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

Today we were blessed to have the opportunity to visit a village of the Embera indigenous tribe. We started out in the morning by driving an hour and a half to get to the shores of the Chagres River. The ride was bumpy, as not all roads were paved, but it took us away from the city and our idea of civilization. We met four guys who were in charge of the canoes. The canoes took us on a 45 minute ride deep into the heart of the rainforest of Panama. The canoes were made of wood and life jackets were worn at all times. Our guides traveled upstream on the way to get to our destination and used long wooden rods to steer the canoe.

After our canoe ride, we stopped on the edge of the riverbank and were then able to hike to a beautiful waterfall and the kids had a chance to swim! The path was very muddy and slippery due to the rain and we crossed several streams and many jagged rocks to get there. Covered in sweat and a combination of bug spray and sun screen, the kids were dying to jump in! What a wonderful experience it was for them to swim in a waterfall, deep in the middle of the rainforest in Panama.

Today the students danced along in a tribal celebration, received tribal (non-permanent) tattoos, ate plantains and fish from a banana leaf, and played duck-duck-goose with the children of the tribe. We also learned that the children have a school where they are taught by a teacher who is provided by the government of Panama. This individual is not native Embera, meaning that all of their lessons are taught in Spanish. All Embera speak both Spanish and Embera. Since only Spanish is taught in school, they are now using the Spanish written alphabet to write down stories in Embera. Thus, this creates their own unique written language that is transformative. When thinking about the growth and decline of cultures, this culture will now come to mind. This was a great experience for my students to see that life is very different in various parts of the world. Insights and experiences galore!

We ended the evening with dinner and riddle time followed by an hour in the pool. This has been a WONDERFUL tour! At the end of each day, I feel like I have just had a new favorite day! Tonight I go to sleep knowing that the eyes of my students were opened yet again today.

Fun/Funny Quotes from the Day:

At least I didn't think milk was a meat.

Mrs. Potter, I have mud in my butt.

I could eat as many calories as I want, as much as I'm walking this week.

I just swam in a natural waterfall in the middle of the rainforest.

We made it! (This quote came at the end of a very slippery, muddy hike in the rainforest. Immediately following the quote, said student fell.)

I had the GoPro, I thought I was going to drown.

How did I get dirt all the way up there? It looks like I have a beard.

Now I feel like I can do anything at home.

Stay tuned...

Heather Potter - Student Travel Group Leader

Today was just another day in Panama. :) On the agenda today we began by hiking to the top of a hill to have a wonderful view of both Panama City and the Canal, this was followed by a tour and scavenger hunt in a local market and then ended with a visit to the Panama Canal.

The breakfast this morning was beans and rice, plantains, sausage, fajita chicken and pork wantons. Unfortunately they also had cereal, fruit, and cinnamon rolls so many of the kids have decided that they have tried enough food from Panama and went with the more traditional breakfast.

After eating breakfast we traveled to Cerro Anton. This is the hill that holds a flag that claims the Panama Canal for Panama. It is also the highest hill in the city. Ancon mountain sits at 199 meters above sea level. Trump Tower, the tallest building in the city, sits at 284 meters. On the way there we saw the monument below. This monument represents an event that took place on January 9th, 1964. On this day 3 students, attempting to place the Panama flag atop the area that was controlled by the United States at the time, were shot by members of the United States Army. After this took place,
Panama withdrew its relationship with the United States for several months. Andrew Johnson
later reinstated communication. In 1977 Carter signed the agreement that would return the control of the canal to Panama.

In the pictures below you can also see the home that is owned by the Canal Administrator. His home is beautiful and sits along the hill that overlooks the canal and the city.

The picture of the vine is an orchid that is used to make pure vanilla. Throughout the world there are 36,000 types of natural orchids, 150,000 orchid hybrids, and only one that is used in the food industry. This orchid is that one.

As our "real-world" lesson today, students learned how to navigate through a fish and vegetable market. We provided them with a list of 14 things that they had to ask for and then take a picture. Students worked in small groups to use language skills and work their way around a market. This was a lesson in both communication, teamwork and using resources (like signs and people) that are available to them. The kids started with a lot of anxiety and confusion and ended up finding 12 of 14 items and enjoying snow cones together!

Panamá Canal

After our visit to the market, we were able to see one of the wonders of the world, the Panama Canal. This is the number one reason that most people travel to Panama. On our way to the Miraflores Locks, we stopped to see the Administration Building for the Canal. There were 120 steps to get to the top of the building so several of my students had their "Rocky" moment. The picture of the palm trees is a picture of a courtyard. The distance between the two lines of palm trees is the same as the distance between the two sides of the locks at the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal was initially started in 1880 by the French, but it failed due to financial troubles, diseases and dynamite dangers. When Panama achieved Independence in 1903, they agreed to start the project again, with the United States and create a system of locks. After it was finished on August 15th, 1941 the United States was in control of the canal until 1999. In 1999, after the event that I explained earlier, the Torrijos-Carter Treaty was signed which would give Panama full rights to the Canal.

The purpose of the Panama Canal was to provide a shortcut to travel from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. The process uses a system of locks in two lanes that act as elevators to change the water levels and help ships move across the Continental Divide. You can see pictures of the canal in action below! We watched as a cargo barge carrying 3,000 vehicles traveled through the lock system. It was following a private sailboat who also chose the same time to cross the canal. It was $800 for the sailboat and $250,000 for the barge to cross. There are an average of 35-45 ships that cross the canal daily. Whew! It's so interesting to think about how one idea can have such a dramatic impact on the world. At the canal, students were able to watch both a sailboat and cargo barge pass through, visit a museum and watch a short film about the canal.

Travel is about experiences and experiences happen with people. This evening, the kids were provided an opportunity to interact with the people from Panama. We visited a local park where Reggaeton lessons were being held in an atrium, soccer was being played on the field, and little kids were playing on playground equipment. Although they were timid and did not have a very large vocabulary to work with, many of them played games, made new friends and tried their take at dancing! This was not a museum, major attraction or souvenir shop, but this is the real world. The world where people can share commonalities and realize that although the world is big, we all have a whole lot more in common than we may think. I love watching kids realize that they can find the words they need to communicate or learn that they can communicate without words. With this activity I am also reminded once again that, we all smile in the same language.