April and Kevin in Kuna Yala, the northeast coast of Panamá

Friday, February 8, 2008

Congratulations to Viking (and Amanda)

This really should come from April, not me, but she is on the island to teach English class on Sunday (and holding down the house against an ant invasion), so I'm posting it for her.

We just found out that Guide Dog #5, Viking, has passed his IFT and is in fact being considered for stud. We only started Viking, turning him over to Amanda Weeks (a puppy raiser in the Baltimore region of Guiding Eyes for the Blind) for finishing, so she really deserves the credit, but we are extremely happy to hear that he is going in for training.


He looks quite a bit bigger than when we last saw him, as this picture from just after his test shows. What a cutie!


Paying the Pilot

Some say the point of traveling internationally is to see new sites, learn languages, or see other cultures. But one of the advantages of living internationally, like in the Peace Corps, is really learning other cultures and changing your perspective so you see things from a new point of view.

Thanks to Elvis, the 12-year-old son of our neighbors, I had a chance to feel that change take place, and it clarified a lot of previous conversations and confusion.

We were sitting on our bench chatting about this and that, food here in the island compared to in Maryland, how supermarkets have everything (at least in Columbia, MD) you could want. And as often happens, talk drifted to how far away Maryland is from Panamá and how long that takes por avion. If I thought it out, I could predict both sides of these conversations; the next question is almost always, "How much does the trip cost?"

My answer is that I'm not sure, I didn't pay for it, Peace Corps did, but I think around $600 (which is sometimes two months income for Elvis' family).

Generally in these discussions, there is a whistle, a nod, and perhaps a slightly confused look, but eventually, acknowledgement that it is caro (expensive) and talk drifts on to other topics.
Elvis, however, was obviously contemplating something that didn't fit with my story. So he asked more questions. It took us a while before I understood, but we finally got there:


When do you pay the pilot?

And the light came on! Here in Panamá, there is an extensive bus system, with frequent and regular rides to and from Panamá City and between provincial capitals, and radiating from there into most small towns. But you don't buy a ticket; for most of them you just get on the bus, and as you get off, you pay the driver directly for the ride.

So from the point of view of a kid who has never seen an airport but has paid the driver numerous times after riding buses and boats, it was amazing to think the pilot would fly all those people that far and not collect money from them when they get off. (I'm sure it was also amazing to him to think I handed the pilot that much money and couldn't remember doing it!)

I thanked Elvis profusely for clarifying the confusion I'd seen on others and for changing my understanding and perspective; it was yet another way the world looks different (in fact, even a different way of looking at the world) in campo Panamá compared to Columbia, MD.

So often, how you look at things is based upon what your past experiences. Thanks to Elvis, how I look at things has been broadened; now I will remember to think about the experiences of the other person and thus how they will see things, and maybe sometimes I'll need to explain a bit more.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Thinking of visiting?

Dear Prospective Travelers,

I know that there are some folks out there that have been batting around the idea of visiting us over the next year and a half...so this post is for you all.

Kevin and I would welcome anyone who wants to visit. I think Panama is a fabulous place. It is beautiful, uses USA currency (no money exchange fees) and you can travel in posh luxury or as cheaply as you would like. Panama is also fairly safe for visitors and offers the security of good hospitals (it is where volunteers from other Central American countries are often sent when they need advanced care).

Visiting a PCV has real advantages over visiting a country on your own...you get an opportunity to get off the normal tourist path and see how the people really live. We PCVs also know about how to travel, the cheep decent hotels, the sites, local culture, and language (I don't offer perfect Spanish...but it is functional). We are excited about our host country and ready to share that excitement with you.

Yes, unfortunately we do have to work while we are in Peace Corps...so we are not intending this to be a "we can drop everything and guide you" invitation. Rather, you are invited to visit and share a moment in our work and life here. We would look to plan work during your visit that you might enjoy seeing or participating in. Depending on when, for how long, and where you wish to go, we can probably take some vacation time to travel with you to visit other parts of Panama.

Here is what we would ask of you:
  1. Visitors are welcome between May 15th, 2008 - April 30th, 2009. We set these dates based on giving our selves time to settle in and time to get ready to leave at the end of service.
  2. Let us know at least 4 weeks in advance of when you want to come....8 weeks is better. Start talking to us about it as soon as you are fairly sure that you intend to try to make the trip.
  3. Let us know what you are hoping to do while here.
  4. Please be flexible, when possible, with your dates, we can't handle a string of three visitors back to back. We must have time to work too.
  5. Don´t let the words "rainy season" scare you. 8 months of the year are rainy season. Yes, it rains. But it tends to be rainy only for part of the day and sunny for part of the day. Rain is part of Panama...you didn´t really experience Panama if you didn´t hear an agua cero on a zinc roof.
If there is more than a 50% chance that you will really buy a ticket and come down here...let us know. We want to start thinking about your visit and make sure that we set aside time to be with you. To discuss a possible visit: email aprilcropper at yahoo dot com or kevincropper at yahoo dot com or call us on our cell phone : 011-570-6639-1352. (If you call you may need to call more than once to get through...sometimes there is signal...sometimes not.)

Hoping to see you soon.
April and Kevin