Hymonyms in the English Language

Volunteering and teaching English continues to expand my perspective on everything: me, my family, my future, the world. There are two other people that regularly teach class with me: Robert, and another expat from the United States, which all try our hand at teaching despite none of us being teachers prior to moving to Panama. We try to create lessons based off of things that may be relevant for a job, things that interest them, or common questions that come up.

This week was all about Hymonyms since students were frequently asking about them. What is a homonym? It is a word that sounds the same as another but means something different. Start thinking about it and there is a whole list that comes up. A website, always grow personally had a picture about this online which depicted the English language to a tee:

Obviously there are a lot of homonyms that we use regularly. In fact, one website identified 706 sets of these! While we only discussed about 30 of them, it was hilarious for even the native English speakers to try to break down the words slowly. Although I think for the most part we succeeded. While I feel like I automatically know the difference and can hear the difference between these sets of homonyms, it isn't always easy to say the word slowly so somebody can learn the word.

Our class seems to be developing a cohesive bond where everyone seems to be a bit more engaged and a little less embarrassed to make a mistake. After all, everyone does at some point in the class and we all learn. It was amazing to see that everyone seemed to be learning, trying to test each other with the correct usage and pronunciation of the homonyms they just learned.

I do not think I would ever want to be a teacher as a profession. It is hard work on many levels, and having an open class adds to this difficulty. Despite the unlikelyhood that I will ever get a teaching degree, I get what can drive and motivate teachers. It was a rush to hear some of the students read sentences with the homonyms and see them leaving class with smiles. Days like that are when I feel I get more out of it than the students who come to learn.

Incorporating Yoga with Climbing a Fence

Yoga has become my latest form of exercise.  It is great for so many different things, including flexibility, strength, and mental health. For a list of health benefits to yoga, you can read this article.

Yoga is not about having to be super flexible. If that was the case many beginners and intermediate people I know would not be doing yoga. Frankly, yoga is for everyone (including you if you're curious)

These poses are not what I am doing in yoga:

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Someday...

For now I am doing poses more like:

Trying to touch my toes with straight legs
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The whole idea of yoga is to breath and invite your body to go a little bit further without force. One of the (many) benefits of yoga is that you put yourself in uncomfortable positions and work through them. Sound familiar?

Last week my yoga instructor encouraged the class to become mindful of how we think when we get stressed in a yoga pose. What do we tell ourselves when we feel stressed or put in a yoga position that is difficult for us? Sounds a bit like life?

Her words came to reality for me especially last week. I wanted to walk the dogs before I left for work. As I got the dogs out of the house I locked the door and only noticed I grabbed the car keys as I was trying to unlock the gate. 

I was stuck! My phone was inside and could not call anyone. Waiting for Robert to get back from work was not an option since I had to leave for work within an hour of walking the dogs. My only option was jumping a fence for the first time and hoping my landlord was home. Did I mention I was also wearing a maxi skirt?

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After trying my shot at mind control hoping the doors/and or the gate would unlock; no luck. After a few attempts of telling myself I can't do this I did. My next challenge? Hoping that my landlord was home so I could get the keys from him. He was and I was able to put the dogs in the house just in time to leave for work.

With my yoga spirit in mind I learned a lot from climbing the fence. It is something I do not plan on making a regular habit, but it was a great feeling to overcome my doubt. Now if only I could work on touching my toes!

A Week of Visitors

This past week we had our first visitors to Panama! My parents visited for 10 days. Outside of visiting Mexico, this was their first international trip. It was also a chance for my dad, who is bilingual, to brush up on his Spanish skills.

My parents had a few requests of things they wanted to see and do in Panama. With some patience on their behalf I think we were able to see everything they wanted without being too overwhelmed. Within 10 days they were able to....

See Robert and I surf and also feel what 80 degree ocean water feels like

Go to El Valle and the Butterfly Haven there

Visit Ancon Hill and see some of its views

Go to the Panama Canal and see a ship transit through part of the locks

Visit a cathedral 

Swim in a pool and relax

...they also got to experience the crazy driving, how inexpensive certain aspects of Panama can be, and try some different foods. They avoided the crazy Panama rain and missed some of the crazy music and fireworks that typically occur during the weekends. I'm sure they are okay with that! 

The time that they were here went by amazingly fast. My dad's Spanish skills seemed a bit rusty but for the most part, it seemed to come back to him. He did have to learn about cultural differences in words (some which made us all laugh). It was a special treat to be able to share something we love with my parents. Next time they come back I am sure Robert and I will have more adventures to take them on as well, which will be another special treat!

Ticks

I've mentioned how we have dealt with roaches in previous posts; now there is a new a new critter in town that we are dealing with: ticks! Warning: this post may make your skin tingle and crawl.

When we moved we were told to check our dogs regularly for ticks since they are everywhere here. We took the advice with a grain of salt since after regularly checking the dogs every other day for three months we didn't find one on either dog. After losing the habit of checking regularly ticks have now decided to make their appearance on the dogs and in our house. When I first saw the ticks in our house I was worried we were having an infestation-sort of like when you see flees. After consulting with our landlord ticks here are just something you have to learn to live with and kill when you see them.

I've never dealt with ticks but here are some things I have observed: they do not die when you iron them or put clothes in the dryer. They are good swimmers (as experienced when you put them in the toilet) and crawl fast. Finally, they blend in really well with black patches of fur. We did a quick run over of both dogs and found multiple ticks on them.

I feel bad for the dogs since they even have one tick on them but they are also kind of unavoidable down here. Luckily we are trying our best to prevent any from biting the dogs. If only we could prevent them from coming in the house!

Healthy Living in Panama

People ask me on a regular basis whether or not living in Panama is really less money than living in the United States. Truth be told, it all depends on what you do and how you spend your money. One thing I can say about living on less money in Panama is related to health care.

This week was quite the busy one for us with check ups. I have been slacking on how often I see an eye doctor and a dentist despite going regularly as a child. Even though we had insurance with our jobs, it seemed like we still always paid a lot out of pocket if we needed anything beyond the basic of basics. We do not have insurance down here; we don't need it.

We made an appointment to see a dentist at a nearby office. I had read great things about this office so I was excited to see if my experience would be similar. I am happy to report it was! Our dentist was awesome! She gave both of us an exam and teeth cleaning and we were charged $100 total.

The biggest surprise that my dentist, not a hygienist cleaned my teeth. When she was running late she came out and talked to Robert and me telling us she was 15 minutes behind--again, a first from my experience. The best thing was that both Robert and I were cavity free this time!

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Our next appointment was to get our eyes checked. Yet again, another place I should go to more regularly but choose not to since all of the extra add-ins I get for my glasses (transitions, anti-glare, and anti-scratch) add up very fast. 

Robert didn't need glasses. I needed new glasses, although that is not a surprise. I got all that I normally get in my glasses. By the time it was all said and done, we walked out of the office paying just under $300. My new glasses should be coming in later this week. 

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I have also written other experiences about seeing a doctor. Her visits have costed me $7 each visit and she is by far the best doctor I had. 

Fried food is abundant here, but free refills on sodas are not. I have began drinking Coke once or twice a week, which is a 180 for me since I went over 10 years without drinking soda on a regular basis. In spite of it I have lost weight and have gotten healthier in Panama. 

It probably also helps with the fact that I have gone from working 40+ hours a week to working half of that. I fill my extra time with yoga, Zumba, and of course surfing! Not only has my physical health benefited from the move, but my mental health has also improved a lot; I'm slowly working on my social health, although that is pretty good too.

While things here are not always less expensive, I can say that being healthy down here is relatively easier seeming and definitely a lot less. I know that the cost of things are relative, after all, minimum wage is $600/month here. However, compared to the States, health care is definitely a lot less!