FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can you receive mail?

YES!!! Here is my address:

Savannah Hicks
Pesé, Provincia de Herrera
Republica de Panamá

How long will you be there?

The commitment to the Peace Corps is 27 months - 3 months of training followed by two years of service. I COS (Close of Service) in March, 2014.

Can you come home?

Yes. I cannot take vacation during training (first 10 weeks), the first three months at my site, or the last three months at my site. But other than that, I can manage my vacation days as I wish, according to flexibility with my job, of course. I am anticipating I may come home once about mid-way through my service, though, that decision will be made after I am down there and have adjusted to life in Panama.

Do you speak Spanish?

When I arrived, I spoke a little (I was a French major). But I learned. Training was intense and included language, health, safety, culture, and job training. Peace Corps wants us to succeed, and in order to do so, we need to be proficient in Spanish (or the language of our placement site, which could be an indigenous language). We have to pass a language exam in order to be placed at our sites. After about 6 months in-site (8 months in country) the language finally started to really click, and I was able to not think twice as much as normal just to have a basic conversation. Now, 6 months to the end of my service, I can communicate with almost anyone on basically any subject. I still have a lot to go - especially with complex grammar structures or vocabulary sets that are not in my everyday life here - but I'm happy of what I've learned.

Where will you be/where will you live?

For the first 10 weeks I was about an hour and a half outside of Panama city in a city called Santa Clara. During this entire time we lived with host families. We were given our site placements about halfway through training, and since the Swear-In Ceremony, I've been in Pesé.For the first three months I was in Pesé, I lived with a host fmaily as well before moving into my own apartment. The purpose of the host families is to help us learn the language, culture, adapt to our new surroundings, and get to know other people in the town.

Are you with other Peace Corps Volunteers?

During training, yes. After that, probably not. Most volunteers are in towns or villages by themselves (of course there are community partners and connections, we aren't just thrown somewhere with no assistance), though some have another volunteer in the same location. Most of the time, there are other volunteers within an hour of you.

In my case, I have 5 volunteers in a 40 minute radius. Herrera is very heavily PCV populated, but I'm grateful for that since it helps me get some American time when I need it!

Do you have internet or a phone?

During training I anticipate that I will have fairly frequent (loosely defined) access to the internet, as we will be in a larger city. Since I don't know where my site is, I can't say for certain how frequent my internet access will be. I'm anticipating that I will be in a larger city at least every month to 6 weeks, so I will definitely be able to check email/Facebook/blog then. Hopefully it will be more frequent than that. As for the phone, I am planning on getting a Panamanian cell phone. My American number won't work anywhere in Panama. An additional factor in communication is whether or not I will have electricity. It is possible that I won't have consistent, or any, electricity, so that will be a possibly limiting factor.

Update: Yes, I have consistent cell service as well as an internet modem USB stick that I use in my house (the signal fluctuates depending on who-knows-what).

So, what exactly do you do?
I live in a community and co-teaching English at an established school. I will be teaching children, though I'm not sure precisely what age. PC service includes a lot more than just this simple job description, however. I have tried to integrate as much as possible into the community, learn as much as possible, and impart anything helpful that I know to its residents, as needed/requested/prompted.

On a day-to-day basis I am in the schools with a varying schedule, helping to plan activities and lessons and assisting in classes. I frequently plan and present teacher trainings with fellow PCVs who are close to me.

When will you know your site and when do you move there?

On Friday, February 17th, our permanent sites were announced! We will be in our training communities for another few weeks, but in March we move into our permanent communities. For the first three months (until June) we are required to live with host families. After that, we are able to move into a house on our own - if there is one in the town within PC requirements. Usually it isn't a huge problem to find housing, though it can take a bit of searching.