Friday Fun

Today was a day that was full - but not with teaching.

We went off to UTP after checking out of the hotel, passing a gorgeous colonial church and other interesting sights.

Maritza sporting her
"Susan Special"

Girls on the move

 We arrived and settled in.  The audit team went off to do their work and I did some work.

Then, Nicolas and Euclides came by to take me out to try to find a diabolito or devil mask that the Azuero peninsula is famous for.  These masks are used during the feast of Corpus Christi that takes place in June.

We looked high and low and didn't find them until Nicolas asked and was directed to the home of one of the makers of the masks.

What a treat!

He didn't have any at that moment, but he did have one that he was about to paint.  I paid him for it.  Turns out he was working on making dolls for the birthday party for the nephew of one of my friends at UTP.  Small world!  He will paint it so it's ready by the weekend, and Victor will pick it up before coming back from Los Santos (his hometown)

The rest of the day was uneventful.  Back at the UTP Regional Center, I worked on my blog since I was way behind, and helped Elba edit a table for her dissertation.

We left to return home about 5 but stopped en route to dine, which took far longer than expected.  I finally got home about 10:30 exhausted and ready to sleep, but I did preparation for David and didn't actually get to sleep until 2 am.

Here are some photos of the devil masks and their creators (And if anyone can help me figure out how to manage these photos on Blogger, I'd love to hear!  They act as though they are haunted...)

My mask 

It's Back! (Thursday)

Today was 100% better than yesterday.  Thankfully!

We arrived at the UTP Regional Center in Azuero bright and early today.  The team was fanning out to conduct the audit, but first, of course, there was the mandatory group photo.

(L to R)  Elba, Geralis, me, Maritza, Nicolas, Euclides

There was only one class here at the UTP Regional Center in Azuero, although originally two were scheduled.  I spent the morning working on earlier blog entries (being very behind!) and worrying about my Spanish.

Lunch was great, and put me back a big $2.65.

Then, appropriately fortified, I went off to teach.  At first I was a bit concerned because it was mostly first year students - the very ones who were so tough yesterday.  But there was an important difference - this time there was also a professor in the classroom.  I think this helped with crowd control.

And it went fabulously!  I think it was the best class of the whole trip.  No confidence lapses, no stumbling around, no frustration - just teaching.  In Spanish.  IN SPANISH!  (OK, in Spanish-ish)  I didn't need a lot of help with words, and I handled everything myself without having to have someone else discuss slides or concepts.

Best of all, the class stayed engaged the whole time and it felt wonderful.

So THIS time, the smiles are real.

 

Unfortunately, however, I felt quite ill by the time we got back to the hotel.  Perhaps it was the cookies Elba and I ate for sustenance while the team was doing their evening audit.  Perhaps it was the fried chicken.  Perhaps it was the heat.  But whatever the reason, I was unable to attend a grill put on by the Director of the Center (Rats!) and I went to bed with no dinner - just some sips of ginger ale.

But I was happy even so because the day had gone so well.  Indeed, I think this was the best class of all

Monday en Español!

It takes a good breakfast to fuel up for the day and ours was great.          

Then we hurried over to the first Regional Center of this visit.  I should explain.  The whole reason we are on this journey is because the Deans and their team must conduct an audit of 3 of the Regional Centers (Chiriqui in David, Veraguas in Santiago, and Azuero in Los Santos) for accreditation.  I am along to teach about UX in each location.

In Spanish (en Español)  <gulp!>

So this morning, off we went to the Regional Center in David.

First we met with the head of the center and decamped in his office for the next 2 days.  The team used the space to conduct interviews and meetings.  He had all kinds of interesting things in his space.  On the walls were photos, paintings and a colorful swag of souvenirs.  On his desk was a display case with many different types of currencies - many of them quite old.  It was a lively and colorful office and I immediately liked him!  It was just the kind of office I used to have and, although some would say it was cluttered, to me, it represented a life well lived and enjoyed greatly.  I imagine that each of these things has a story.  Just like life I suppose.

Meanwhile, across the hall, I was teaching. En Español!  OK, so it was broken at many times and there were many errors, and there was help when necessary (I even asked the students/professors to correct me and to feed me words - which they did with gusto), but I DID IT!  Yes, the afternoon session with the students went more smoothly than the morning one with the professors, but I actually managed to communicate, tell stories and even a joke or who - all in Spanish - in both classes!

And, as it turns out, it was also the third "El Dia de Las Trenzas" - Braid day!  El Dia de Las Trenzas is celebrated the third Monday of the year as part of Black Culture month  Some years ago, braids were banned in schools, because they were deemed inappropriate for school by the Minister of Education.  There was widespread discontent, especially in the Afro-Panamanian community was much anger about the ruling.  They launched a campaign to disobey the ruling by sending their children to school with braids.  Eventually, the Minister of Education had to acquiesce.   

Needless to day, after such a day as this, I was exhausted.  I almost skipped dinner but was glad I didn't.  Our whole table ordered the wonderful Panamanian soup,  Sancoche.  Rich chicken broth with pieces of chicken and vegetables with rice on the side.  The perfect "comfort food" to cap such an exciting and exhausting day!  So we were off to bed immediately thereafter.  And I was so tired that I was asleep almost before I made it to bed.

A Very Long Journey (Sunday)

It didn't help that I was up at 5:30 am - not after last night's late bedtime (2 am)

But it didn't seem to hurt all that much either.

I packed and did all those last-minute things one must attend to prior to leaving (except there's no mail here to stop).  And then, shortly before Geralis was due to pick me up, the heavens opened, rent by lightning and booming with thunder and raining so hard I couldn't see out past my own balcony rail.  It was impressive in a kinda scary sort of way.

Luckily, the rain abated at least somewhat by the time she arrived, and we got over to UTP quickly.  The "Dean-mobile" (a small van) awaited us.  We straggled in, and then loaded up to leave.  We had planned to get off by 2 pm but it was almost 3 before we hit the road.  We picked up Eucleades - it was still pouring rain - and then set off.

Slowly, as we progressed to the West, the rain calmed, turned into sprinkles and then stopped altogether.  By now, I know this road fairly well.  It's my 3rd time on it and I am starting to know when to look for things.

 As usual, we stopped in Santiago to refuel (ourselves and the car)  I had Arroz Combination - rice with chicken, ham, and pork - and it was terrific (though copious).  After Santiago, we took a new road to avoid the road works on the main Pan American Highway.  I wish it had been light for it, but it was interesting nonetheless.  Shortly after I mentioned that we would have to be watching for deer were we in Minnesota, there was a plethora of dogs in the road.  I haven't seen any other dogs here - but now, it seemed like every dog in the country was hanging out in the road ahead of us.  We joked that maybe the sign with the cow on it was really a sign with a dog.

The road twisted and turned and rose and fell all the way to the border control checkpoint.  There, we re-joined the Pan American Highway and bumped our way into David.  There was, predictably, a lot of truck traffic making it hard to pass, which made it seem like David was teasing us.  "Come closer," it beckoned, but then there was yet another truck in front of us or, just as it seemed like it would be OK to pass, a truck coming toward us.

And then, seemingly suddenly, we were in David.  Elba and I are sharing a room, and it's safe to say that we were in bed almost immediately.

Early morning tomorrow.  And many miles gone before we could sleep.