Packing

We have been spending the past few weeks getting our packing list together and buying stuff for Panama.  One problem we have is that we don't know if we will be at sea level where it is hot and humid, or higher up where the weather is cooler.  We won't find that out until we have been several weeks into training, which takes place in Panama.  I guess we will just bring mostly hot-weather clothes with a few extra layers for when we go up into the mountains.  We can always buy some more stuff there if we are in a mountain town.   We definitely are planning to climb the highest mountain in Panama (11,700 ft) where you can see both the Pacific and the Atlantic, so we will have some warm clothes for that.

One good thing is that we have joined a Facebook group - "Peace Corps Panama January 2012".  There are a dozen of us so far, and it is good to swap ideas for what to bring, etc.

We have our invitation!

We finally got our invitation from the Peace Corps in late July.  We are going to Panama on January 10th, 2012.  We are very excited about the prospect!  Heather will be working with English teachers and I will be a Community Environmental Conservation Extension Agent.

We have a few months to get organized, but there are lots of things to do before we go.  We have sent in our passport applications (we get new Peace Corps passports), and we got our yellow fever vaccinations last week.

We are now trying to figure out exactly what we need to pack to be ready for Panama.  One problem is that we don't know which part of the country we will be living in, and the climate varies from the tropical coast to a more temperate highlands.

Any help from PCV's now in Panama would be greatly appreciated!