Sworn-in by Hillary Clinton on October 10, 1997 at the Ambassador's Mansion, La Ciudad de Panama, Panama

La junta (the work party) to build my house in La Placita de Calobre, Veraguas Panama... that's me dancing with my neighbor and good friend, Chico!

My horses, Tranquilo and Pepito... the primary mode of transportation and fun for me!

La junta de mujeres... the women's work party.  I taught the women of my community the value of a vegetable garden close to home, for better nutrition... we worked together at everyone's homes and had a blast!  The work is quick with many hands...

That's me, Jess; hanging out in Cafe Aire Libre, in Santiago, Veraguas 

I worked with INRENARE and MIDA, the country's agencies to promote sustainable agriculture, etc. and the World Food Bank program to distribute rice in my community during a drought period.

The first lady of Panama came to our distribution that day, and I got to speak English for the first time in weeks with her.   She's pretty down to earth!

I got to travel a lot while I was in the Peace Corps... Panama has many different ambiantales (environments) as varied as desert, jungle, mountains and here, the Cloud Forest called La Amistad on the border of Costa Rica.  I was fascinated to see all the things I had studied in school.  This photo was taken on a 3 day hike from Cerro Punto to Boquete (where the best coffee in the world is grown!)

My stay as a volunteer focused on soil conservation and sustainable agriculture techniques.  Here are some of my neighbors cosechando (harvesting) rice traditionally; we experimented with rice tanks, modeled after the asian versions to see what gets the best results...