Cuidad del Saber

On Wednesday we arrived in Panama at la Cuidad del Saber (the City of Knowledge), which is a retired U.S. army base in Panama City. We've been here, learning about the Peace Corps for a few days and getting our shots. We also had a swim test in case we end up in a site that requires water travel. We had to jump into the pool wearing jeans, then strip our jeans off and turn them into a flotation device. It was pretty fun. Today was our first site visit. We drove a couple of hours outside the city and visited a current volunteer. It was amazing to see all of the hard work that she has been doing with the local co-op. I can't wait to learn more about my site and get started!

Tomorrow we leave la Cuidad del Saber for Santa Clara, where we will live with host families for the next three months while we take classes in Spanish and learn the technical skills that we will need. I'm pretty nervous about the host family thing, since my Spanish isn't very good lately, but I'm sure it will turn out fine. Everyone here has been really supportive.

The only real complaint I have is the humidity. I'm definitely not used to it at all. All 42 of us are pretty much constantly sweating and sticky. But they tell us we'll get used to it, eventually..