A day like a local

Today, we started with a wake up call at 6 AM, followed by breakfast which consisted of sausages, salami, tostones, and a Panamanian dish called ojaira which looked like fried bread. The breakfast was super yummy and we are more excited to be eating Panamanian dishes.

After we wrapped up breakfeast, we hopped on the bus and took a 30 minute bus drive to a place called Finca Capri Dovi. Upon arriving, we were immediately embraced by the Capri Dovi family (including every single animal). We started with an introduction with Diomedes, the owner of Capri Dovi. He enlightened us with the farms history, including how the differences in elevation, pressure and humidity affect how the crops grow. After initial introductions, we took a tour around the agricultural grounds of the farm where we tasted produce such as starfruit, coconut, mango, tropical raspberries, ginips and others. Aside from tasting all of these different types of fruit, we saw a variety of different plants and the beautiful scenery across Capri Dovi. After our agricultural tour, we split into groups to experiance each animal encounter at a time. These stations consisted of: feeding energetic baby goats, petting and playing with mini pigs, petting baby bunnies, and meeting Shakira (Diomedes´ horse). After coming back together as a group, we got the privillege to try a lot of the farms organic products including honey, goat cheese, ice cream, lemonade, and fresh homeade juices.

After thanking Diomedes and his family as well as giving him a departing gift, we took a group photo and started making our way back to the bus for our ride back home for lunch. For lunch we had pasta, rice, chicken, and papaya-pineapple juice. Then we got to enjoy our freetime! Everyone went everywhere, except for Jose who stayed in the pool the whole time… People bought food, souvenirs, and had fun talking to locals. Some people went to Mcdonalds and experience the differences from what we have in the U.S, or went to the Dollar Store.

Everyone gathered in the common area at 4pm to greet our guests Joseph and Dari who were local Cutarra shoemakers which are typical Panamanian shoes from Chitre. Eddy, got the lucky opportunity to get his own shoes made on the spot. We saw the way that Joseph and his girfriend handled cow leather to create multiple different crafts including wallets, shoes, and a lot more. Eddy had a blast!

After that we had dinner! The food is getting better day by day. We had chicken, rice, Arbejas a type of grain, and some of us were lucky enough to have avocado. After having a great dinner, we had our nightly meeting where we passed the torch to our new LDD for tomorrow which were Kate, Harry and Jennifer. Their talents were very impressive! Tommorow is the first CAP day. We are all very excited to begin to save the turtles!

Hi everyone! Its Wyeth. I had a blast today being leader with Paola and Jose. Everything from waking everyone up to the little things on the bus, being a leader was fun. Family, miss you all. Thank you for everything you all do for me. Wilsie, Hope your having fun in New Mexico. I am having great fun with your leader, Yosselyn and everyone here. I am having fun trying to speak spanglish with everyone here on the streets. Sadly no soccer as of now but I am having a great time taking a break. Looking forward to saving the turtles tommorow and exploring the beach deeper. The ocean and beach here is like nothing I have experianced yet. No Rockaway beach! Dont worry I am wearing sunscreen and living my best life making some good freinds. Freddy….. Love you bro lets go MIDD. Still hasnt hit me what I have accomplished. Santi and Nate, dont worry Im missin yall aswell. #savetheturtles #committedwithmybro

Hola a todos! Soy Jose. Hoy dia fui lider del dia, con mis amigos Paola y Wyeth. Hicimos muchas cosas hoy desde que amanecimos, en el bus, en la granja, todo fue muy divertido. Especialmente en la piscina que he estado ahi mucho rato en mi tiempo libre con mis amigos en algunos tiempos. Espero que todos ustedes esten bien por alla. Nos vemos pronto! (No se como poner las tildes en esta computadora).

Hey guys, es Paola. Hoy fui lider del dia junto a mis compañeros Wyeth y Jose. Honestly me canse lol because nos despertamos a las seis y media y fuimos a una granja a conocer a los chivos, conejitos, y los maranitos. Fue muy cute todo y me gusto. Ahi les traigo miel #beready. Despues de regresar a the hotel, comimos lunch y sali a la calle con mis amigis Jennifer, Stella, Stefany, y Eddy. Fui a conocer a la iglesia y compre muchos recuerdos. Estoy super excited a verlos y darles sus regalos. Honestly esta muy feo la humedad aqui en Panama pero estoy super duper excited a comenzar a trabajar en la playa mañana. Voy hacer saving the turtles. #losextraño. Hugs and kisses guys. #family #biglove #newyork #turtles #playa #panama