Panama

Zapatillas

This may be the best job I’ve ever had, even though it doesn’t pay. It’s similar to Peace Corps, but with gourmet meals and tropical beaches. The NGO I work with started a preschool for the indigenous Ngobe community here on Bastimentos Island. I teach at the preschool and an after-school program for older kids and an English class for seven wonderful adults. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much I love teaching. I don’t know if it’s because I feel more confident with my Spanish now or because this NGO is so laid-back, but I’m excited to jump on the boat to school every day.

Planted pumpkin seeds

My morning commute

We pick up all the preschoolers at their
homes because they're too young to canoe

We’re living at an eco-lodge, which is where TK works. The lodge is run by a British/American/Peruvian couple, who carefully designed the place to make a minimal impact on the environment. The guests stay in four cabins tucked into the jungle, and everyone comes to the main lodge for communal meals. Perhaps the best perk of our position is that we can join them at the table for the daily cocktail and three-course dinner. TK spends his days working on their gardens, the cacao field (they make chocolate here), the chicken coop, the jungle trails, and other work around the lodge. They also put him in charge of a community chicken project they started a few years ago. They got a grant to help all the families in Bahia Honda build chicken coops and raise chickens, for eggs and/or income. It’s been somewhat successful, but not sustainable, so TK’s trying to improve that.

A bike ride along the beach on Bocas Island

On the weekends we usually go to Bocas Island, where masses of tourists bumble along a strip of restaurants, bars, and hostels. There’s a certain breed of ex-pat that takes up residence in a tropical tourist town like that, and we’re quickly tiring of running into the same coked up bartenders and seedy old drunks who can always be found hitting on new young tourists. We nonetheless look forward to our weekly hot showers and internet connection, but I’m always happy to return to our peaceful cabin in the jungle.

Last weekend we went out to the Zapatillas Islands, which has some of the most serene, secluded beaches I've ever seen.

One weekend we stayed in Bastimentos town, on our
own island. The walk to Wizard Beach ended up
taking three hours, through jungle and across rocks.
Flip flops was a bad idea.