Blog 1

Blog #1

                As I was preparing for this three week trip, I had many questions as to what to expect. I knew it wasn’t going to be anything like America. I almost expected Panama to be a little similar to a third world country. I had thought that we would be “roughing it” the entire trip. I also heard not to drink the water here. I had thought the reason was because there was parasites in the water, but I later found out it upsets your stomach from the lack of minerals. I expected the weather to be really hot as well like Florida. I knew there were jungles here and viewed the country as probably one giant jungle.

                When we arrived in Panama, we loaded into a bus to take us to the City of Knowledge. I was surprised to see the bus had air conditioning and even played some music that was popular in the US today. I continued to be surprised when our bus had passed a Subway, McDonalds, and KFC. We passed into a city with tall buildings like in America. In the city there were areas that were like what I had expected to see. There was a lot of construction and run-down buildings. Seeing the Panama Canal was such an experience because I had heard it was incredible. I learned that to pass through the canal is easily an average of $100,000 in cash. The land here is really beautiful with all the flowers and mountains. I was surprised with how nice the place we stayed in the City of Knowledge was. The only bothersome thing was the freezing cold showers there. After taking a four hour bus ride to Chitre, we were accompanied to almost what I had expected. There is no air conditioner in the house at all so the cold showers here are sometimes enjoyable. Blair and I are sharing a bed which isn’t so bad to me. However, I have never seen so many bugs in the same place and of different varieties at the same time. I also didn’t know that the houses we rented were houses people were actually currently living in. It’s a strange feeling when you know you are in somebody else’s house. The supermarkets here are similar to the ones in America except a little smaller with some different food. Also, the driving here is a little more nerve-wracking than at home. It seems like there are no rules regarding the road such as violation of the speed limit or running stop signs. I believe the next three weeks will be interesting, but I’m looking forward to learning more as the days continue.