Costa Rica Bound (2012)// Samoa Bound (2017): Exploring Panama

Thursday afternoon I left for San Jose to meet with other exchangers before we left for Panama. We met around 6 so that we wouldn't be in the bus stations when it was dark. For dinner, I had my first bagel since I left South Burlington, Vermont! We walked around the mall for a bit, and by 10:00 pm, we were all set to load up the buses and head to the border. We got to the border very early in the morning, and had to wait about 4 hours for them to open. It was then another long wait for us to get through customs and paperwork! It ended up taking us 20 hours from when we left San Jose to get to our hotel in Panama. The hotel wasn't the nicest I've been in, but my friends and I quickly found the roof and the gorgeous view it gave of Panama City at night..which made up for that!
The first thing I noticed about Panama was the obvious difference between the lower class and higher class. Driving through Panama City, there would be run-down houses clustered together on dirt roads-with skyscrapers and nice stores literally 2 feet behind them.
The first full day we had there was Saturday. That day, we went to an open "lake" where we were greeted by an indigenous tribe in nothing but cloth and standing in long canoes. We put on our life jackets, got on the boats, and we were taken through a mini canal leading to a beautiful waterfall. After swimming for a bit, they took us to their "town". We ate fish with our hands that still had the tail on it, and plantains for lunch. The food was delicious, and it was interesting to see their school, town hall, houses, and basketball court/soccer field all be literally 5 feet from eachother. We had a man who lived there explain how life was 50 years ago, and he compared that life to how they are living now. To our surprise, their life is much more advanced in these days than it was 50 years ago! He also did a demonstration on how they used to tell if women were virgins or not. I don't know if I can fully explain it, but the main idea is this: The girl is kneeling on a rug, and they take something like a necklace and put it over her head and around her neck. They then put a piece of the necklace in her mouth, and if something rises, that means she isn't a virgin. I was a bit confused on how that actually works, but he did a demonstration on one of the exchange students, and I guess the result of it turned out to be true! It was interesting to say the least, seeing that! We then went swimming in the river to wash off, and got back in the boats to go to the buses. This first day was my favorite, although my friends and I felt a little weird about it. We sometimes got the feeling that it was as if we were in a zoo or a museum. The way people took pictures of the houses and school was weird when you think about how it is their daily life, yet a tourist attraction as well. That night we were taken to a MASSIVE mall in Panama City to eat dinner and look around.
The next day, we went to the Panama Canal which was cool! We walked around for a few hours, then watched a boat go through it. Later, we went to a different mall for the rest of the day. (Things are really cheap in Panama, so a lot of people wanted to go to the malls) At night, they took us to a point that was filled with yahts bigger than you could ever imagine, and fancy resteraunts. It was gorgeous, although there wasn't much to do and everything was very expensive. It was also one more reminder of the differences between how the rick people live compared to the people strugging to make a living.
On Monday, we were taken to a mini ciry that made us feel like we were in Italy. It had been built by an italian, so that explains why we felt that way. That was also really cool, although it was really hot and we didn't feel like we were in Panama anymore! Then, we went to the same mall as the first one. My friends and I didn't feel like walking around again, so about 5 of us went to see a movie. That night, we set out for the border once again. This time the drive was only 18 hours..which was an improvement. It's almost impossible for me to sleep on buses, so I was extremely tired when I finally returned to my host family. Overall, it was a great trip and I now have more stamps in my passport!

Just a side note: I have dreams in spanish now! Apparently I was talking in my sleep the other night and my host sister overheard me saying things in spanish!