Final Reflection

Our last day in Panama, a bittersweet moment in time during which we frantically tried to soak up every second of our remaining time in country and yet at the same time were desperately eager to return to our homes. Time flew as we rushed from place to place, attempting to match our newly aquired Latin sense of time to our closely scheduled itinerary.

The day started, as most did, bright and early with the world's best bus driver (Darius) forced yet again to drive our crazy group around the city. All thirty of us were together again for the day, beginning with a tour of the Ciudad del Saber USF Health Office which involved walking in one door and out another and then repeating the entire process in reverse! After that brief detour we hailed our bus drivers and set out to meet the actual head of USF Health and learn more about the city. Then it was back on the bus as we rushed to the U.S Embassy to meet with the ambassador before her flight left. Personally, talking with her and her staff was probably the most academically relevant part of our trip as the topics of crime, international relations, police models, etc are what I am studying. By the time all this was over it was pretty late in the afternoon and we were all definitely ready for lunch at Penca's. It being a Lenten Friday and all my options were fairly limted though I did get some excellent calamare and patacones...which took forever to get to the table!!! Hunger sated, after yet another two and a half hour lunch, we headed over to the Miraflores Lock to view the infamous Panama Canal. Unfortunately, I got seperated from my group so I missed the movie and spent the whole time on the roof watching the Canal which was very interesting so it wasn't too bad. It was actually pretty amazing to physically see something that had been the subject of so many of our class discussions. After that we rushed to the market for some last minute souvenir shopping before heading back to the hostal to pack everything up and get ready to leave EARLY in the morning. Hostal craziness ended our final day in Panama around midnight and then we woke up a mere three hours later in order to catch our flight home.

After a 24/7 Panama immersion it was very odd waking up this morning by myself in my own bed...in fact, I was still on Panamanian time and woke up at 6 am this morning ready for a breakfast of fresh fruit and a day of activity and I'm still not sure whether I was disappointed or relieved to have nothing scheduled for the day. Just further evidence of how much I enjoyed the trip, the class and the experience as a whole. It's definitely something I will never forget.

-LE