day 2: The adventure begins

Hola Family and Friends – we’ve made it, safe and sound, to Las Tablas after our first full day in Panama!

We started the day early, at 6am, with a full breakfast buffet at the hotel in Panama City. From there, we boarded our bus and drove through the city to the Panama Canal tourist center. Even the short drive through the city was enough to make us realize – “we’re not in Kansas (or Massachusetts, in our case) any more.” 

We arrived at the Panama Canal just in time to watch a massive ship pass through one of the locks. We were pleased to see some of the ship’s crew soaking up the attention, waving like pageant queens and dancing to our cheers and encouragement. After stopping to buy some souvenirs, we loaded into the IMAX theater to watch “Panama Canal in 3D: A Land Divided A World United,” narrated by the one and only Morgan Freeman. Even though some of us may have dozed off half way (we were exhausted), we came to appreciate the canal by learning the incredible story of its construction, and the role it plays not only in Panama, but globally as well. 

After we shuffled out, we loaded back onto the bus, and drove away from the city into the less developed outskirts, stopping for a lunch of fried chicken and fries on our way to Las Tablas. Many of us slept for a bulk of the ride, while some chatted, having no technology to distract from the views outside and the company of their new friends around them. 

Finally, after a four hour ride, we made it to our hotel and settled into our rooms before starting our leadership seminars and bonding time. We closed the day out with a delicious dinner at the hotel and our first nightly meeting, where our student LDD’s (Leaders Del Dio/leaders of the day) gave us the run down for tomorrow. All throughout the night, laughter and chatter could be heard as we all made new friends here in beautiful Panama. 

Tomorrow, we look forward to working on a local goat farm and enjoying some local ice cream!

Adios!