Clay community- day 2

Greetings Friends and Family!

The following message is brought to you by the leaders of the day: Denise, Margaret, and Magnus.

Today us Glimpsers left Panama City and took a five hour bus ride to Chitre. Throughout the drive we saw many familiar stores and shops. Including McDonalds, Popeyes, KFC, Crocs, Planet Fitness and many more. It was nice to see places familiar to us while also seeing places distinct to Panama and its culture. On our way to Chitre we stopped at Van and Ven (a pit stop) where we ate lunch and then continued on the road. After lunch we had the great pleasure of speaking with and learning from Lucrecio Batista, Chitre’s most famous pottery artisan. Lucrecio operates a family owned and operated pottery artisan business for the past 33 years. He gave us an overview of pottery artisan history starting in Mexico, and gave some Glimpsers (Layla, Symir, Carlie, Liya, Roliber, Redina) the ability to make pots, using his electric and manual clay making machines. Roliber kindly took on the role of translating for the entire group and formed a friendly bond with Lucrecio throughout the day. The group also was able to paint handmade pots made by Lucrecio himself. Lucrecio immersed us into a deep history while also offering us a hands-on experience in his cherished field. We learned the history of clay and how to make objects out of it, while also learning that ourselves as a team works together like clay (supporting each other and learning with each other throughout the day).

After our time with Lucrecio we arrived at the Rex Hotel, where we familiarized ourselves with the area and participated in group workshops. The last activity of the day followed the leaders of the day “passing the torch” to tomorrows new leaders. All seven leaders shared talents with the Glimpsers deepening the sense of comradery already existing between the group.

Thank you for reading our blog, and please comment (all are read to the Glimpsers) and look forward to our future blogs.