August Professional Activities wrap-up

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 Forecast: 88°/76° with 59% chance of rain; 
Humidity:  89%
Sunrise 6:09 am., Sunset 6:28 p.m.

The local U.S. Embassy asks all Fulbrighters to send monthly updates of what we've done in country, I guess so they can document some of the good things the Fulbright program does.  Over the course of my career, I've pulled together lots of annual reports -- and unlike many of my colleagues, I actually look forward to doing these.  

Since there's so much going on here, it makes a lot of sense to do these updates more frequently than I've done them in the past, and I figured I might as well include a version of these updates into the blog.  

But even though my first report is only for two weeks and not a whole year, I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to lay my hands on all the information for what I've done!  I certainly haven't gotten into a routine yet, and I guess I've got to figure out how better to keep track of my comings and goings in the future.  Still, if you're interested in what the "official" side of my life has looked like recently, this is a fairly decent summary.

General professional work

For my research project, I have started work on Double Take, the book on Optical Illusions that I hope to write here.  I've got a general layout, I've written a draft of an introduction that I really like, and I'm wrestling with the best way to generate the drawings I'll want to include.  

I developed two different workshops ("talleres") that FUNDAPROMAT is promoting.  Here's part of the email about the workshops.

De agosto de 2024 a mayo de 2025, la matemática estadounidense Annalisa Crannell estará en la República de Panamá apoyando a FUNDAPROMAT gracias a una beca Fulbright que se ganó del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Durante estos nueve meses, ofreceremos 2 talleres presenciales conectando el arte con las matemáticas, tanto en español como en inglés, por una donación para la Fundación:
  1. Ilusiones Ópticas en 3D
  2. Dibujando Arte en 3D
Para aquellos que estén interesados en coordinar alguno de estos talleres presenciales para sus estudiantes, docentes, colaboradores y/o hijos de sus colaboradores, no duden en escribirnos al correo info@fundapromat.org o contactarnos al WhatsApp +(507)6990-1458.

Specific Events

Thursday,  August 15:  I arrived in Panama.

Saturday, August 17:  I attended the Feria Internacional del Libro de Panama in the Atlapa Convention Center and helped to staff a FUNDAPROMAT table, where I showed children and their parents a puzzle with interlocking iguanas that tiled the plane.  

Monday, August 19: I set up my desk in the FUNDAPROMAT offices in Ciudad del Saber.  It's a lovely space!  I figured out the internet, coffee, and printer situation.  I have a fantastic office mate; she not only is a great working companion, but also an excellent tour guide, and she corrects and improve my Spanish with kindness and humor. 

Tuesday, August 20: I represented FUNDAPROMAT at the 20th anniversary of CAPATEC, the Cámara Panameña de Tecnologías de Información, Innovación y Telecomunicación (the Chamber of Technology).

Saturday, August 24:  I staffed a table for FUNDAPROMAT at the Family Day event hosted by the Canal Authority.  I ran a table where families made designs with rubber bands on small peg boards.

Wednesday, August 27:  I attended a talk by FUNDAPROMAT Director Dr. Jeanette Shakalli, who was an invited speaker at the International Math Congress organized by the University of Panama.  After the talk, I participated in the workshop session by offering activities on "drawing your name in 3D".

Saturday,  August 31: I presented both of my workshops to the FUNDAPROMAT volunteers, which gave me a chance to do three important things: 

  1. Practice my Spanish as I present these.  I've done versions of both these workshops many times in English, but the vocabulary and grammar in Spanish adds an extra level of challenge for me.  This was a really useful, really friendly group of people to work with on my first all-Spanish taller!
  2. Assess how well I've gauged the right levels of explanation for my audience and that I have all the right equipment.
  3. Familiarize the volunteers themselves with what my workshops entail, so they can explain it to people from the community who might want me to run such a workshop in their school/company/community group. 
Looking at each other after the workshop
with the FUNDAPROMAT volunteers.


Press 

The publicist for FUNDAPROMAT issued a press release about my visit to Panama, which got picked up in a bunch of local papers.

Plus, the Director of FUNDAPROMAT is all over social media; I've had math friends from the U.S. who say that they see my picture in their instagram feed all the time now.  


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