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.

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!

The farm

-Celio: "Yes, I own a house here, in las treintas, and a farm up in those hills."

-Nick: "You have a farm too?"

-Celio: "Yes, a lot of people own farms up there, they like to hunt up there too."

-Nick: "What kind of animals live up there?"

-Celio: "Rabbits, Raccoons, Wild Boar, and (some really incomprehensible Ngobe word)"

-Nick: "I'm sorry Celio, I didn't catch that last one."

(Celio gets up from hammock and goes to his room, then comes back a couple of minutes later with a picture from some kid's torn up science book. He holds the picture in front of my face)

"Tigre" he says

Nick: "Cool. When do we go to the farm?"

Good Work Patient People!

Hey Panafamily and Panafriends!

Thank you for being patient, it turns out trying to get internet is a very difficult process is Panama
Let me give you a rundown of the last several weeks of training!

Training is near Panama city in a very beautiful community.

The church/center of town!

My house in the training community is very luxurious, and my host family is great. My host mom is constantly making me food and making sure that her American son is taken care of! Everybody in the community is very friendly and all of us trainees live pretty close together.

My house!

After about 2 weeks in the country we had a volunteer visit. I went to way north in the province of veraguas. It was a good time and I met a lot of nice people.

Me and Some Kids, and a dog

Training itself can get pretty repetitive so there is not a whole lot of interesting things to tell about it. However, in my training site, my host family has a 1 year old niece and she is one of the cutest kids on the planet.

Gotcha Miley!

Today we just got back from our site visit; I wish I had pics but my camera broke so you'll have to settle for words right now. For the next two years I'm going to live in the province of Bocas Del Toro close to the city of Changuinola! It is so beautiful and I live at the end of the chiquita banana plantation. I live in the jungle, and it is very rustic; I have no electricity and my house in the site is kind of like Swiss Family Robinson. 

I'm excited for the next two years and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

No Bird Sightings Yet

Hello familia/amigos!
It is 1:30 here in Washington D.C. and I am whooped from a long day of staging and we leave for the airport in less than two hours! However, because I care for you all so much I am taking the time to write this blog rather than sleeping. Your welcome internet.

First, I would like to thank everyone who could make it out for my going away last Saturday! It was great to see so many of my friends and family, and it gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I have your support. Plus it was wicked awesome to see the parents (cheaters!) playing civil war with the youngins.

Yesterday was...emotionally draining. It turns out I hate goodbyes more than I thought I would and having to leave behind my family and my brothers and walk alone into the airport was a very surreal moment. It's difficult to describe that feeling other than to say it makes you wanna lose your lunch (or in my case two breakfast burritos).

My fam

Sammie haha

Today on the other hand was emotionally invigorating. I met so many interesting people who come from all walks of life. A lot of California represented here, a couple Floridians, and surprisingly a lot of Michiganders  Even have one person from Montana, which is incredible because I assume that the whole state has like 100 people. It's good to be in this environment where most people are having the same anxieties and we can crisis manage each other. I don't have much to report so far since I'm still in the U.S. but I had a moment of clarity last night as the cab drove me to the hotel; I was jet lagged, tired, and drained but on impulse I turned and looked out the side window. There in the frame was the capitol building across the street and it was a very uplifting sight. It made me think about why I was here and the American image I was trying to promote and create by serving abroad.

Sorry for the short post, but I hope it finds you all well and the next time we talk it will be south of the border! 

(P.S. Uncle Dale thanks again for showing Grandpa this blog, and since I know you are reading this now consider this your shout out, I will send you a postcard soon)

It Goes By Quick

What up friends and fam! I'm leaving for Panama in T-minus 7 days so I figured I better start this blogging business now. This is my first time using a blog so hang with me if it seems a little rough at first. Think of it as the prologue to what's about to be an epic tale of adventure (like Lord of the Rings but with less wizards and more canals)
First, a little bit about what I've been up to the past several months:  

I've been working for the YMCA after school program up in woodland since late October, getting some more experience working with kids. Needless to say, I had a blast working with the kids who are so full of energy and have provided me with countless amounts of crazy stories. All my co-workers were great and had a lot of wisdom to offer. I owe a great deal of gratitude to my boss, whom I have so much respect for her dedication to childhood development. I learned so much in such a short time and I'm stoked to bring that with me to Panama!

Also, for those who don't know, over the past year and a half, I have been a volunteer tutor at CDCR San Quentin. It has been such an eye-opening experience working with the student inmates and getting to see how education in prison impacts the process of rehabilitation. From that first nerve wracking trip walking across the yard, to right now I have grown confident in my abilities as an educator and to handle situations that are out of my element. I want to thank the San Quentin staff for accommodating our little group and for the Teach-In-Prison program for giving me this opportunity (any Berkeley students reading this right now need to seriously get at this decal!) Finally I want to thank Shenel for being my prison buddy and making those long trips with me every week!

As I said earlier this is my last week in the states so what better way spending it then with my buds in...Las Vegas!?! We got back late last night, but we had a blast this past weekend. Now I know what you are saying "But Nick, didn't you tell us that it was 5 GUYS driving 10 HOURS down in a PRIUS to stay at the COSMO...that sounds kinda lame???" Well, you are gonna have to speak a little louder cause I can't hear you from the 61st floor of the cosmopolitan

This view+50 miles to the gallon, no my friend not lame at all

We had a great time with a lot of laughs and some shenanigans, but nobody got stranded on the roof and Mike Tyson's tiger is still at Mike Tyson's mansion (I assume). I'm definitely gonna miss these guys

My Wolf Pack

There is probably a lot more to tell, but this whole blogging business is a lot more draining than I had anticipated so now I'm gonna go replenish myself with 200cc's of In-N-Out stat! I'll likely have one more post before I leave so stay tuned amigos!