A Week in Panama

As a full week abroad draws to a close, the gang prepared to forge ahead to the next stop: Costa Rica! A recap of the week includes walking the skyline in Panama City, mountain-biking in the tiny town of Boquete, and sleeping in a tree house on the paradise island of Bocas del Toro.

While the Spanish is quite different from the lingos and lisps used in Spain, I'm starting to adjust to the carefree, relaxed manner that sometimes involves smashing all the words together. The rest of our group, totaling all seven of us, have vastly improved in Spanish in the past few days.

Now that my first week is nearly done, I look back and see such a humble lifestyle in a hardworkin country. Locals seem diligent in accomplishing their tasks (diligent but slow?) and it truly shows in the thriving city of Panama. Also the tourism industry is off the charts here. In some places, like Bocas, the community seems to survive on first-world tourists alone. Nevertheless, the white sand beaches, coral reefs, rainforests and volcanoes are definitely worth the visit.