¡Hola de El Valle, Panamá!

I still can’t believe I’m actually here! After spending most of yesterday inside the Tocumen airport and an Italian restaurant in Panama City, today has been a welcome breath of fresh air. Literally, the cool breeze here despite the hot and humid weather (typical of the dry-season summer) is amazing! It reminds me a bit of the small mountain town of Orizaba, Mexico (where I visited my family in September), but more rural.

We traveled for about three hours from Panama City to El Valle in the mountains in this van, accompanied by the driver’s son, Ricardo (who loves Perry the Platypus). You will notice all of our bags are tied to the top: except the bags with our laptops in them. I learned this important fact yesterday when I accidentally put the duffel with my backpack on the roof and had to make sure it was lowered down gently. Our program director, Ruben, told us that the area of El Valle used to be the largest volcano in Panama, but then it erupted and the crater-like valley it let behind became the beautiful quaint area of El Valle. There is one main road with a few convenience shops that we explored today, and there seem to be a good amount of hotels for tourists here too, but all the locals have been staring. I guess I would have stared too if foreigners walked around my hometown in packs of 17.

The hotel itself (above) is called “Los Capitanes” after the owner, a gentle old German man named Manfred who was a boat captain before he retired. When we arrived, he shook each of our hands and asked us where we were from. Los Capitanes is gorgeous, and also abundant in beautiful gardens, patios and hammocks (which I have yet to sit in but definitely will before we leave).  There’s also a group of elderly tourists from Holland staying here too and they are very friendly. Here’s a picture of the room I’m sharing with 3 other girls, and the view from our patio.

 As for speaking Spanish, it hasn’t been too intense yet because not all of the students speak it, but there is a good range of language ability among us, and I’ve successfully ordered food and asked for wifi passwords and such, so it’s satisfying to be able to communicate. All the other students are really friendly and interested to learn about each other as well as Panama. I can’t wait to get to know them more, to practice more Spanish, and to spend the rest of the week relaxing in El Valle.

Lista para mi adventura

I'm finally packed and ready to go! I'm incredibly excited to leave for Panama City on Monday (despite looking like a pack mule). It's strange to be finally leaving home after spending a month preparing to leave, but I'm eager to start on my adventure!

My plan is to keep this blog updated of my travels, with as many pictures as possible. I'll be spending my first week in Antón Valley for orientation with the 16 other students in the program,  then I'll be at a homestay in Panama City for 3 weeks taking Spanish classes. After that, we leave Panama City for the jungle to live in various rural communities and visit research centers until April. Then I choose an ISP (Independent Research Project) and spend 4 weeks at a location of my choice before we present our projects at the end of the program in May.

While I can't wait to practice my Spanish, learn about the country's conservation efforts, meet my host family, and get to know the other students in the program, I think I'm most excited about the unpredictability of this trip: each day I'll have completely new once-in-a-lifetime experiences and I can't wait to share them with you all! :)