Becoming Homeless
On Tuesday, March 18th there was a security incident related to drug trafficking in the Comarca. On Thursday, March 20th I left Playona. On Monday, March 24th, the 6 of us PCVs in the area requested a meeting with the PC office to talk about it. They assured us that it was an isolated incident, that our security was their top priority, and that they would look into the situation further. In a follow up meeting on Wednesday, March 26th, they said the the border police, US embassy, and the PC office would be doing 3 separate investigations and evaluations of the area and that we all needed to be out of site until April 7th in order to give them time to assess the area. Our impression as Volunteers was still that we would be cleared to go home on the 7th.
In the meantime, we finished our Close of Service conference, enjoyed a long weekend in paradise in San Blas, returned to the city long enough to do laundry, and then traveled down to the Azuero Peninsula to distract ourselves on the Pacific beaches near Pedasi. We stayed at an Eco Lodge where we spent a few days surfing, kayaking, reading in hammocks, and watching movies. On the way home we got a ride with another traveler from the lodge who offered us a free trip right to our hostel, and bought us lunch. She said she was hoping to not have to do the drive by herself, and we were excited to forego the long 7 hour bus ride.
On April 7th, we met with the Country Director and Asst. Country Director who told us their decision was the close the area of Cemaco and restrict it as a red zone for the next year. In a year or so, they would assess the area again and consider sending future PCVs, but for now, none of us were going back. They then held individual meetings with each of us to present us with our options, but I was not interested in thinking about that yet. That afternoon we had a few logistical meetings to coordinate the evacuation of all 6 sites in 3 short days. I spent the evening making phone calls to alert my community what was going on.
Tuesday Danielle and I went to Meteti with a staff member. Wednesday morning we evacuated Danielle's site, and we did mine in the afternoon. The teachers heard about my leaving and organized a last minute goodbye for me by cooking the traditional Panamanian party food- rice and chicken. My incredibly short 3 hour visit was not very party like. We packed my house, I visited my host family, I talked to all the latrine owners about finishing their latrines, and then we had a community meeting. The staff member explained the situation and I told them that I was going to be allowed to come back for a one day goodbye party in May. It was a very short meeting and left most of my community members in shock. I tried to eat some rice and chicken and visited with the teachers, then went back to my house, put my kitten in a bag to bring him out to Meteti, (Jaguar was apparently hit by a car in my absence) and we drove away.
Thursday the rest of the group went to evacuate 2 sites and I stayed in Meteti. There was apparently a coronation of some priests for the Catholic church at the Meteti basketball court, and 15 girls from my community were invited to come out and do some traditional Embera dances for the celebration. I spent 2.5 hours sitting on a concrete bleacher in the sun with my girls, being the troublemakers in the back of the service and getting glares from the nuns. After the service the wife of one of the presidential candidates bought my girls and I ice cream, and we walked to the church for lunch and the girls' performances. They had to leave at 3 to go back to Playona and I went back to my hotel to shower and nap.
The crew from the Comarca showed up shortly after 5 and we went out to our usual hangout 'restaurant' for dinner, then had a dance party and hung out at Aja's house for the night. At 1AM we realized we were locked out of our hotel and considered scaling a wall, but then found a hidden unlocked door.
The next morning another group went out to evacuate the last two sites, and I spent the morning watching Pirates of the Caribbean with a few PCVs. After lunch with Danielle, Ben and I got on the bus and left the Darien, getting to the hostel at 8 that night, where other PCVs were waiting to see us. The rest of the Comarca crew showed up shortly after 9 in a super packed SUV.
And then we were homeless.
We spent the weekend in Panama City hanging out and starting to think about what life had in store for us next, knowing that the office would be waiting for us to make those decisions on Tuesday, April 15th.
In the meantime, we finished our Close of Service conference, enjoyed a long weekend in paradise in San Blas, returned to the city long enough to do laundry, and then traveled down to the Azuero Peninsula to distract ourselves on the Pacific beaches near Pedasi. We stayed at an Eco Lodge where we spent a few days surfing, kayaking, reading in hammocks, and watching movies. On the way home we got a ride with another traveler from the lodge who offered us a free trip right to our hostel, and bought us lunch. She said she was hoping to not have to do the drive by herself, and we were excited to forego the long 7 hour bus ride.
On April 7th, we met with the Country Director and Asst. Country Director who told us their decision was the close the area of Cemaco and restrict it as a red zone for the next year. In a year or so, they would assess the area again and consider sending future PCVs, but for now, none of us were going back. They then held individual meetings with each of us to present us with our options, but I was not interested in thinking about that yet. That afternoon we had a few logistical meetings to coordinate the evacuation of all 6 sites in 3 short days. I spent the evening making phone calls to alert my community what was going on.
Tuesday Danielle and I went to Meteti with a staff member. Wednesday morning we evacuated Danielle's site, and we did mine in the afternoon. The teachers heard about my leaving and organized a last minute goodbye for me by cooking the traditional Panamanian party food- rice and chicken. My incredibly short 3 hour visit was not very party like. We packed my house, I visited my host family, I talked to all the latrine owners about finishing their latrines, and then we had a community meeting. The staff member explained the situation and I told them that I was going to be allowed to come back for a one day goodbye party in May. It was a very short meeting and left most of my community members in shock. I tried to eat some rice and chicken and visited with the teachers, then went back to my house, put my kitten in a bag to bring him out to Meteti, (Jaguar was apparently hit by a car in my absence) and we drove away.
Thursday the rest of the group went to evacuate 2 sites and I stayed in Meteti. There was apparently a coronation of some priests for the Catholic church at the Meteti basketball court, and 15 girls from my community were invited to come out and do some traditional Embera dances for the celebration. I spent 2.5 hours sitting on a concrete bleacher in the sun with my girls, being the troublemakers in the back of the service and getting glares from the nuns. After the service the wife of one of the presidential candidates bought my girls and I ice cream, and we walked to the church for lunch and the girls' performances. They had to leave at 3 to go back to Playona and I went back to my hotel to shower and nap.
The crew from the Comarca showed up shortly after 5 and we went out to our usual hangout 'restaurant' for dinner, then had a dance party and hung out at Aja's house for the night. At 1AM we realized we were locked out of our hotel and considered scaling a wall, but then found a hidden unlocked door.
The next morning another group went out to evacuate the last two sites, and I spent the morning watching Pirates of the Caribbean with a few PCVs. After lunch with Danielle, Ben and I got on the bus and left the Darien, getting to the hostel at 8 that night, where other PCVs were waiting to see us. The rest of the Comarca crew showed up shortly after 9 in a super packed SUV.
And then we were homeless.
We spent the weekend in Panama City hanging out and starting to think about what life had in store for us next, knowing that the office would be waiting for us to make those decisions on Tuesday, April 15th.
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