Saturday morning we woke ready to go on our next adventure: the homestay. It would be quite different from the first week. The first week was filled with old friends, sightseeing, and talking – in English as well as Spanish. The second week would be filled with new friends, new sights, and A LOT of Spanish.
We were divided between a few different towns, with the majority of the students in either Nuevo Emperador or Santa Clara. I lived in Nuevo Emperador. It was a small neighborhood with houses clustered together side-by-side. Also in the town was the “Cuadro.” The Cuadro was a sand/dirt area with two soccer goals; I spent a lot of time with my family at that field.
My family was the Bravo-Bellos. They spoke almost no English, only “God Bless You,” “Yes,” and other simple expressions. However, they were very patient with me and accepted me into their family as a fourth son. Another bonus of this family, they loved soccer. Every night we watched soccer on television.
My host family had five members. The father Jairo is a pastor and a taxi driver and his wife Bella works for a government hospital. I had three brothers, one older and two younger. The older was Jairo and he is a great person. He tried to explain things to me and he was very respectful. For example, every morning he cooked my breakfast. I had two younger brothers Melqui and Edgardo. Melqui loves to play soccer, even with the older guys. He also talked slowly to me when I could not understand. Edgardo was the rowdy one. He enjoyed talking to all the Americans, and he was never short of energy.
I learned much about the Bellos and the neighborhood during my weeklong stay. However, on the first day, I had no idea what to expect. My family had not contacted me, and all I knew was to get off the bus at Nuevo Emperador.
When I arrived at Nuevo Emperador no family was there to greet me. Instead, I was told to ride with the host stay coordinator. She took me to my house and I was introduced to my family. After meeting everyone I realized that there was quite a language barrier. My Spanish needed to improve, and by the end of the week, I was much, much better at listening and speaking.
To break the ice, I showed my family my picture book. As expected, the snow picture caused the most excitement. Snow is unimaginable in Nuevo Emperador. It is 80-90 degrees every day. I also gave my family gifts from Kansas. The dad wore the Kansas City Royals hat every day and Jairo wore the Kansas City shirts a lot.
After that we played soccer at The Cuadro for a few hours until after dark. It was an awesome, and very different, experience because of the language and style of play. The field was very bumpy but the players were all skilled on the ball. They all played like strikers, dribbling through the bumps with defending and passing a secondary priority. In the first game I scored, but we lost 3-2, so we had to sit. Eventually, we were able to play again. It was a great experience and I wish I could do it every weekend (every day for that matter).
That night Jairo introduced me to his friends. Listening to Spanish was still very difficult at this point in the trip, so I understood little. Nonetheless, it was fun to hang out with his “amigos.”
After that we played soccer at The Cuadro for a few hours until after dark. It was an awesome, and very different, experience because of the language and style of play. The field was very bumpy but the players were all skilled on the ball. They all played like strikers, dribbling through the bumps with defending and passing a secondary priority. In the first game I scored, but we lost 3-2, so we had to sit. Eventually, we were able to play again. It was a great experience and I wish I could do it every weekend (every day for that matter).
That night Jairo introduced me to his friends. Listening to Spanish was still very difficult at this point in the trip, so I understood little. Nonetheless, it was fun to hang out with his “amigos.”
The next day, we went to Panama City. First, we went to church. It was a much different church than normal American ones. There was music, drums, singing, chanting, and clapping. The sermons were told emphatically and with a lot of emotion. Also, there was a band. Next, we went to a restaurant to watch “El Classico.” El Classico is perhaps the greatest rivalry in sports: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona (Spanish Soccer). I was a Barcelona fan but recently I have changed to a Real Madrid supporter. My family on the other hand, lives for Barcelona. At the restaurant there were people cheering and yelling, wishing for Barcelona to get a goal. When Barcelona scored, the supporters went crazy. Eventually, Real Madrid lost 3-4. I took off my Real Madrid bracelet in “shame,” and my family made fun of me to no end. . . haha. Finally, we went to the Pacific Coast, and my family forced me take several pictures.
Monday was a relatively relaxed day. I stayed at home for most of the day. My parents leave at 5:30-6 AM to go to work, and Edgardo goes to school from 7-12. Thus, I hung out with Jairo and Melqui for a couple hours. Then, from 12-5, Jairo and Melqui go to school, so I was at home with Edgardo. The parents do not return home until dinner, so Monday was a day to bond with my brothers.
The next few days was spent mostly with other Baldwin students. One day we went to a waterfall, another we toured high schools, and finally we watched a band. They were all very fun activities, and it was nice to speak English again. Many of us were mentally drained of Spanish and needed the break. Although we were learning a lot, it was extremely hard work.
Overall, it was a learning experience, both speaking and culturally. Speaking, I learned how to communicate in another language. At nighttime, I would watch television and talk to my father. During the last few days I was able to hold conversations for long periods of time. For example, on the last night, I talked nonstop to my father for over 45 minutes. Culturally, it was also a lot different. Because my father was a pastor, I experienced Christianity in the Panamanian way. Most mornings I would wake up at 4 AM to join their morning prayer. It is a part of their culture, and by participating I had a greater experience.
Almost everything is different in Nuevo Emperador. The houses are smaller and the food is different, but I learned a lot of new things and I made new friends. My family provided me with a learning experience, and they accepted me as their son.
Much love from the Adventure Club - Nick Joslyn
Corey Valentine's Family Stay Experience
Home Stay Day 1:
Day one was without a doubt my scariest day in Panama. We left the hotel at 10:00am in our bus (not driven by Freddy, but because he loved us so much he followed us there in his car). There were three stops made, and of course I was on the last one. Not only that but my family was not there to get me. So I, along with Maddie and John were taken to our houses. First John was dropped off, and then we met Maddie’s mom and sister, and they took us to our houses... so basically I was the very last person to meet their family. The entire bus ride I was so nervous, but it got better when I finally arrived.
But the good feelings were short-lived when I met my family and realized they spoke zero English. However, they did have a girl that was living with them from the Peace Corps. She was bilingual and had been staying with them for a month which helped me incredibly. My host mom, Idaira, is so cute and funny. She is just a tiny, quirky lady. My host dad, Santana, is the pastor at the Evangelist church, so he went to the church the first night while we stayed home. He only spoke very, very fast, so I have not spoken with him very much. My sister, Argelis, is 12 years old and very shy, but also very sweet and helpful. There are always babies running around the house that are my host brother’s kids. Argelis is always helping out with them. As soon as I got to their house I was given lunch which was traditional Panamanian soup. Then I gave the family my gift. Idaira loves flowers so I think she was very excited to receive the sunflower. We then walked next door to meet Idaira’s parents - they are very sweet. Her sister was there also with all of her children, and they called me “Barbie.”
Throughout the rest of the day we mainly sat around and spoke as much as we could, even though it was not very much. Panama is having presidential elections in May, and one of the representatives came to our house, and he spoke some english. I’m not sure if my family likes him or not. The grandson, Joseph (who is 2), pulled down his pants and peed towards the man as he was walking away. This was one of the things that relieved my nerves that I had that day. The greatest stress reliever was when Mónica, the coordinator, came to our house and asked me if I wanted to go to a birthday party. I was so incredibly happy to see my friends again - it was wonderful. We talked all night long about our experiences. It’s safe to say we shared a lot of laughs. Every other person was going through the same difficulties that I was (Except Zach, haha). It was a great ice breaker for our week in Santa Clara. The first day was definitely a great kick off to the family stay, both with my American friends and my new Panamanian family.
Home stay day 2:
The second morning (with no surprise), I was woken up by the roosters at around 6:00am but stayed in bed dozing until around 7:30am. For breakfast, Idaira made Joseph and I pancakes, which I felt badly about because neither she or my host dad, Santana, eat breakfast. After eating and getting ready we went to church. Santana is the pastor at their church. The church is very small. There were only about 25 people there. But at the beginning of the service there were only around 10 people. The people here kind of go by their own “Panamanian Time.” The service was extremely long, I’m not sure exactly how long, but we left our house at 9:30am and didn’t return home until around 1:00pm. I could not understand anything that was said during the service because they speak SO fast. It was extremely difficult for me to stay awake (Except for the part that a random guy screamed into the microphone for an hour.)
After it finally ended we went back home and ate lunch with the family. It was similar to spaghetti. Joseph, the two year old, is possibly my favorite family member. I always play with him because he is so cute and it’s always fun! Today we jumped around everywhere. I even got him to say “salta.” which means “jump” in Spanish. He knows me by “chacha” or “muchacha.”
After lunch I asked Idaira if I could go next door to Maddie’s house. Her family is so considerate and they were really interested in our American lifestyle. Both Maddie and I agreed that is was much, much easier when the two of us were together because when one of us didn’t know something, the other did. It was really good practice for us! After leaving Maddie’s house I went home and Idaira and Argelis were going on a walk so I joined them. We ended up stopping at Allison, Analise and Reese’s houses. We talked for a while, then Allison, Analise, some of the kids and I went to go search for Reese and Duncan who were at the soccer fields. The walk was fun. It was good to see Allison and Analise, and the other kids were really fun to be with. However, we couldn’t find Reese or Duncan. We walked back, and then I went back home. We ate dinner (it feels like we are always eating) and had bread with cheese and something similar to oatmeal. I liked it a lot! After dinner we all sat around and talked as a family. I am so surprised at how much my Spanish has improved in just two days, or maybe it’s just because I am becoming more comfortable. Either way, I really enjoyed the second day with my family in Panama.
(Also, I asked them about the songs “Tengo Camisa Negra” and “Chorticos Blancos.” They just laughed and laughed, and thought it was so funny that they were our group’s favorite songs.)
Home Stay Day 3:
On the third day I woke up feeling much better because of the small confidence gain that I had yesterday. For breakfast, Idaira made patacones (probably because I told her I like them yesterday-she is so sweet) and eggs. We hung out all morning before school. Argelis worked on her homework - she said her least favorite class was Spanish. Idaira showed me pictures of items found in Panama, such as medical plants from here, polleras, the items that indigenous people make, etc. I also noticed that Arglelis’s textbooks contained countless pictures of cut-out items that you can use for projects or other activities. I found this very interesting. It’s probably due to the lack of internet.
After this, my mom and I went to the store to buy rice, I offered to pay which I think she thought was very nice. Later, Maddie and I went to the elementary school that Mónica teaches at and we got to introduce ourselves to some of the kids. While doing this, Reese, John, Duncan, and Eric walked up, and we were reunited with our friends! My host mom understood that it was good for me to spend time with my other gringo friends, so we spent the morning exploring Santa Clara. We got to ride in the Diablo Rojo (which is an interesting experience) for a few seconds.
Later that afternoon, I came home and spent the evening talking with my parents. They are so understanding and nice! They let me e-mail my mom then we just talked about life! My host dad really understood how I was feeling. He even said something like, “you have just been nervous, you know the Spanish and are good at it, but you were scared the first day. You’re already much better!” My mom also agreed that I had improved greatly. The rest of the night was spent with the family and just enjoying the Panamanian life. I am so glad that I got to experience the culture with such an understanding family (even if they don’t understand English).
Home Stay Day 4:
The fourth day was a great day! I woke up and of course sweet Idaira made me breakfast. She made tortillas and eggs for breakfast. We spent the rest of the morning just hanging out until it was time for all of us gringos to reunite at the river! We had to walk all the way to the river - it was probably 1-2 miles. When we finally got to the river, it was absolutely beautiful! It was similar to the waterfall that we hiked to the other day. At first, it was just our Santa Clara group and we scoped out the waterfalls. Later, all of the people in our group, including the teachers, were there! It was so great to reunite at such a wonderful setting. So we spent the whole time catching up and exploring the waterfalls/river. Some of the moms even made lunch for us! It was chicken soup with rice. After a while we were all ready to go back to our towns because we all love them so much. Our Santa Clara group took the trek up the giant hill and back to our town.
At home that evening my host dad was gone because he had to go to the city to get a part for his motorcycle, but the rest of the group was there. They were all interested in what kind of music I listened to so I showed them as many songs that I thought they might know. I think they enjoyed it a lot! Later I was talking to my host brother José, and he was trying to learn some words in English. I taught him “good night,” “good morning,” “good afternoon,” “see you in the morning,” “work,” “running,” and “beer” (For beer, he was trying to explain his job and I thought he worked at a bar so I said “Con cerveza?” …. Turns out he sells clothing in a clothing store. Hahaha.) It was really fun hearing them try to speak English. It made me feel better about how little Spanish I know, seeing how difficult it is for them to say one phrase in English. We shared a lot of laughs and I am so glad that I was placed in the family that I was in.
Home Stay Day 5:
On the fifth day we mainly just hung out around the house. We were supposed to meet at John’s house at 11:30am to meet for school. We ended up waiting at the bus stop until 1:00pm. The time spent there was awful yet fun at the same time. The boys made a makeshift toll booth. John wore a tuxedo t-shirt (“We can’t look any less gringo-so why not look more?”) and we shared plenty of laughs. We finally had a bus come that we rode on for 40 minutes to the first school. We ended up visiting three schools. It was really interesting seeing the schools in Panama!
Visiting the schools basically took up the entire day, but when we returned from the schools the group of kids living in Santa Clara stopped at a giant hill after getting dropped off at the bus stop. The sunset was really pretty and it was a good moment with the great friends that I have made through this trip. The day we visited the schools was definitely not my favorite day, but it was still fun!
Home Stay Day 6:
The 6th day was my last full day at the home stay, which was really sad. It had been an awesome week! On Thursday, we had to get up early to paint the school in Santa Clara. We had to paint three murals there. We started at 8:00am and finished around 1:00pm. After a long time we finally got to leave and go to Nuevo Emperador where we had a pool party and barbeque. The food was absolutely delicious (we devoured a party pack of chips and dip in 5 minutes), and it was really fun! Next we went to see the amazing band at the school! It was such a great experience, the kids were incredibly talented! Our last day was jam-packed with activities! It was a great way to sum up our amazing week at our home stays.
Home Stay Day 7:
Today was our day of departure from our lovely host families. My parents woke me up at 3:00am to say goodbye to my host dad! He was really complimentary of my Spanish. It was so hard to say goodbye to him (especially because it was 3 A.M. and I could hardly think in English, let alone Spanish). I went back to sleep and then woke up and spent all morning packing and hanging out with my family. My family gave me a jewelry set with a bracelet, earrings, and a ring. It was so sweet of them! I am going to miss my time with my family so much. My mom walked me to the bus stop and waited until the bus came. We both agreed that she was going to come visit me in Kansas and I would return to Santa Clara someday soon. I am so grateful for my time spent in Santa Clara with my adorable Panamanian Family. - Corey Valentine
Corey Valentine's Family Stay Experience
Home Stay Day 1:
Day one was without a doubt my scariest day in Panama. We left the hotel at 10:00am in our bus (not driven by Freddy, but because he loved us so much he followed us there in his car). There were three stops made, and of course I was on the last one. Not only that but my family was not there to get me. So I, along with Maddie and John were taken to our houses. First John was dropped off, and then we met Maddie’s mom and sister, and they took us to our houses... so basically I was the very last person to meet their family. The entire bus ride I was so nervous, but it got better when I finally arrived.
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| Corey's house |
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| Idaira with the sunflower |
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| Argelis |
Home stay day 2:
The second morning (with no surprise), I was woken up by the roosters at around 6:00am but stayed in bed dozing until around 7:30am. For breakfast, Idaira made Joseph and I pancakes, which I felt badly about because neither she or my host dad, Santana, eat breakfast. After eating and getting ready we went to church. Santana is the pastor at their church. The church is very small. There were only about 25 people there. But at the beginning of the service there were only around 10 people. The people here kind of go by their own “Panamanian Time.” The service was extremely long, I’m not sure exactly how long, but we left our house at 9:30am and didn’t return home until around 1:00pm. I could not understand anything that was said during the service because they speak SO fast. It was extremely difficult for me to stay awake (Except for the part that a random guy screamed into the microphone for an hour.)
After it finally ended we went back home and ate lunch with the family. It was similar to spaghetti. Joseph, the two year old, is possibly my favorite family member. I always play with him because he is so cute and it’s always fun! Today we jumped around everywhere. I even got him to say “salta.” which means “jump” in Spanish. He knows me by “chacha” or “muchacha.”
After lunch I asked Idaira if I could go next door to Maddie’s house. Her family is so considerate and they were really interested in our American lifestyle. Both Maddie and I agreed that is was much, much easier when the two of us were together because when one of us didn’t know something, the other did. It was really good practice for us! After leaving Maddie’s house I went home and Idaira and Argelis were going on a walk so I joined them. We ended up stopping at Allison, Analise and Reese’s houses. We talked for a while, then Allison, Analise, some of the kids and I went to go search for Reese and Duncan who were at the soccer fields. The walk was fun. It was good to see Allison and Analise, and the other kids were really fun to be with. However, we couldn’t find Reese or Duncan. We walked back, and then I went back home. We ate dinner (it feels like we are always eating) and had bread with cheese and something similar to oatmeal. I liked it a lot! After dinner we all sat around and talked as a family. I am so surprised at how much my Spanish has improved in just two days, or maybe it’s just because I am becoming more comfortable. Either way, I really enjoyed the second day with my family in Panama.
(Also, I asked them about the songs “Tengo Camisa Negra” and “Chorticos Blancos.” They just laughed and laughed, and thought it was so funny that they were our group’s favorite songs.)
Home Stay Day 3:
On the third day I woke up feeling much better because of the small confidence gain that I had yesterday. For breakfast, Idaira made patacones (probably because I told her I like them yesterday-she is so sweet) and eggs. We hung out all morning before school. Argelis worked on her homework - she said her least favorite class was Spanish. Idaira showed me pictures of items found in Panama, such as medical plants from here, polleras, the items that indigenous people make, etc. I also noticed that Arglelis’s textbooks contained countless pictures of cut-out items that you can use for projects or other activities. I found this very interesting. It’s probably due to the lack of internet.
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| Corey and her host mom |
Later that afternoon, I came home and spent the evening talking with my parents. They are so understanding and nice! They let me e-mail my mom then we just talked about life! My host dad really understood how I was feeling. He even said something like, “you have just been nervous, you know the Spanish and are good at it, but you were scared the first day. You’re already much better!” My mom also agreed that I had improved greatly. The rest of the night was spent with the family and just enjoying the Panamanian life. I am so glad that I got to experience the culture with such an understanding family (even if they don’t understand English).
Home Stay Day 4:
The fourth day was a great day! I woke up and of course sweet Idaira made me breakfast. She made tortillas and eggs for breakfast. We spent the rest of the morning just hanging out until it was time for all of us gringos to reunite at the river! We had to walk all the way to the river - it was probably 1-2 miles. When we finally got to the river, it was absolutely beautiful! It was similar to the waterfall that we hiked to the other day. At first, it was just our Santa Clara group and we scoped out the waterfalls. Later, all of the people in our group, including the teachers, were there! It was so great to reunite at such a wonderful setting. So we spent the whole time catching up and exploring the waterfalls/river. Some of the moms even made lunch for us! It was chicken soup with rice. After a while we were all ready to go back to our towns because we all love them so much. Our Santa Clara group took the trek up the giant hill and back to our town.
At home that evening my host dad was gone because he had to go to the city to get a part for his motorcycle, but the rest of the group was there. They were all interested in what kind of music I listened to so I showed them as many songs that I thought they might know. I think they enjoyed it a lot! Later I was talking to my host brother José, and he was trying to learn some words in English. I taught him “good night,” “good morning,” “good afternoon,” “see you in the morning,” “work,” “running,” and “beer” (For beer, he was trying to explain his job and I thought he worked at a bar so I said “Con cerveza?” …. Turns out he sells clothing in a clothing store. Hahaha.) It was really fun hearing them try to speak English. It made me feel better about how little Spanish I know, seeing how difficult it is for them to say one phrase in English. We shared a lot of laughs and I am so glad that I was placed in the family that I was in.
Home Stay Day 5:
On the fifth day we mainly just hung out around the house. We were supposed to meet at John’s house at 11:30am to meet for school. We ended up waiting at the bus stop until 1:00pm. The time spent there was awful yet fun at the same time. The boys made a makeshift toll booth. John wore a tuxedo t-shirt (“We can’t look any less gringo-so why not look more?”) and we shared plenty of laughs. We finally had a bus come that we rode on for 40 minutes to the first school. We ended up visiting three schools. It was really interesting seeing the schools in Panama!
Visiting the schools basically took up the entire day, but when we returned from the schools the group of kids living in Santa Clara stopped at a giant hill after getting dropped off at the bus stop. The sunset was really pretty and it was a good moment with the great friends that I have made through this trip. The day we visited the schools was definitely not my favorite day, but it was still fun!
Home Stay Day 6:
The 6th day was my last full day at the home stay, which was really sad. It had been an awesome week! On Thursday, we had to get up early to paint the school in Santa Clara. We had to paint three murals there. We started at 8:00am and finished around 1:00pm. After a long time we finally got to leave and go to Nuevo Emperador where we had a pool party and barbeque. The food was absolutely delicious (we devoured a party pack of chips and dip in 5 minutes), and it was really fun! Next we went to see the amazing band at the school! It was such a great experience, the kids were incredibly talented! Our last day was jam-packed with activities! It was a great way to sum up our amazing week at our home stays.
Home Stay Day 7:
Today was our day of departure from our lovely host families. My parents woke me up at 3:00am to say goodbye to my host dad! He was really complimentary of my Spanish. It was so hard to say goodbye to him (especially because it was 3 A.M. and I could hardly think in English, let alone Spanish). I went back to sleep and then woke up and spent all morning packing and hanging out with my family. My family gave me a jewelry set with a bracelet, earrings, and a ring. It was so sweet of them! I am going to miss my time with my family so much. My mom walked me to the bus stop and waited until the bus came. We both agreed that she was going to come visit me in Kansas and I would return to Santa Clara someday soon. I am so grateful for my time spent in Santa Clara with my adorable Panamanian Family. - Corey Valentine
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