Day Five: Biocultural diversity

Helllllooooooo Panama and GG friends and family!!! It’s Ryan, Talia, and Lorelei, your leaders for the day! Today was Biocultural Diversity day, and we learned a LOT.

We woke up bright and early this morning at 5:45 AM to the sound of roosters out of our windows, and headed downstairs for some delicious breakfast sandwiches. Then, we hopped on the bus and headed to Tortugas Pedasi to learn all about sea turtle conservation, and local protection efforts being made. We were given a presentation by Roberto, a volunteer from Tortugas Pedasi, who then showed us around their museum, and then took us to their local beach, La Playa Del Toro, to do a trash clean up.

During the beach clean up, many of us had the chance to talk further with Roberto, and learn more about his life and conservation efforts. Fun fact: Roberto speaks eight different languages! Many of our bilingual students were able to bond with him over this.

After completing our clean up and experiencing slight torrential downpour, we were able to show our appreciation to Roberto by sharing a few words about our experience and presenting him with a gift. Promptly after, he returned his appreciation by informing us that we were his favorite and most passionate group he has worked with to date!

After a hard morning’s work (because it was still only 11AM), we caught the bus back to our accomodation for a debrief about our day thus far. We discussed our question of the day, “What is biocultural diversity, and why should we care?” in relation to our work with Roberto and Tortugas Pedasi. Then, after a delicious lunch, we had some much earned free time. While some students decided to kick back at a local cafe with leaders Maykeld and Brian, others decided to trek to a nearby thrift store, where they dug through piles and piles and piles of stylish clothes at unbeatable prices.

After exploring Las Tablas, we headed back to the hotel for a 5:30 group meeting that promoted self-reflection on our experiences in Panama so far, and what they have meant to us. We had a nourishing dinner, followed by our nightly meeting, where tomorrow’s Leaders of the Day were introduced to share their talents with the group. (Stay tuned for their blog post tomorrow!) During our meeting, everyone had lots of Big Love and positive comments to share about their fellow glimpsers, and hardworking leaders. We finished the night by playing some of our favorite new games with each other, and another amazing day in Panama came to a close!

And this is us writing this blog…so meta…..

Thanks for tuning in to this exciting new update! Please continue to leave comments, reading them all together is always a highlight of our day :))

Peace out amigos,

Ryan, Talia, and Lorelei <3

Oh, and PS:

hi hi mama, dad, river, dave, lex, hudson, and whoever else I know who may be reading this!! I miss you guys like crazy and have been thinking of you all, you would love it here! I am having the best time, and can’t wait to see you all. Hud we have so much to debrief, and I can’t wait to give you a hug. I love you all and hope you are having the best week, please leave some comments for me to read :)!!!

Love ryry

From Talia-

Hi mama and dad! I miss you both dearly and I can’t wait to see you guys and the puppies!! I have so much to share with you guys and wish I could hug you both right now. Also Liya if youre reading this i’m loving the comments and I miss you like cray I can’t wait to see you love you <3 PS mama these people rock!!!

HI RATS!!!!

I hope everyone is doing amazing! Panama is very fun and I’m having a great time so far. I even got to go thrifting (I will find a way) and found something AMAZING that you will have to wait to see until later :)))))) I have made the best friends ever and am seeing lots of fun animals (ie goats, cows, horses, cats YAY) I miss you all so so much! Please take care of my fish 🙂 LOVE YOU MY RATS – Lolo