From Panama to Peru!

Hello!

Sorry I have been a bit lax about updating this blog (by which I mean sorry for not updating for the past two months...) A lot has happened since the 4th of July, when I last wrote so I will try to give you the (very) abbreviated version of July and August.

The rest of July brought about the end of AMIGOS. I spent another few weeks visiting my volunteers in their communities, getting to know different people, and wrapping up community projects that had been started. It was a lot of work but I truly enjoyed every moment of it - I really came to love and appreciate all of my volunteers and become comfortable in all of their communities. I felt like an overly sentimental mother when they left, just gawking at how much Spanish they had learned and how much more confidently they carried themselves, etc. They left on July 27th, and then I spent a few days visiting all of my communities for a final wrap-up and to fill out paperwork to leave for the AMIGOS staff next year in Cocle. I then had a brief few days to travel around Panama before returning home on August 5. I was able to visit a few different cities (Santiago, Aguadulce, and El Valle) and spend a night in a beautiful resort before returning to Panama City for my flight home. My plans were unfortunately hampered a bit by the fact that I badly sprained my ankle on my second-to-last night, but I managed to still have a lot of fun!

Leaving Panama was one of the hardest things that I have done in a while. Usually, when I leave a place to go home, I am sad but also excited to return home to my family and Rhode Island. This time, however, I had no desire at all to go home and I just wanted to stay in Panama as long as possible. I really felt comfortable living in Penonomé and getting to know my area of La Pintada to the point where I would recognize people walking down the street and I was even beginning to reach the point where I didn't feel like a tourist anymore. It was hard to abandon that momentum right when I was feeling so confident. But, of course, it was nice to come home, to familiar old Rhode Island.

So now I have been home in RI for three weeks, trying to squeeze in as much as possible before I leave for Peru (tomorrow!). I went to a cousin's wedding in Rochester, NY, which was beautiful and really fun. I have also gone to New York City and Cape Cod, but mostly I have been sitting on my couch, enjoying my downtime and catching up on all of the reality TV that I missed...

So here I am, once again, on the brink of another adventure! I leave tomorrow (August 28) from Boston, and head to Lima, where I will spend the night, and then I will leave Sunday morning for Cusco. I have spent a LOT of time figuring out what to bring so that I will have enough clothes for a year while still packing fairly lightly (my dad would not agree that I have packed lightly, but I am pretty proud...). I am still unsure of many of my plans, so hopefully I have packed everything that I might need no matter what the situation.

This first semester I will be living in Cusco, Peru with the program SIT (the School for International Training). I will be living in Cusco and taking classes for the first month to six weeks, after which I will go on a few week-long excursions to different parts of Peru (Lima, the Amazon, etc.). The end of the project includes a month-long independent study project, where I will choose a research topic, conduct independent, first-hand research, and end up writing a 30-40 page paper (in Spanish!). I have NO idea what the program or people will be like, but I have a good feeling and I am not too nervous.

Well this is enough for the night - I should probably finish packing considering I leave in 9 hours!

Rachel