I've been in Panama for 3 and 1/2 days now... I guess it's only fair to update my friends and family on what is going on here. I suppose it all started on Monday afternoon in Miami with 1.5 days of "staging." This mostly entailed getting to know the fellow volunteers and logistics information. Within 1 day, I made 47 new friends! Our group has volunteers from 3 sectors including: Sustainable Agricultural Systems (mine), Community Environmental Conservation and the new program, Tourism and English Advising. I am very impressed with the diversity in our group. They come from a variety of different backgrounds: a few years work experience, fresh from college, a professor, 2 lawyers and of all ages: (23-50s).  There are even 5 married couples!

We arrived in Panama City on Wednesday afternoon after the 3 hour flight from Miami (so close!). The Peace Corps headquarters are in the Cuidad del Saber in Clayton, not far from the airport. It used to be an old military base and was also once the location of the infamous School of the Americas. Fortunately, the location in now in use for international agencies with a more humane mission: Peace Corps, UN, Red Cross, etc. 

The first 2.5 days were spent getting to know the staff and a few current volunteers (they are all incredible), vaccinations, safety precautions, paperwork, language training, culture training, learning to make a life jacket out of a pair of blue jeans (it actually works!) and finding out more about our programs (of course!)!

As I mentioned, I will be a sustainable agricultural systems (SAS) volunteer. Within this sector I will be working in agri-business. More specifically, I will attempt to work with farmers to improve their livelihood through the implementation of sustainable agricultural techniques that maximize production with minimal environmental impact. I indicated that I would like to work in a site that includes: coffee and/or cocao production, an interest in microfinance groups, women artesania (crafts) groups, and beekeeping. Aimee, my boss, thinks she has the perfect site for me! AWESOME! Vamos a ver (We'll see)...

Today we took a field trip to another SAS volunteer's site to see her what a "typical" site might look like. I'll post a few pics on Flickr for anyone interested. The volunteer showed us a ton of things that we will be learning about in great detail over the next 2 years: local fruits and vegetables, eco-friendly wood burning stoves (estufa lorena), the use of live/dead barriers to combat soil erosion on hills, beekeeping, worm boxes for composting, raising goats, natural bug repellents, rice 'tanks' or small scale rice production. 

After a great day on the farm our trainers took us to the local hardware store to purchase our first machetes! Even though I got a smallish one and many people tell me that it will be laughed at, it still feels pretty macho to own such a massive knife. I have the urge to name it. Any ideas? I was also able to finally purchase a panamanian hat which I promise to wear everyday from here on out. 

Tomorrow we move in with our host families and Monday starts our intense technical and language training. I have no idea what to expect, but I'll be sure to give a full report by the end of next week. Ciao for now!