Saturday March 16th: Today marks our first official full day here in Panama City. We took a bus tour of the city with our first stop on this journey at the Panama Canal training facility. The United States once owned this training facility, and now it is used to train employees of the canal. In 1999, the Panama Canal was finally under control of Panama. Only Panamanians are employed at the canal.

Next was a “click and go stop” courtesy of our tour guide, Claudio, with a picture-perfect photo, great ice-cream, and caramel iced lattes.

We had an afternoon stroll through the artisan shops located in the old city. Here we found indigenous women selling handcrafted molas, jewelry, handbags, and tourist-like merchandise.  Also, we visited the Cathedral Basilica Santa Maria la Antigua de Panama, a historic site remodeled for the Pope Francis’s visit to Panama earlier this year.

The last destination on our city tour was the 8^th wonder of the world – the Panama Canal. We first entered into a museum that gave us insight into the creation of the Panama Canal. It was four stories high, and at the last level, Claudio gave an in-depth explanation of the operation of the lock system.

Lastly, we watched a video about the history of the Panama Canal, using a humanistic perspective with children to evoke emotion from the audience (us). It was a very eye-opening experience.

Farrah Alibrahim and Leslie Moore. 

Friday March 15th: The Howard Frankland Bridge was empty and dark as our group of USF College of Nursing students made their way to Tampa International to check in at 5 a.m. Yes, 5 a.m. After a quick gathering for a too-early photo, with an inclusive photo-bomb from United Airlines employees, we boarded our flight to Houston, then from Houston to Panama City.

Dr. Hernandez kept us all alive, safe and together; which we have come to learn is not the easiest feat. We packed up and boarded the bus to begin our Panama adventure. On our way to our Holiday Inn getaway, we hit a bit of Panamanian traffic and had to be cautious around the many pedestrians.

We were kindly welcomed into the beautiful country by Dr. Visovsky with pizza in hand. While some of us walked to the local plaza, others patronized the local restaurant for some live music and local fare. The Whats-app chat that had been started back home has since grown into something none of us will forget.

¡Bienvenidos a Panama!

Kacey Luensman and Amanda Lum

For Panama Community Health Experience students:

March 15 – March 31, 2019