Madre to Many: The Weight of the World...: June 2025

Panamá 2025 - Students Going Global: Day 7 -

All good things must come to an end. We woke up bright and early to begin our adventure back home! Students had one last hotel breakfast and we were on our way to the airport. On our final bus ride in Panama, students watched the sunrise and took in last views of the city skyline and the coast.

We said goodbye to Nafi! Nafi was an amazing guide who taught the kiddos so many things! I definitely hope to see her again soon!

We got our tickets and made our way through security. We talked about how interesting it is that you have to go through two security checkpoints when leaving Panama. We went through one to enter the main part of the airport and then a separate security checkpoint (performing the same checks) to enter a gate for a flight to the United States.

After a short wait, a bathroom stop and a couple bag checks, we were on the way to Houston!

Upon arriving in Houston, we were prepared for a 6 hour layover. Well... due to storms, we were put in a holding pattern and made a bunch of circles while waiting our turn to land (this took a couple hours - see our flight patterns in the images below). When we finally were able to land, we were informed that we were in a new line waiting for an international gate to open up. There were several empty gates but we were only allowed to park at one of the gates that forces travelers to go through customs. While we definitely understood the importance of the gate... we also didn't have a lot of patience for waiting on the flight any longer. We had a lot of fun selfies sent, trivia games played, and naps taken. The good news is... our layover time was cut in half! ;)

Upon arriving in Houston, we made it through customs (very quickly), took a tram to our new gate and sat down for a bite to eat. These kiddos (and adults) were starving!

Many students were very excited to get to eat Burger King, Chic Fil-A, and other food they were used to. While organizing the group and suitcases, I ran into Emory Ast. Emory heard my voice as I was giving group announcements and came over to say hello. Emory is a former student from my days at Cheney High School and went to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with me in 2016! It was great to say hi and see that she is still traveling! Believe it or not, this is the second year that I have ran into a previous traveler while traveling through Texas with my current groups!

Although our layover wasn't as long as we thought it would be, it still made for plenty of time to play cards, catch up on social media, talk with friends, journal and complete an Airport Scavenger Hunt! Memories were made and kiddos were READY to go home!

We made it! We arrived in Wichita just before midnight!

Parents were excited to see the kiddos and everyone was ready to go home and sleep!

Throughout the last year and while on the trip, students earned Potter Traveler Points for various tasks: asking questions, winning competitions, answering doors correctly, practicing Spanish, etc. This year's Top Traveler Trophy goes to Julia Woodworth! Congratulations Julia!

This group has been a joy to travel with and learn from! They had positive attitudes, were willing to try new things, and lived in the moment! I can't wait to see where their futures take them and I know that Panama will always have a special place in their hearts!

Panamá 2025 - Students Going Global - Day 6:

This morning we started off with quite a few traditional foods for breakfast and lovely fruits! Our last day in Panama and it is typically a favorite for students. Today is our visit to the Emberá Village.

After our breakfast we made our final stop at the Xtra. This was an opportunity to look for last minute snacks, buy treats to take home, and students could also purchase school supplies to donate to the kids at the village we visit! I was impressed at what the students were willing/wanted to contribute to the group donation!

As we drove around Panama, there were many opportunities to compare and contrast the local life to the life we live in Goddard Kansas. Students saw things they were familiar with from home, as well as things that need quite a bit of explanation. On this drive, we saw many chain restaurants in the city and then discussed the tolling system and check ins as we entered the countryside.

To get to the Emberá village, we had to travel a couple of hours by bus to get to a river, to then travel by boat to get to the remote location. On the bus part of the adventure, Nafi shared a lot of information about the various groups of people in Panama. We discussed national animals, clothing worn in various places of Panama, and certain foods/handicrafts. We learned that people from the Guna tribe are responsible for the creation of molas (traditional fabrics with geometric shapes and representations of nature). Did you know there are 129 types of snakes in Panama and 23 of them are poisonous! They also have 18,000 types of butterflies and 16,000 of them are moths.

It was great to have this preparation prior to visiting the village and the visual aides were on point!

Prior to our arrival at the river, we stopped to buy fruit to take to the village for lunch. The Emberá village provides visitors with the fish caught from the river and visitors bring fresh fruits to go with the meal. At this stand, students were able to see a lot of the fruits and vegetables grown in the region and Mr. Potter treated everyone to "duros" (popsicles). Students chose between pineapple, guanabana, strawberry, and more! Yummy!

After our stop for our sweet treat, it was time to make our way down the Chagres River to get to our destination! We loaded the canoes and began the adventure! From someone who has been here more than once, the water was definitely up (they have had an amazing start to the rainy season) from the last time we were here! We were able to travel a lot farther by boat than we have in the past!

I love that it rained on us in the rainforest! We got a true sense of what it is like to walk along the muddy trails. We might look like tourists, or gnomes, with our ponchos and walking sticks, but this walk is not for the faint of heart! We climbed rocks, maneuvered muddy hills, and crossed river sections to make our way to a beautiful waterfall! Students had time to swim, explore and take pictures at the waterfall before we made our way to the village.

We were welcomed with beautiful instruments and voices as we arrived!

We started our visit learning about the handicrafts that are made at the village. We discussed what products are used to dye the reeds and how they are woven to make the various pieces of art. Students also had fresh fish and fruit for lunch.

Amalet, an 11 year old boy from the village, talked to me a lot about how he spends his time, and what he likes to do. He told me that he really enjoys fishing with his cousins. Upon hearing this, I thought this was something some of my students definitely needed to try! Logan and Zach took a turn! They actually caught a fish! You can see Logan holding the minnow in the second image, but we might have been so excited that it jumped away! They are using a shirt as a net to catch small fish as bait in these images.

We also learned about the economics behind how their village is built, the traditional roles that various people play, the body paint for people who are not married, and how people are punished in the event of a crime. Brooklyn volunteered to demonstrate how the punishment worked. The person who committed the crime would be shut into this device and left there for a certain length of time. If the crime was deserving enough, they might even be surrounded with sugar. Why sugar, you ask? Sugar would attract all sorts of bugs and then the punished would be bit as well. Yikes!

After our session and lunch, students were in for a fun treat! They were shown a performance of traditional music and dance. Students observed and then participated! They also had an opportunity to have traditional body art! Many students took advantage of this opportunity! Don't worry parents, it will go away in about a week!

Although we had three different languages working together (Spanish, English and Embera), students were able to translate FUN, LOVE and FRIENDSHIP! We spent the next hour or so just spending time with the kids in the village. Students played Duck, Duck, Goose, tag, played hand games, danced and just spent time together! We also brough snacks and the language of food transcends any boundaries they might have thought they had! It was a beautiful day!

The rain arrived and it was time to head back to the bus. We boarded the canoes and said our goodbyes to Amalet and his family, many new friends and all others in the village!

When we arrived back at the hotel, students had a little bit of time to clean up and prepare for our final dinner. This dinner is the last chance for students to taste traditional Panamanian food, visit with friends, listen to music and enjoy our time together! On each of my tours, we dress up on this final night! Below you can see that they clean up really nicely!

We said goodbye to Irving and headed to the restaurant! It was great to get to visit with him!

Our restaurant was decorated to the max! Each area of the restaurant represented a different region of Panama! It was a beautiful and fun atmosphere and a great ending to our trip!

Students could choose one of three traditional meals for dinner! Can you guess what they are?

After dinner the band chose student volunteers to learn how to dance the Rumba! Julia, Zalie, Dominic and Elan did an absolutely amazing job! They stepped up and made the most of an amazing opportunity! I hope they bring their skills and new found fashions back and teach family members at home! They rest of the group really enjoyed watching them dance! There were people from Ecuador, Turkey, Belize and LA in the restaurant while we were there. I love that everyone made our group feel so welcome and comfortable to have an amazing final evening. Nafi made a great choice when she picked this restaurant!