CAP DAY 3

Hey everyone, we are the infamous Ethan Damkoehler and Andrew Symolon and this is the Community Action Project day 3 from our perspective.

Today we went back to the school to finish the two big murals on the two sides of the hallway. It was very hot out today, so we made sure to stay very hydrated. We worked on painting until around 11:00, then did some activities. These activities included watching a reenactment of a traditional Panamanian dance, signing our names on a giant sheet of paper on the wall, and even danced in front of live music performed by the school’s band. That made us even more tired, but we still had to get back to work. We though back to what LeBron said, “Tired is only in the mind. I don’t get tired.” We made sure to keep this quote at the front of our minds when things were looking grim.

Ultimately, we got both the whale and bird murals done, although it took roughly half an hour extra, we couldn’t leave without finishing. Shoutout to Mary and Gianna for holding the ladder that Andrew was on so he wouldn’t fall. Shoutout to Angelica and Morgan for taking charge and making sure everyone was on task. No parts of those walls were left unpainted. Angel, Luis, Fabian, and Ethan all did a quick Bron Chalk Toss picture with some of the leftover baby powder from Ethan’s bizarre, outstanding, amusing, hilarious, amazing, breathtaking, and freakishly-accurate talent last night. Shoutout to the Joses (there were multiple), Christopher, Alexander, and Eduardo (Edu) for helping out and being real ones. They were super welcoming and are going to be friends for a long time. Even after drenching our hands in oil paint for several hours, we decided we weren’t done and put some washable water-based paint on our hands and put our hand prints on the school’s newly-painted mission statement. We also put our handprints on Jose’s white shirt to make sure he had something to remember us by.

We then went to Lel Chiche Mito for lunch and had porkchops, rice, beans and coleslaw (shoutout coleslaw). Andrew thought the porkchops were stringy but the rice and beans were good. He rated the meal a 6/10. Ethan rated the meal a 8/10 because he got to drink his Coca-Cola with it. We booked it out of the restaurant because we were so late due to staying behind and finishing the mural, and we made sure Ariel wasn’t holding us up this time. We went back to the souvenier shop that we went to on CAP Day 1 because our GGLs abandoned us on that day (they get a free day as part of volunteering for the trip). Gianna and Andrew got buddy bracelets (knucks) and went back to the hotel. When we returned, we had our calls home which were a long time coming. Everybody was super jazzed to talk to their families even with the long day of work.

When the laundry arrived, we had to lock in to get ready for our special dinner at El Punto Coffee. “Klay said that? Hahahaha,” This quote was said by LeBron when he was down 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors in 2016. He was responding to an insult said by Klay Thompson and followed the quote up by coming back from the cold jaws of defeat and winning the finals. We really had that mindset when getting ready for our special dinner. Ethan borrowed Judson’s Polo, Luis’s Yeezys and belt, but he wore his own jeans. Andrew wore a pineapple button-down and Nike shorts. The food was delicious. Andrew says the pasta with tomato sauce was really good and it would be an 8/10 with the lemonade. Ethan says the pesto was good but Angel’s pictures were better and he rated it an 8/10 with Angel’s picutres.

When dessert was served, Andrew tried Flan for the first time ever. Andrew says “bro it was like a 3/10.” He also tried squid pasta for the first time, he said it wasn’t bad because it just tasted like an average pasta. Once we finished up, we got some pictures taken (including another chalk toss because Jordan never had to play the 73-9 Warriors in the finals) and Ariel used celestial navigation to guide us back to the hotel. We were all very tired before the nightly meeting but were quickly energized-which you will read about it tomorrow from our next LDDs (Angel and Gianna). Today we learned the value of hard-work and coordinating our tasks so we can work as quickly and cleanly as possible. It was a long but rewarding day.

Ethan’s message to the fam: Hey guys, I hope all of you are doing well! We had phone calls today so there’s not much for me to say, but pet Bud, Bonnie and Buddha lots for me! Love you!

Andrew’s message to fam: I hope you are all well at home, say hi to Bronco and Colt for me. Can’t wait to see you guys soon, I love you!

We’re signing off now, but look for to the next blog post, you won’t believe what happens to Fabi and Luis! Adios everybody!