El Valle, mi amor

On the weekend from the 10th-11th, we traveled to El Valle de Anton. Suz substituted for a class on Saturday morning so we served as her teaching assistants for the class, and then after the class, we left for El Valle. El Valle is a region/town/area of Panama that exists in the crater of an extinct volcano. It's in a valley surrounded by mountains, and is so, so beautiful. We resided at Swami's Yoga Camp. The name says it all--lots of hammocks, kittens, rabbits, vegetarian food, nature, and pretty jewelry for sale. What more could I want? Oh, well, and lots of insects to suck your blood. But I guess that comes with the beauty and nature part.



There is a mountain range called La India Dormida that is supposed to look like a sleeping woman. We hiked her and it was probably the most beautiful hike I have ever done. I don't know why I liked it so much. I went on a number of gorgeous hikes in Chile, but something about this trip made me feel incredible at the top. The mountains just stretched on and you could see the entire valley and it was just so open and free and amazing (I realize I sound ridiculous right now). Also, we saw a wild horse, which just made it all seem even more unreal.

La India Dormida

the valley

incredible

our tour guide :-)

y algunas frutas y flores bonitas:

So pretty.

After the hike, we went to these thermal springs and bathed in mineral water whilst applying mud face masks. It was cool, but the pictures make it look like we're just sitting in dirty bath water. However, it was quite relaxing after a day of sweaty trekking.

So...El Valle was an amazing success. And not to mention: we brought home a little bundle of joy to call our own:

Yes. This precious baby is ours. Her name is Flor (flower) and she is not nearly as harmless as she looks (though she is just as little and cute).

Smithsonian: Barro Colorado

Wow. I am sooo behind on our Panama adventures. I will start with the longest ago that I didn't already blog about. blog blog blog

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: Barro Colorado

We were invited to go to STRI (^) on Thursday, Jan 8. We took a boat out to Barro Colorado and had dinner in their cafeteria (which had surprisingly really good food) and then attended a lecture on ....god, I wish I could tell you. If you're confused on why I don't know, this is what the board looked like:

But anyway, I'm sure it was really interesting for the researchers that stay on that island. It seems like a very cool place, but we only went at night. Though I did see some large toads.

I'm still awaiting my encounter with a sloth.

I'm going to make a new entry

Gamboa

The past weekend, we went hiking in Gamboa, a rainforest nearby. It was BEAUTIFUL! We didn't see any sloths :-( but it was still wonderful. Look...

It was very beautiful. Up there ^ are leafcutter ants...so cute! They just carry the leaves for meters upon meters, all in a line. We did yoga in front of this beautiful lake. We decided we're going to wake up really early one day next week to go bird-watching. Yaya

Abriendo Horizontes

Wow, I have a lot to talk about.

So.. I'm going to copy and paste a lot of this from our project blog (www.udpanamaproject.blogspot.com) because I don't feel like rewriting it all. But please don't let that take away from the authenticity of my excitement about what has been happening...

On Monday, the Abriendo Horizontes students arrived. They are a group of students from the interior of Panama (smaller, generally underprivileged towns/villages outside the city) participating in a program that will send them to Missouri for two months to undergo college training. These students are as young as 15 and 17 and rarely travel, but they are so motivated to achieve what they want. There is something so mature about them and how they recognize their disadvantages, yet also so youthful and energetic and pure about how they cheer at everything and are constantly smiling and openly grateful for everything given to them. They've gone through so much, some walking hours in order to access the internet just to complete tasks necessary for participating in the program. Many of them raised their own funds in order to afford the program. Honestly, after meeting them, we all wished we could just snap our fingers and make all their dreams come true. They deserve it so much.

Over the past 2 days, we had workshops with them about the TOEFL exam (administering and going over a mini-exam that we created)...we covered American culture, what to expect, what not to do, etc... for example, we taught them what plagiarism is. Important.

They received our stuff-a-duffle winter clothing and it turns out they took everything! We were thrilled.

Last night, the program held a cena de despedida (farewell dinner) for the students, their families, and supporters of the program. It was so wonderful to be part of this ceremony and feel the excitement and nerves coming from all those involved. Their emotions were so genuine, and it became so obvious how much this program and these opportunities mean to them. It was even emotional for us, who only knew the students for two days. They each received certificates and we all exchanged e-mails to stay in touch.

To us, this experience was amazing but seems to represent something so much larger. Last night after the dinner, we and Suz all discussed what had occurred and realized what hit us really hard was the fact that these students, so bright and motivated, were just a small portion of all of the students in this country and the world who have the brains and the motivation, but simply lack the means to get to where they should be. We got to experience first-hand a group of students breaking the confines of their circumstance. It was really, really great...but I couldn't help but think about all the people I know and don't know (and me too sometimes) that take for granted our circumstances...like every time I slack off in a class and don't think about a grade or fail to acknowledge a good connection or don't think about the fact that I have the money to go to college...there are all these kids who are so smart and would be willing to try so much harder and have all the motivation in the world that just can't get to where we are because of things out of their control. It's sad.

Sorry to end on a sad note.

Actually, I'm not ending. Here are photos of these incredible students :-)

At the farewell dinner

Rina, Lisette (a director of the program, she's awesome and looks like Tina Fey shh), me, Mon, and Suz with our certificates for being supporters of the program

The students and us :-)

The students on the bus

We have started working one-on-one with students in English. We start our actual courses next week. 

I'm out. I'll leave you with a quote from a piece of Dove chocolate I just ate:

"The most enjoyable experiences are often free."

Palmar photos, Abriendo, & a Delaware welcome

Here are some photos of Palmar, a nearby beach where we slept over a couple nights ago. Twas beautiful.

So, lately (though we've had our fun) we have also been hard at work preparing for the arrival of the Abriendo Horizontes students...the Panamanian indigenous students who are going to Missouri for pre-college training under the funding of the US Dept. of State. We will be meeting with them on Monday (tomorrow) and Tuesday and giving workshops on the English language and American culture. We created a mock TOEFL exam having to do with the area that they're staying in to see where their English is at...and also gathering ideas about what to teach them about our awfully confusing country.

In addition to this welcome, we experienced another welcome....UD students on their study abroad to Panama!! They arrived yesterday and Mon, Rina, Suz, and I made a huge sign with balloons and brought a cooler full of refreshments. When they arrived on their bus we greeted them with loud shouts and enthusiastic hand waves and "BIENVENIDOS A PANAMA's".....I think we sufficiently frightened them. The majority of the students were too dead to know what was going on and when Suz ran up to a girl to hug her and welcome her, the girl squinted her eyes and with the voice of an abandoned baby said "... who are you?". I guess it's the thought that counts.

I'm sure we'll meet again though, and soon be laughing about that time that they first arrived to Panama and were greeted by a bunch of raving lunatics decked out in blue and gold attire, that happened to be us.

 

Hasta pronto ninos