. Students from the high school went to the elementary
school and educated the kiddos about the benefits of recycling. My friends Ben
and Maria came to help me facilitate and it was a great day.
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| a recycle fan |
and right before december I went hiking with Ben and his buddy in the comarca, and then we had Thanksgiving (all 250 volunteers) up in the mountains. It was a blast.
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| the bocas crew |
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| the Veraguas group |
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Th
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Time for a real post
Kuin Deka!
First, let me begin by saying I am a failure when it comes to blogging. Second, I don't care...
Also my mailing address is now:
Nicholas Nordahl
Cuerpo De Paz
Entrega General
Changuinola, Bocas Del Toro
Republica de Panama
We have been in Panama for nearly 4 months, and in our sites for about a month and a half. For those who are not aware, I am now living in beautiful Bocas Del Toro! The Bocas Del Toro islands are gorgeous and they are a major tourist area full of warm sand and pretty women. I do not live there.
I live in the interior of the province a little ways outside of the town of Changuinola. My community is 100% indigenous. The original name of the people living in the Bocas area was Guaymi (pronounced Why Me) and now they are the Ngobe (which just means people in their language). The Ngobe have historically lived in the mountainous areas throughout western Panama; but slowly they have been shifted to one area called the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle and the province of Bocas del Toro. They are very short people and I am a very tall person, which means I hit my head on doorways, walls, ceilings, trees, etc. Also, they tend to be more reserved and shy so I compensate by being loud and intrusive. I think they appreciate that...
My work here in the School has been interesting??? I want to first of all commend the teachers of Panama who travel great lengths (two-three hours) to get to the school. It is also very challenging for the teachers to work with no electricity, no running water and overall a general lack of resources. I have three English teachers that I am working with right now and we are having to improvise a lot with the resources we have.
Right now I have several secondary project ideas I am very stoked about:
1. This community needs latrines in a desperate way. I am going to visit some other volunteers in the area to learn more about composting latrine construction. Right now most people use the ol' hole in the ground method to take care of business.
2. House Gardens: the school has its own garden that provides some of the food for the little kids to eat during the school day. The problem is that my community is so impoverished that many kids come to school hungry which makes them unfocused. I don't know much about gardening but I intend over the next several weeks to learn as much as I can.
3. The Sidewalk: It rains a lot here. There are also no paved roads. Everyday my school shoes do battle with the mud, and everyday I lose. The community leaders want to build a paved pathway but they lack the materials and money to do so. I held two meetings to discuss these projects and I suggested meeting with the regional deputy to see about getting materials. Albeit, there were some debbie downers, some naysayers, some negative-ngobies to this idea; but I helped them draft, type, and print an official letter for material request. Then, this morning, I got two representatives all dressed to the nines lookin real 'Ofi' and we paid a visit to madam deputy: BAM! she said yes to our material request! I feel like this was my first real success in working here and right now I am really savoring this feeling of pride. I'll keep everyone updated on the project.
Hope all is well back home!
First, let me begin by saying I am a failure when it comes to blogging. Second, I don't care...
Also my mailing address is now:
Nicholas Nordahl
Cuerpo De Paz
Entrega General
Changuinola, Bocas Del Toro
Republica de Panama
We have been in Panama for nearly 4 months, and in our sites for about a month and a half. For those who are not aware, I am now living in beautiful Bocas Del Toro! The Bocas Del Toro islands are gorgeous and they are a major tourist area full of warm sand and pretty women. I do not live there.
 |
| Bienvenidos |
I live in the interior of the province a little ways outside of the town of Changuinola. My community is 100% indigenous. The original name of the people living in the Bocas area was Guaymi (pronounced Why Me) and now they are the Ngobe (which just means people in their language). The Ngobe have historically lived in the mountainous areas throughout western Panama; but slowly they have been shifted to one area called the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle and the province of Bocas del Toro. They are very short people and I am a very tall person, which means I hit my head on doorways, walls, ceilings, trees, etc. Also, they tend to be more reserved and shy so I compensate by being loud and intrusive. I think they appreciate that...
 |
| Hu-Casa-House |
 |
| The kiddos lookin chipper as usual |
My work here in the School has been interesting??? I want to first of all commend the teachers of Panama who travel great lengths (two-three hours) to get to the school. It is also very challenging for the teachers to work with no electricity, no running water and overall a general lack of resources. I have three English teachers that I am working with right now and we are having to improvise a lot with the resources we have.
 |
| The classroom |
Right now I have several secondary project ideas I am very stoked about:
1. This community needs latrines in a desperate way. I am going to visit some other volunteers in the area to learn more about composting latrine construction. Right now most people use the ol' hole in the ground method to take care of business.
 |
| TCB in the "bathroom" behind my soon to be house |
2. House Gardens: the school has its own garden that provides some of the food for the little kids to eat during the school day. The problem is that my community is so impoverished that many kids come to school hungry which makes them unfocused. I don't know much about gardening but I intend over the next several weeks to learn as much as I can.
3. The Sidewalk: It rains a lot here. There are also no paved roads. Everyday my school shoes do battle with the mud, and everyday I lose. The community leaders want to build a paved pathway but they lack the materials and money to do so. I held two meetings to discuss these projects and I suggested meeting with the regional deputy to see about getting materials. Albeit, there were some debbie downers, some naysayers, some negative-ngobies to this idea; but I helped them draft, type, and print an official letter for material request. Then, this morning, I got two representatives all dressed to the nines lookin real 'Ofi' and we paid a visit to madam deputy: BAM! she said yes to our material request! I feel like this was my first real success in working here and right now I am really savoring this feeling of pride. I'll keep everyone updated on the project.
Hope all is well back home!
 |
| Adios! |
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