Fin de la Semana- Azueran

This weekend we went to the Azueran Peninsula, Chitre specifically. We visited a rum factory, built an adobe house, and went to a festival.

 Haha so we started "modeling," too bad I'm wearing a t-shirt and shorts

 The founder

 Sugar cane fields. There's a picture of us all chewing on the leaves because one of the guys was unfamiliar with the properties of sugar cane and tried it.

 We decided we had to give buildering a try. Would have gone higher, but we were afraid someone would see us and yell at us :)

I don't believe the rum is ever gone here

 Pottery wheel that you had to turn by foot. So cool. Want one.

 Gary made a little clay guy to smash Peatree. He's jealous.

 We had to make an ice cream run because they fed us so much fried food that weekend, that McDonald's was the "healthy" alternative. Detoxing this week.

 First you stomp through the mud, then you add grass, then you stomp through it some more.

 Then you kick together a brick

 Then you do summersaults in the mud- oh wait, that wasn't really a step, we just did it for fun

 Gary eats more than David and Cody combined. If you don't know David and Cody, that's a lot. This is not even close to his entire meal.

This weekend was exciting. It was more of a true cultural immersion than anything else we've experienced so far. Now I want an adobe house of my own. It was fun to make and it's honestly something to be proud of. Plus, it's a party. There was a band playing and we were dancing in the mud. And throwing it at each other :) We went to the rum factory, but afterward we all still had no idea how rum was made, only that it's stored in barrels, which gives it its color, that it's made from sugar cane, and that it plays a major role in the Panamanian economy. Lauren and Grant got sick after today. It seems like every time we go on a trip, everyone comes back sick (I'm sure they'll spread it around.) We all got food poisoning after San Blas, we were sick the week after my birthday, and now another one is going around. It's like our bodies can't handle Panama.  Maybe I'll be used to it by the time I leave. Other than that, I'm having a blast. Still really excited to be here, and can't believe I'm signing up for classes in two weeks. I definitely miss you guys though, no worries on that front.

Wow

So I've been here for more than a month. Grant just pointed out that that means I'm leaving in 2 1/2. Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow. And so much has happened when I think about it, but it really doesn't feel like it at all. I've camped on the beach, and slept in hammocks, and tried a bunch of crazy food, and met a bunch of people I'll never see again in two months, my roommate's fled the country, and a thousand crazy things have happened. And I'm already getting emails about signing up for next semester. Everything just feels just really weird.

Semana de los Nacimientos

This week has been entirely given to celebration. And I guess we tossed class in there, too, but that's not really why I'm here, right?

My birthday was first on the 12th (19), then Gracie's on the 13th  (20), Peatree's on the 14th (3000), and Sara's on the 15th (21). We've had so much cake this week, I'll probably go into withdrawal next when we no longer have any (actually Tiffany came up with Cake Wednesdays, so I'll probably get my fix without any issues.) I don't think I've explained Peatree yet. He's pretty much a straight up baller. He's a dinosaur Gracie brought with her, and he's pretty popular here. We take a lot of pictures of his adventures in Panama.

Gracie has a velcro shirt she made. She ran out of y's, so it says "I <3 Caroln" with a ~ on the n. We hablamos un poco espanol.

In case you were wondering, that's most definitely funfetti. We were all pretty excited that Panama had it.

Roommate pic = requirement at all social events

In the car on the way to Beirut for Gracie's bday. We don't like to pay for taxis because they try and charge us the Gringo Special, so we cram as many people as possible into the car every time.

Peatree and Javier. He's not posing, he really talks like that. He's pretty crazy, but he makes a good dormgirl, so we let it slide.

Kaile, Caitlin, me, Gonzalo, and Stefano at Beirut. We went to a Lebanese place and ordered pizza because we couldn't understand the menu. The food was Lebanese, but some of it was translated into Spanish. Crossing two language barriers is a little more challenging than one, so we caved. Really good pizza though.

We were searching for ice cream, but helado places are cerrado a las 1030 de la noche on lunes :(

Salsa dancing Tuesday night. There's a place in the casino inside the mall that gives really cheap lessons on Tuesday nights, so we're going every week until we're masters. I'm going to be so legit at salsa by the time I get home.

Gracie y Peatree

Sushi for Sara! My sushi had plantains in it. I love love love plantains.

Gary and Peatree don't get along very well. I think it's because Gary is jealous. It's okay Gary, we love you, too!


Gary made us a cheesecake, so after sushi we headed back to Sara's and devoured it. I'm having a blast here. My classes are super easy, which is giving me plenty of time to enjoy everything about the culture. This weekend we have plans for either Santa Clara or this mountain thing... haha I'll no more when we go and I'll have tons more pictures. This is going to be an insanely epic scrap book :)

I'm having so much fun, and I'm so glad I'm here, but of course I miss you guys. I'm bad about keeping in touch because I get so caught up in everything here, that I don't always realize how long it's been since I checked in, so shoot me an email if I've neglected you. Take care, I love you.

San Blas

We went to San Blas for the weekend and no doubt, this place was paradise. It felt surreal the entire time. We spent all weekend snorkeling and napping in hammocks. Every meal was seafood. It was the best R&R ever.

This is how small the plane was. We didn't even all fit on one plane, 3 people had to ride on a second.

We stayed in huts. Inside was a sand floor, and a couple of beds, but they had electric lighting.

We had to take a boat from the airport to get this island. The "airport" was on an island by itself. It was essentially a landing strip and a restaurant.

There were 7 hammocks on the island. I napped in one everyday, they're so comfortable.

The dock. Just as unstable as it looks.

This is Caitlin's favorite picture. You can't see in this pic, but the swing was actually about 4 1/2 feet off the ground, so it was a bit of a challenge to get up.

We pretty much always play futbol. It's like breathing

This is my roommate Mayling. She's from Nicaragua. She's a baller.

I swam all the way to that island. It was covered in conch shells and palm trees. I brought one back and now it's on my dresser- def coming back to the states w/ me.