From November 2014 through August 2015
It’s about time we share a bit about our time in Panama!
We spent just about 10 months working and enjoying a simple, stress free life on the beach.
Playa Venao is a bit of a secluded beach about 5 hours from Panama City on the Azuero Peninsula. It is a beautiful, quiet, beach away from all the hustle and bustle of city living.
My husband has many years of teaching under his belt and felt called to begin a new life out of the States. We have a couple other blogs explaining the beginning of our journey.
Finding a job was not difficult. Sorting through the offers for the right place, pay and lifestyle for us was the tricky part. Websites like joyjobs.com and teachAway were just a few of those helpful sites where posting a resume and applying for jobs presented many opportunities.
Thankfully my husbands boss made the transition to small-space living much easier by providing many comforts not so readily available in our new town. Things like AC, storage space, and hot water were comforts we did not take for granted! Being steps from the ocean, access to the pool and lots of little kids for Jas to play with were even more blessings!
During our time in Venao my husband worked as a generalist teacher, something a bit new for him as a science teacher but he learned much as they went along as well. After a couple months I got to start working at the Montessori kindergarten! It was such a learning experience for me as well and a joy to be able to spend time with other children. Seeing Jas grow, learn and socialize made me super grateful too.
As soon as I started teaching we found out I was pregnant! Unfortunately my energy was not where I wished it to be since I was working with little bundles of energy! The nausea made it not very easy to focus but thankfully no throwing up. A couple weeks into teaching, I was joined by another amazing teacher and we got to work as a team, me as her assistant half the morning so that really helped me out to get through the first trimester.
Jasmin and I got to ride horses on the beach, feed them, hear monkeys every morning, chase roosters and hens out of the classroom, walk barefoot almost all day long, scare the no-see-ums with our tea tree oil, catch hermit crabs, and make lots of new friends.
Yes there were some not-so-pleasant times we had there, mostly because of my pregnancy needs and hormones! Like the lack of variety of foods, the need for a car in order to make it to the stores that are a couple hours away, the overwhelming heat of the day, dramas of life as a teacher and mom, dramas of living in community, and who knows what else has already erased from my memory. Because, overall, we has the most wonderful experience in Panama!
We praise the Most High Power for giving us this wonderful experience, for keeping us safe throughout our entire stay.
Teaching Jobs Overseas / Joyjobs.com This the affiliate link to the website who got us this great opportunity that launched our journey into teaching abroad!
Jenny Pena
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