Opening Salvos

Aloha Everyone!

I'd like to start by saying "Thank You" once again to everyone in Hawaii for the wonderful and deeply appreciated send-off that we received; you'll always be considered family, and we eagerly look forward to coming back for a nice long visit after our 27 months is up.

Well, I know that many of us (yes, myself included) have been waiting for this first (substantive) post with bated breath, wondering at the fate of our two Peace Corps-bound world travelers (that would be Amanda and & I...uh, in the third person). Finally, after roughly a year-and-a-half of applying, waiting, negotiating and cajoling, we have been officially invited to an exciting assignment as "Environmental Health" volunteers in Panama! We leave New Jersey on August 14th for a two-day "orientation" in Washington, D.C., followed by a three month training session with a home stay roughly two hours outside of Panama City. After that, we officially become volunteers and begin our two years of service in a place that only God knows! (Really!, not even the Peace Corps knows exactly where we'll end up!)

Now, this wasn't the first assignment that we were offered by the Peace Corps, it was the second. The first was actually an unofficial "telephone offer" from our placement officer (note: although "Corps" is a prominent word in the organization's title, and "officer" is bandied about quite a bit when describing one's position in it, there are no "ranks," and the Peace Corps is likely one of the least military-like organizations I've ever come across in my life) to toil in the "Eastern Caribbean" for the next 27 months. The Peace Corps defines the Eastern Caribbean as Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada and Carriacou, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, and St. Kitts and Nevis. Now, although I have never physically been to any of these islands, I am sure that I've dreamt of them. I imagine that a little over two years of sweat and anguish near the beaches of any of these places would be the sacrificial experience that we both yearned for from the beginning. However, we declined this offer without fear of being delayed another, as it was unofficially offered over the telephone. Amanda & I both felt that we had spent a lot of money, used a lot of time, and dealt with a lot of uncertainty in order to achieve placement in a Spanish-speaking country, none of which is represented in this island group. Nothing against the Creole and "Island Carib" widely spoken in this area, but we've been excited for a while now at the chance to come back to the States fluent in a language that we'll actually be able to use outside of extremely limited neighborhoods.

Anyway, when we received a large blue package in the mail last week from the Peace Corps, we knew that the "official" placement offer lay within. As rejecting an official offer puts one back into the hopper with everyone else vying for a spot (a further delay that we weren't up for), we were a quite nervous about opening it and seeing where we'd likely end up; we had no idea if it was going to be Vietnam, Kenya, Jamaica or Canada (well, we were 99% sure about this last one). But there it was, Panama.

I was a bit hesitant at first, as knowing virtually nothing about the country, the two things that initially crossed my mind when I thought of Panama were:

1. General Manuel Noriega, a semi-recent dictator known for decapitating his most vocal critics and encouraging the passage of drugs through his country on the way to the US, &

2. Malaria, and the approximately 30,000 workers that it killed during the construction of the Panama Canal.

Thankfully, a 1989 US invasion landed General Noriega in prison, returning the country to its formerly stable norm, and malaria can be prevented by using one of the many anti-malarial prophylactics provided by the Peace Corps via our tax dollars, the side-effects of which I am rather excited about and will be reporting on later.

However, even a cursory investigation into what Panama is today reveals a geographically and culturally diverse country enjoying a generally warm historical relationship with the United States. The Peace Corps has been there since 1963 (not continuously as General Noriega wasn't too keen on American "do-gooders" running around the country-side, and put the whole idea on hold), and is reportedly one of the safest and most professional offices in the Peace Corps system. Needless to say, we are pretty excited.

Biologically, Panama offers a climate similar to Hawaii's (although likely much hotter and more humid at times), with mango and papaya trees ubiquitously represented among other, more exotically endemic fruit trees. I haven't yet acquired an idea of what some of these fruit varieties are, but be sure that an assessment is on its way once I see, taste, and learn to pronounce them. It is also to note that Panama is a country of seasons; the "wet" season begins in May and usually ends by mid-December, while the rest of the year is "dry."

Geographically, Panama is an isthmus, that is, it is edged by water on two sides. It is sandwiched between Costa Rica and Colombia (the latter which we tend not to mention due to the way its name raises eyebrows and causes loved ones to instantly fear for the worst). Interestingly, Panama was actually once a part of Colombia, something I hope to explore in a later post when discussing the formation of the canal. It is known for its beaches and many, many islands, but not so well known for the fact the its narrow profile is bisected longways by the continental divide, lending some obviously dramatic physical background to its character.

Until we leave on the 14th of August, Amanda is finishing up her Spanish classes at picturesque Seton Hall University, which is only about a 20 minute drive , and ends on the 29th. After that, we'll be hanging around quite a bit, catching up and preparing for our departure, so feel free to call us at any time (...any time that we're likely to be awake, please). There's actually quite a bit to do until then, and I'll be expanding shortly with a bit more information about Panama, the work we'll most likely be doing there, and life in general.

We're now off to watch the Somerset Patriots dominate the Camden Riversharks in the titanic arena of minor-league baseball so until next time, thank you for patiently anticipating this first post, and I look forward to updating at least monthly during the next three years for as long as we are able. Till next time, Take care and God Bless!