Here we go again

Just a few days until departure for my next Peace Corps service and adventure. This one will be again in Panama, but a very different part and assignment. I'll be living in Changuinola, a small city in the famous Bocas del Toro region – far northwest corner of the country on the Costa Rica border. I've been assigned 47 small village water systems to visit, evaluate and then help to rebuild or improve the systems and the local water committees that run them.

Bocas del Toro was the site of Christopher Columbus's last voyage to the New World in 1502. He was apparently quite taken with the place, as he gave his name to many of the islands and rivers. One of the islands is named Carenero, where his boat were careened to do hull repairs. Today, Isla Colon is a tourist mecca, with private jets lined up on it's airport. Bocas Town is a page torn from most any Caribbean island, with colorful buildings steel drum bands and a casual vacation tone.

The area is also home to Chiquita Banana operations of Panama. The venerable United Fruit Company came here in 1899 for the near perfect banana weather – constant temperature and rainfall. They now have over 700,000 acres of plantation centered around Changuinola. There are huge harvest and maintenance facilities all over town, including their own golf club, with executive villas along the fairways. Most of the city's infrastructure comes from Chiquita, including the electric plant and water system, both of which are modern with US quality chlorination.

That's the overview of where I'll be and what I'll be doing. As a sailor and scuba diver, I'll certainly be taking advantage of my access to the outstanding water, beaches and reefs of the area. I'll also be working as a trainer for the newly created WASH program in Panama and assisting nearby PCVs with their projects.

As with every move and change, there comes that wondering about the unknown. I've come to embrace change – it almost feels like a welcome friend at this point. The infamous resistance to change that is endemic to humans has turned to an excitement for me. I sometimes wonder if I've become a “change junkie”. The one thing I am certain of is that the opportunities for new friends and experiences will be right in front of me, ripe for the picking. And that I have one of the best “jobs” in the world – making life better for people every day, in any way I can.