A typical day in training (June 23, 2019 - August 12, 2019)

My new life in training took some getting used to, but eventually routines were established that were largely followed until the last day of training. This post is dedicated to describing how some typical days went during PST.


Sundays
Sunday mornings were my favorite mornings. I'd get up late (7:00a), recover a mango, and greet my host grandmother, "Mama" Rita. Some time later, host-family relatives arrive with bread and my host mother, Maritza, brings out the cream of corn (served in cups) and fried eggs. The rest of the morning would be devoted to chores. For my part, my host mom was opposed to me washing the dishes, sweeping, or performing any type of house-work. For the 2nd and 3rd Sunday of my stay, I was allowed to harvest nance fruit off the ground for use in chicha and pesada. Since the tree only fruits for a month out of the year however, this chore ceased to exist. As such, I usually spent the time after breakfast watching TV with Mama Rita.

After eating lunch, which according to my Sunday records consisted of either spaghetti with chicken on top of rice, or lentils and chicken on top of rice, I would head out to play some sort of sport with the other trainees/aspirantes. That is, ultimate frisbee or volleyball. Of course, some Sundays there would be no games as many of the trainees were too... tired, from the previous Saturday.

After the games, I'd usually return home and spend the rest of my time with my host family, watching TV and eating dinner. Dinner remained uninfluenced by the day of the week, as my host mom always made it at home. It almost always included rice and some type of meat (fish, beef, pork, chicken), and usually some sort of veggies (typically lettuce, tomato, and cucumber). Lentils were a common occurrence in dinners as well. Usually I would also get some chicha to drink, or maybe some soda. As with every day, unless there was some sort of party we were attending, the family locked up the house at 9:00p and proceeded to bed. Usually before bed however, one of us would have to awkwardly remind the other about the weekly rent that had to be paid, and perform the transaction before saying "hasta manana".


Weekdays
I'd get up at 6:35a or earlier and take a cold shower. My host mother was almost always at work at the fonda at least an hour before I woke up, and often my host father would be gone as well. After getting dressed, I'd collect a mango (at least for the first few weeks while the tree gave fruit), sit with Mama Rita and think about the day ahead. After a good while, I'd say my farewell and proceed to the fonda for breakfast. Breakfast would consist of a meat (pollo frito o guisado, bolita de carne, salchicha) and 2, in any combination, of an hojaldre, empenada and/or tortilla. Drink would consist of a chicha de maracuya, piña, nance, o avena. On rare occassions (twice) I received a pomegranite chicha. I usually ate my breakfast with another trainee, Nikki, though she tended to arrive late.

Peeling a mango
Photo credit: "Mama" Rita Ramos

From there, we would either board the bus to Panamá or go to our language classes. At Panamá, we would attend sessions on policies from the various staff sectors (security, medical, etc.), maybe do some paperwork or get a vaccine, and perform some sort of group activity around the topics covered. For lunch, we'd head out to a plaza in order to buy a meal at the various kiosks which offered pizza, empanadas, hamburgers, green smoothies, and more. The nearby grocery store was a popular destination for trainees looking to buy things unavailable in the community like shampoo or candy bars. We'd then go back for more sessions until 6:00p or so. Office days meant we returned past dinner time at our host families' home, but they'd always have our dinners set aside.

For language class days, we'd have three and a half hours of instruction. During breaks, my class would usually head to one of the local stores to buy snacks. After class, we had a one-hour lunch break. In my case, I immediately went to the fonda to eat either sancocho (a stew of chicken or beef, and assorted veggies with a side of rice) or a plate of lentils, rice, fried chicken (or pork), salad (covered in a generous amount of sour cream), and a small piece of fried plantain. Sometimes I'd eat with Nikki, but she tended to arrive after I had finished and left.

The afternoon sessions were referred to as technical sessions. These were mostly lectures ranging from behavior change, to latrines, to HIV, and more. Occassionally we would get to do some hands on activities, such as the concrete lab where we made a concrete lid. A few afternoon sessions, most of which occurred during the first few weeks, were set aside for cultural activities. Whether that be cutting fruit, learning about the different provinces where we'd serve, or presenting history, both United Statesian and Panamanian. In the latter weeks, we'd await the arrival of the "pan-man" after technical sessions to buy pastries from his unmarked white van.

The last part of the day I'd spend with my host family, eating dinner and watching TV in Mama Rita's patio. The TV channel was always on Canal 13 (Telemetro), and during the weekdays from 8:00p - 9:00p ran the comedic series "El Man Es German". A Colombian TV show which, if the ads are to be believed, is the most popular in Panamá. The TV series that followed was "Jesus: En Sus Ultimos Capitulos" which I'd hear coming from the room of the neighbor who shared my bedroom wall.


Saturdays
Saturdays played out like Sundays, except breakfast was at the fonda and trainees tended to use this day to travel out of the community. Usually this would be the nearest major town to us from which we could purchase supplies (such as for the upcoming volunteer visit, or tech week) or acquire haircuts (our community only had a barber, so he only cut men's hair). Often times though, trainees would head out to Panamá city to see the sites, buy some gourmet cookies, and hang out at bars. I myself ventured out a couple of Saturdays (stories to be posted), but I largely stayed back in the community, following the Sunday procedure listed above.