Day 10 – Final Reflection
Student Trip Blog
Ana:
HEYYYYY EVERYONE!!!! We had such a wonderful day at the town of Paris, Chitre. We learned a lot of new Panamanian culture. We went to Señora Elisabeth’s house where we learned about AMURAM, a women run organization that takes care of mangroves in their community. They have been around since 1997/2007, they take care of the mangroves and bees (I didn’t get to try the honey but my friends said that it was REALLYY good and salty). I personally had the opportunity to meet Señora Mercedes and her daughter Julia (sweetest people ever) and they taught us about “tembleques”, which are a traditional Panamanian hairpiece used by women when they wear traditional dresses aka “polleras” during parades. Everything was ballistic!! We also have to learn about colonial churches (shout out to my dad who taught me all about colonial and Republican Architecture). I think Panamanian culture is a little bit similar to mine back home (Ecuador). Being the first LDD (Leader of the Day) of this trip was a memorable experience because I got to wake everyone up at 6:40 am, meaning that I woke up at around 5:50 am (which is crazy since it’s summer time) and had so many responsibilities but overall it was SUPER FUN. I have made amazing friends here. Everyone is so kind and lovely! I miss you a lot guys and I wish you could be here with me; but I promise I will tell you everything when I come back.
PS – Please mom send this blog to one of my friends (Mile and tell her to send this to Trini)
Hello, this is Yuleika the second leader of the day and I will be sharing what happened today from my perspective. Waking everyone up was the most stressful part of the day since everyone wanted to sleep in. We took the bus to the local’s house and there we learned about the community which included a Womens Association for the Mangroves; and got to learn about the kind of work they carry out in the community. We got a tour of their neighborhood (which reminded me a lot of the Dominican Republic) and I was amazed at the amount of butterflies. At the Catholic Church, we learned more about the restoriation proccess since the church in Paris was undergoing restoration. We were then separated into groups and I shall tell my story from there.
My group – Daniel, Max, Samantha, Natalie and me (Yuleika) – went to Senora Raquel’s house. Here we saw a plant nursery and many beautiful greenery but also many animals as well. There were chickens, ducks and a cat. The cat was named Lucas, the male duck was also named Lucas. Lucas the duck has 14 ducklings. We then sat down to paint on wooden planks with a theme of nature. Lastly, we the opportunity to try some of their yummy mangrove honey since she also does beekeeping (I managed to spill it on me.) After we ran out of time, we said bye bye to Lucas the cat which hung out with us the entire time before meeting back with the group.
We then went to a clay artisan named Lucrecio’s home to learn about pottery. It was very fascinating and everyone was very engaged especially after we started painting our own clay pots. In the end, we were surprised with being able to keep them! After a long hot day, we finally got back in our bus to go back to our hotel.
We’re signing off! With love,
Ana and Yulieka
P.S. “BIG LOVE, BIG HUGS, BIG BUGS!” – Everyone
Comments (25)
Christine DePalo
This looks like so much fun while learning so much I’m glad you all had loads of fun
P.s. Abby everyone misses and loves you so much I hope u and all ur friends are having the time of ur life with this amazing experience
Edgar Andrade
Ana, I’m so proud of you, Loviusomoch mija
Te amamos
Art
Dad!
Pao Ulloa
Que felicidad amor 😍😍😍, seguro le comento a tus amigas, te amo nena!!!! Sigue disfrutando cada segundo 😃 bendiciones amor mío.
Amy
Thank you Ana and Yuleika for such a great report of the day (and getting everyone up!). What incredible adventures to get up early for. Keep enjoying every moment. You can sleep when you get home!
Max – Milo just left for basketball and said “I bet Max is still sleeping” and I said, “Nope. He has been up for 2 hours!”. He was impressed.
Have a great day everyone!
Lindsay
Hi Bella!! Hope next update I get to see more of you!! Nice your see your artful explorations. And when you hear this, I miss you tons
Gabriella, Penelope &Lavender
Bella!!! We miss you !
Ana and Yuleika what an amazing telling of the day and activities you all participated in . Bella’s little sisters enjoy our daily blog read and hearing about all the adventures you cool kids get into . Glad to see you all have such a great time !
Pao Ulloa
Hola nena, dice Tori que te extraña mucho pero que está feliz que estás disfrutando y le encantó escucharte hoy. Te amamos
Pao Ulloa de Andrade
Hola Anita te queremos mucho, te envían saludos tus primas de la costa
Edgar Andrade
Ana, fue increíble hablar contigo
Te amamos
Diviértete
Att papi
María Belén Rosario
I love this! I always wanted to do clay! Mylee, I see you making me a pot after this 🥳
Sending a lot love! Have fun a take care 🙂
Rawilda Rivera
For Rayjelis:
It’s wonderful that you’re having such a lovely experience; this will be a real turning point in your life. Even though we miss you a lot, we’re happy that you’re learning about another culture, but above all, that you’re learning you can survive without having a phone in your hands all the time. I hope you all continue to have a great time.
We love you
mom, dad and brother
Tristan Williams
HEYYYYY BRANDYYYYYYY I hope your having the best time Panama right now miss you lots stay lit and have funnn also hiii Bella & mylee!! Miss you guys also
Tristan
Moyse Iryna
Daniel, мы очень рады и горды, что ты не только хорошо учишься, но и стараешься получить больше чем даёт школа.
Получай удовольствие и новые знания от этой поездки. Ты родился в отличной стране, нам с папой так не повезло…
P.S. Любим и очень скучаем без тебя ..
Matias Sanchez
Que lindo todo !!! Disfruta mucho, ya queda poco para vernos
Ana Victoria Rosario
Looks like everyone is having so much fun! I’m happy for you guys. I’m glad my niece Mylee it’s bringing out her creativity on this trip. She got that from me 🙂
Thrilled to see what’s coming next! Have fun guys!
Ana Victoria Rosario
So happy to see you guys are having so much fun. Thrilled to see my nice Mylee bringing her creativity out! She got that from me 🙂
So excited to see what’s coming next on this journey 🤍🫂✨
Laura Barker
What excellent adventures! Great job, leaders of the day, from getting everyone up to capturing the details in this blog — I’ve come away thinking of the salt taste of honey, Lucas the cat and Lucas the duck, your recognition of similar architectural styles and neighborhoods to other places you’ve been. Thanks for bringing this to life for all of us at a distance!
Maple
Great job being Leaders of the Day, Yuleika and Ana! Thanks for sharing about your experiences.
Sam, Yuleika and Iglesia: I am so excited to hear more about your Panamanian adventures when you get back to BCSM. What an incredible opportunity and adventure you are having! I am still chuckling about the cat and duck both being named Lucas. Sam, I hope you are learning more Spanish and Yuleika, I am excited to hear your impressions of Panamanian versus Dominican Spanish. Find the good, even on hard days. You can ALL do hard things. Enjoy this BIG experience…even the BIG feelings and especially the BIG bugs!
<3 Maple
Rawilda Rivera
For Rayjelis:
It is wonderful that you are having this experience; it fills me with pride. Even though we miss you a lot, we know this trip will mark a turning point in your life. But what I like best is that your greatest lesson will be realizing that it is possible to survive without a phone in your hand all the time. We are proud of you, we love you, and we miss you.
Love you
Mom, Dad & Brother 💖
Adrian Ochoa
Es muy grato conocer, a través de tus publicaciones, las experiencias y la riqueza cultural que estás descubriendo en Panamá. Te deseo que continúes disfrutando y aprendiendo de esta gran oportunidad. ¡Mucho éxito! Un abrazo de tu primo.
Milena
hola Ana Pau! soy Mile, te mando un saludo enorme, quería decirte que lo estás haciendo muy bien hermana, ya falta poco para comunicarnos de nuevo. te quiero mucho!
Agatha C
Hi bella! I love to see you smile, you look so radiant! Lindsay and I miss playing Roblox with you but I’m glad to see you’re working hard and enjoying yourself. Yesterday Milan was on ur tiktok account reposting her own videos and I thought you were online. I got so excited 💔 I can’t wait to see you again queen, love you!
M Paz
Love hearing about your travels and glad Ms. Iglesia, yourself , and Samantha get to experience this together! Thanks for giving us a “glimpse” into your day! – Ms. Paz
Yudelka
Como la estas pasando mi princesa te extraño
John Cruz-Konchakoska
Good day Isabella, hope you read this. Penelope is still missing you baby girl, Lavender went out her way to wave at u (AIRPLANE) Your brother has been here for the weekend. And it’s another July 4 HEATWAVE, but in the 8oz.
Pottery!! Wow, I’m so proud of all you, everyone absorbing this profound knowledge. Take 1 piece with you as treasure of friendship, adventure, and laughter.
Love u princess
Tell Kirk Franklin WASsUP