Community day

Today the leaders of the day were, Samantha and Kiara! We were both excited and nervous but made sure we had a plan for everything. We started bright and early 6:30 knocking on everyone door at least 3 times before breakfast. For breakfast, we had eggs, sliced banana, and tortilla asada. Even though we had a tiring day before, we all managed to get ourselves-up and ready for breakfast. Today was a big day, students would be put into 5 group then sent out to hang out with families who ran businesses in a small community, called El Espinal. Two groups went to bakery’s, one to a chicken farm even though there were more than just chickens, a cow farm, and a food place.

(Samantha) When I first got to the farm, I felt so welcome. The man who the ran the farm where nickname Nyny, he had a bright smiled across his face. I remember the first thing he did was welcome us and to make ourselves at home. He showed us around the farm which had A LOT of chickens, goats, cows, sheep, pigs who were pregnant and one that was about give birth. Walking around the place was amazing. Nyny made the all the fences and dividers himself, he is super talented. As well as animals, he had fruits such as bananas, mangoes, papayas and aloe vera. It made me think of my dad and how he would love to see Nyny’s garden set up (which was all handmade). It was fun to feed all the animals and spray the pigs- who loved it. The best part was meeting their monkey, Panchao, that they had rescued from her previous home. They take her to the vet to confirm she was okay, but she was not able to go back to the wild since she has become so human dependent. They took her in and it was so fun to watch her eat a mango, banana and cookie. I really loved learning about this family and how they started with his wife Anna, who was a very kind woman with beautiful earrings. Even with the language barrier, we all had so much fun together eating cookies and drinking soda. Seeing him and his wife live such a peaceful life was amazing and made me smile. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole trip. It was so nice to meet them and I wish I could have stayed longer.

(Interviews by Kiara)->

1st Bakery: Gotel

“I found it cool how they turned a space next to their house (their garage I believe), into their bakery space.” -Nayeli C.

• Learned different styles of breads
• They used old and new baking techniques
• Business has been around about 50 years, throughout different generations
• Two types of flour -> for soft bread use hard flour, for hard/crispy bread use soft flour
• Thanks to the fruits of their labor in their family business, they were able to pursue and afford higher education

2nd Bakery: Home/Community Bakery

“Alternative career” -Lawson R. (Newly discovered pro baker)

“Learned how to make Pan de Rosca, LOVED IT!” -Kiara P.

• Good hospitality
• Fun to roll dough
• Interesting life story from Leonisa (Baker/Mother/Wife)
• A lot more homey (bakery was in backyard, outdoor oven)
• They had lots of land, and put it to good use, Grandmother inherited it from her father

Food Place: Anita’s house

“I ate like 3-4 of the yucca bread” -Grace L.

“Yucca is a fruit from a tree, used to make bread” -Ashley L.

“Grace discovered that sausages are made from pork intestines” -Kyle M.

• Fun to make sausages
• Anita was kind enough to fry the yucca bread we made
• Amazing how willing they were to teach others what they do

Chicken Farm

“Enjoyed seeing a bunch of different animals” -Eli S.

• Monkey named, Panchao
• Had fun washing pigs
• Amazing garden, were able to eat bananas and given mangoes

Cow Farm: Fica los Azulitos

“Keeping a close-knit family relationship can help create a thriving environment and an outward prosperity. It also sustains a family’s generational future.” -Andre D.

• Lots of cute, friendly cows and calves
• About 40 cows, each has their own name, and the owners are able to distinguish them
• Everything is done pretty early in the morning so instead of feeding the cows, a tour was given

After we spent time with the family, they made us food as a thank you for helping them with their work. We even met the mayor of their small community. It felt so amazing to be in such a close community. After the community lunch we all headed back to hotel for free time. Soon after, we walk around the city for a small tour before reflection and then dinner. We learned about the three-time president of Panama who born here in Las Tablas, and a pioneer of medicine for the country. Afterwards, we had our reflection time to write about community then a share out. It was fun to see how much everyone enjoyed community day and how much they want to go back to their families to listen and learn. Of course, we had dinner then our nightly meeting where 2 glimpsers perform their talents to become the next day’s leader. We had such a fun day and I enjoyed all the interactions.

P.S HAPPY FATHER DAY

“Happy father’s day!” -From all Glimpsers

“I love you PAPA! I thought of you the whole day and I miss you SO MUCH!!! I love you too mommy and jack!!!” -Samantha P.

“You didn’t answer my call” -Isabella L.