Leaving for the Interior!

Wow, I can’t believe that it has been about two weeks since I last blogged, how quickly time flies by! I last wrote about my upcoming vacation to Costa Rica with a few friends from FSU, and about my mom’s wedding.  I’ve been back in Panama for about a week and I’m just now getting ready for this week where I will be traveling around Panama training teachers in the Civitas Panama curriculum.  I leave today at 5:30am and will be on the road all week.

Costa Rica was incredible! I really enjoyed spending time with the girls and getting to do all sorts of exciting activities, like white water rafting and zip-lining. It was definitely worth the long hours spent in transit to see the beautiful places Costa Rica had to offer. Marie was a huge help with all of her knowledge about Costa Rica, and it was great to see Marisa and Julie and to share in their international experience. It was also able to communicate in Spanish with everyone we met, and I was very grateful for being bilingual and to have the opportunity to practice my Spanish. Being in Panama, I had to learn so many new words, especially ones related to democracy, government, and business- that I almost felt like my Spanish was getting worse, rather than better. Not sure if that makes any sense. Costa Rica seemed like a never ending adventure, but before I knew it I was saying goodbye to everyone at the airport, and was headed back to Panama to fly out the very next morning to Orlando. If it’s one thing I learned on this trip, its “Life is short… paddle hard!”

The very next day, I flew to Orlando for my mom’s wedding. My flight was delayed from Miami to Orlando, so I missed the rehearsal by about 2 hours. My grandparents picked me up at the airport, and a few hours later Justin, my best friend, arrived from Tallahassee to join us at the wedding. The wedding was great, and I cried a lot (duh)… I couldn’t believe the day was finally here. After the wedding, we all went to the beach on Sunday, and before I knew it I was saying goodbye once again, headed to the airport to fly our the very next morning back to Panama.

After arriving back in Panama, one of the highlights of my week was a training at a school in the Darién province. It was about a 3 hour drive from Panama City so we left very early, and I slept the entire way there since I was still jet lagged from practically living in airports for the past 4 or so days.

I also had the opportunity to visit the Canal area (but still have not seen the actual Canal), and tour the zone that was previously reserved only for Americans. It was an entire region of Panama City were you could only enter if you were an American… completely closed off to Panamanians. I had never heard of this before! It was bizarre to see this place, and know that not too many years ago this was land that could not be entered by its own people.

Well, I have to finish getting ready! It is about 5 am here and I have to finish packing for the next week. I’ll try and write a more in depth blog post for next time, I will have plenty of time in the car to write!