Bee's 3 Step Guide to Going Abroad: LIVE!

Step 3---You made it! And so...

First thing’s first. There is a good ol' saying from Sierra Leone, that the people always tell the JCs ( a term for newly arrived visitors, especially those Sierra Leone natives living abroad). They say "Nah for put u rights nah u pocket." In translation, put your rights in your pocket. In translation again, forget about all them rights and rules and essentially all the order that you know to exist in the western world. It’s a serious thing, though, we laugh at it. But it is one thing I recommend for travelers. It speaks to the ability to adapt to your local environment. This will help you stay calm and not become frustrated in certain situations. Take it easy, take the country for what it is, try hard not to compare it to what you know and you will be able to get the best experience out of it. Do I like brushing my buttocks against passengers as I squeeze to through the cramped aisles to find a seat? No. Do I look forward enduring the odor of someone’s long day of hard work? Um, not exactly. But do I like paying only .25 cents to get somewhere?  Um, yes. $3.00 to the beach. Um, yes. So I take it for what it is and sacrifice. Learn how to do this and you are half way to having a blast! And truly delving into what the country has to offer.

-Check into a hostel, couch-surf, or stay with a friend in town. Some people look for places to live before hand. I would recommend crashing somewhere until you are hired or have established an area that you want to be in. You should get a feel for the country and decide where you could see yourself living. I stayed at a nice hostel in the older section of Panama City upon arrival. And I am actually planning to move back there in a few weeks.

-Once you arrive, ask where you can get a small/cheap cell phone with a local number. This should be done almost immediately.

-Once you get yourself a number, add your new local number to your cover letter and resume and then re-send your cover letter/resume to your list of school contacts. Watch the magic happen!

-Ask about ways to get around and start checking out the locations of these language schools. Get some copies of your package printed and then hand deliver them to schools/businesses. This shows that you are serious and the reality is that down here and in other parts of the world it is highly likely that you will not get a response via email. I won’t even begin to go in to the many reasons as to why non-response should be expected. #aintnobodygottimeforthat

-Be patient. Again. And Again.

-Go out. Meet people. Network. Tell them what you are doing. Indulge the people who will spend minutes and minutes talking to you you about how they are investing in some weird project and even the people who say they have been traveling for 7 months and are just passing through. Just indulge them. You might learn a thing or to, or find someone with whom you share similar interested. And besides, you never know what connects they might have.

-Don't be usin’ all your money juuuuuust yet. (Yes, I said it like that. It was appropriate)

-Make a list of things/experiences you want to have while in country.

Deep Ish:

Make a list of what you didn’t come here to do. And every time you find yourself trippin' look back at that list.

For me, I didn’t come to panama to work excessively, to be stressed, to have that day-to-day stress of office job-ness and I didn’t come here to drive. I came here to walk as much as I could and be driven. I also came here to write more, live more, and self-reflect about how to build my future.

And so far, I have done those things. I’ll be honest and say that I do get stressed, but it’s a different kind of stressed than when I was in the States. I have had a lot of time to do just those things. However, I am almost ready for what’s next. Stay tuned.

But in the mean time, start your own journey.

Get back to Y.O.U. (Your Own Unfulfilled dreams)

Just G.O (Get Out!)

And

LIVE!

Bee's 3 Step Guide to Going Abroad: Step 1

Step 1: Getting Back to Y.O.U.  (Your Own Unfilled Promises)

So you say you have always wanted to travel, teach abroad, and see the world. This is what you say. Ever since you went on your last vacation to the Caribbean, or visited your family in some foreign country, or took the road with some friends on a spontaneous backpacking journey, you promised yourself that you would come home and start saving because you really enjoy traveling. Then you met someone who told you that they have taught in South Korea or if you live in the Washington DC area, you have met all the recent graduate non-profit workers who volunteered with disabled children at a camp in some far away land. Either way, one of these things peaked your curiosity, and you thought about how cool of an experience that was. But, you never thought it could be YOU.

But, yes it can be you. No you don’t have to volunteer in a village in India, Nicaragua or Kenya. You can actually do anything that you want to do, in any part of the world. You just have to be true to yourself. I have heard that phrase before, but it didn’t really understand the depth of that until last January.

I have known that I wanted to teach abroad since June of 2008.  I always had it in the back of head, but from time to time, my passion for the unknown and the need to get away would creep back up on me, usually as I was tired and driving to my second job.  

In January of 2012, per recommendation by a sister, I created a list of things that I wanted in the year and what things would be unacceptable for me. Unacceptable for me was still being in the DMV by August. I was determined to go to either Venezuela or Panama, practice my Spanish, and explore.  When the first opportunity didn’t work out, I started working on my plan B, which was Panama. Plan B, to date, has been a blessing. Everything happens the way it does for a reason.

Without being “true to myself,” I would have never been able to take this step. I had to first accept that fact that I was not comfortable with the way I was working, I adored both of populations that I was serving at both of my jobs as a youth development worker for county recreation and as a call specialist on a hotline assisting victims of human trafficking; yet, I wasn’t totally fulfilled and happy about where I was in my life. 

When Plan A didn’t work out, I started on plan B right away. I made the decision to register for the TEFL class. I couldn’t really afford it but was willing to make the sacrifice. I stayed home for about a month just being broke. But when the class started, I felt like I was getting back to myself. I love learning actually. Most importantly, I knew that I was actually taking a REAL step towards doing what I wanted to do. I was listening to my heart. 

Next, I started researching the teaching market for English teachers in Panama and possible job opportunities. Though, I had my heart set on Panama, I still made sure to consider many other teaching locations and opportunities including South Korea, Costa Rica, Indonesia, to name a few. But since Spanish was important to me, I narrowed it down to Spanish speaking countries. I knew that I wanted to be in Central America because of the tropical weather. Wasn’t quite ready to make it back down to South America yet. I also knew that I wanted to be in a place that was thriving and safe. Based on the little research that I found, it seemed like Panama had a good economy, demand for English teachers, and lots of places to see! Panama was a go.

Find out what steps I took before leaving after I decided on Panama. This next blog post is the how-to on teaching abroad, basically, before you leave! Stay tuned. You even learn while riding on Bee’s Backseat! :)