BWIN

Hey everyone! It's been a while eh? I'll have to make this a short summary of the last three weeks because I'm currently trying to decide what I'm going to do form my big final research project which starts TOMORROW! Anyways, here's what I've been up to the last few weeks: We left the city on the 21st of October and flew to the town of Changuinola in the province of Bocas del Toro in the northwest corner of Panamá. Our first day there we visited a conservation area for sea turtles and manatees. There we saw a manatee (very cool but very shy), lots of birds, and a whole bunch of sloths. The next day we went to one of the many banana plantations that surround Changuinola to see how Chiquita grows its bananas. I ... read more

I'll pick up where I left of with the last one here... After the comarca we headed to the small town of Guadalupe in the Chiriquí highlands. There we stayed in a really nice hotel in a big wood cabin that looked a little bit like it belonged in the alps. The food was delicious and plentiful and because it was raining almost non-stop while we were there we ended up lounging around the hotel most of the time. Quite an ironic change of scenery, coming from the extreme poverty of the Comarca. The second day there we met with GORACE, the only organization for organic farmers in the whole country, to learn about growing organic in Panamá and their struggles to find (or create) a market for their produce. The members of the group who ... read more

It's been about a week since my last entry, but a lot has happened since then. I guess I'll go through it all chronologically, or at least what I can remember. First, from Chitre we travelled to the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle, a semi-autonomous indigenous province in the west of Panamá. There we met with the only Ngobe man ever to graduate from the Panamanian university system, if I remember that correctly, and he gave us some background about the Ngobe people and the comarca system. Then we met our host mothers, all member of ASMUNG, the Ngobe Women´s Association and went our separate ways. After meeting my mother, Elena, we walked together up a steep hill on a dirt trail that was about two feet wide in most places and very rocky. Forty minutes and two stream ... read more

Hola de nuevo! I'm back in the city of Chitre after a week of adventures in Isla Cañas. It was an amazing, if tiring, week filled with great experiences. I'll start by describing where we stayed. Isla Cañas is a small island community located about 100 meters off the coast of the southeastern tip of the Azuero peninsula. The island is a protected area because it is an important breeding ground for 5 species of sea turtles (all threated or endangered, I think) and is home to the largest, best-preserved mangrove forest in Panamá. It is a relatively poor community of about 600-700 people who rely mostly on subsistence farming and the harvest of sea turtle eggs (controlled pretty strictly by the National Envrionmental Administration, ANAM). It is a beautiful tropical island, complete with palm trees, ... read more

Hola a todos! This was a great week. We traveled on Monday to Parque Nacionl Omar Torrijos Herrera "El Copé" for a unit on terrestrial ecosystems. The park is located in the middle of the country, smack dab between the Carribean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. When it's clear, which isn't very often because it's a cloud forest, you can see both oceans at the same time from some of the higher points which is pretty amazing. It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Our home base in the park was the visitor's cabin where the girls stayed and we ate some of our meals, the visitor's center which we used as our classroom, and the park guard's cabin where Tim (the only other guy on the program) and I stayed with ... read more

...I figured I'd check in one last time before I head off into the heart of Panamá. What to say, what to say. Well I guess the big news is that we went to El Festival de la Mejorana yesterday, one of the biggest festivals in Panamá. It's one big cultural extravaganza in the small town of Guarare, about four hours from the city. We took a bus out early yesterday and walked around enjoying the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells. This particular festival is a celbration of Panamá's rich tradition of folklore, so everything is very "tipical" Panamanian. The women dress up in their best "polleras", hand-made, flowing white dresses with colorful floral patterns, and tremendous amounts of jewelry. Look them up on google. They´re pretty spectacular. The men look a little more modest, sporting ... read more

Hey Everyone! Not as much to report as last time and I'll have to make this quick because I should be working/sleeping now, but my time with reliable internet access is running out so I figured I should post. That's right, less than a week left here in Panamá City and then we leave for our great advernture into "El Campo", or the country. I finally feel pretty well accustomed to life here in the City, so it's kind of a shame to be leaving, but at the same time I'm very exciting to be getting into the interior of the country to see more of the other side of Panamá. I say "the other side of Panamá" because, as we learned this week, there are really two different sides of this country. The side that ... read more

That's right. Monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys. And sloths. And a mulititude of other awesome wildlife. The last two days we woke up and the crack of 4:30 a.m. to go hunting for "mamíferos" (mammals) and the loss of sleep was more than worth it. Tuesday morning we climb up a hill just outside the city called Cerro Ancon to search for sloths with our mammal expert guide, Professor Ariél Rodriguez. Probably about 5 minutes in we spotted our first sloth, sleeping (what are the chances of that!?) in a tree. I learned this week that there are two types of sloths, two-toed sloths which have white faces, and three-toed sloths which have shaggier fur and brown faces. Another interesting fact about sloths: they are similar to reptiles in that they depend on the sun ... read more

We finally made it to the beach today, and it was great! White sand, thatched roof cabanas, plenty of sun, and some of the warmest ocean water I've ever been in (almost too warm), and it was glorious. Took a brief nap in a hammock, didn't get sunburned, got there and back for about $10, what's not to love? It was great to get out of the city and do some hardcore relaxing. I think the beach will be a good weekend option given that our weeks are pretty packed and very exhausting. I decided yesterday that it's time for me to start recording what I learn in my journal, as well as my experiences, feelings, etc. I think that, especially when it comes to environmental/sustainability stuff, this will help me make what I learn more ... read more

Hello once again! I'm here in the capital city of Panamá, staying with my host family, the de la Rivera's. Panamá is a very large city with lots of tall buildings, a fair amount of pollution, lots of friendly people, a rapidly rising crime rate, a canal some of you may have heard of, LOTS of fried food, and very hot, humid weather. That said, I'm enjoying myself quite a bit so far, despite the difficulty of adjusting to life in a big city in a foreign country. We're in class for more than six hours per day whcih has me exhausted, but I've been learning a lot so far about the country and its environment. Panamá is a fascinating place because it is located in such an ecologically and politically significant region of the world. ... read more