Welcome to Peace Corps Panama!

Welcome to my updated blog on my travels and experiences as a future Peace Corps volunteer! I hope to inspire and help those who want to know what to expect and the realities of living abroad, or specifically Panama!

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I'm an American! Peace Corps Panama Challenges

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This past week, while walking around in the community, I meet some people from the Embera indigenous community, which is about 2 hours hike or an hour boat ride from where I live. They too had a Peace Corps volunteer a few years ago and knew of the volunteers before me that worked in my site as well. However, I am the first biracial volunteer they have met. At first they said that I cannot be from the United States because my skin color is not like the previous volunteers and my hair is not blonde or my eyes are not blue. They were convinced that I am actually from Panama, a Colon native since many of the Panamanians near Colon are an Afro-Caribbean decent mixed with the various races here in Panama. I understood that due to their experiences with the previous volunteers, who were mainly Caucasian, I felt excited to explain to them that the USA is not a homogeneous country, but a mix of people from countries all around the world. Also, I explained that it is basically the same here...
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A Living Guide, When in Beijing

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Are you deciding to move to Beiijing, China?! STAY OPEN MINDED Have you ever thought people would eat roaches off a stick? How about scorpions or grass hoppers? For me, China has been the most unique place I have traveled to so far. But, being open to the experience and maintaining a worldly perspective have helped me to adapt to the cultural differences that I have encountered. LEAVE BEIJING FOR THE HOLIDAYS While I really wanted to see the holiday parades and some tourist sites over the long holidays, they actually turned out to be the worst times to go see any tourist attractions in Beijing! First, the pollution was really bad where you needed to wear a mask and the skies were hazy, which I assume was due to the massive movement of city dwellers leaving Beijing and rural residents coming into it. Also, those that do not live in the city and foreigners that may be traveling during these times too are all trying to see the events and take advantage of their time off to see ...
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The Truth About Teaching English in China

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I decided to go to China through a teaching English program and had the opportunity to test out multiple types of schools that revealed positives and negatives when working with schools directly, being managed by a placement agency, and choosing between an international or national Chinese program. I hope to share with you all some of my observations and experiences shared with me about working as an English teacher in China before making that big move! _________________________________________________________________________________ CHINESE AGENCY Not a bad option if you are a first timer in China and a great way to get started when you do not know the culture, language, etc. My suggestion is do at least a 6 month contract with an agency so you can transition well into China. PRO If you do not know how to read, write, and speak Chinese, this is the best choice to start because they will assist with the visa process, help with setting up a bank account, register a...
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