Now playing : Panama by Van Halen (5/17/25)
today was our first full day in panama, and just like the rest of this trip, it was eventful. in the morning, I went to get breakfast with Juan. he's a new friend I made, and it feels like I've known him forever. We went to a place named Annie&Motts Eating House. I ordered a bacon and egg croissant sandwich that came with some fruit, it was pretty good. I also got a iced vanilla latte which was also good. Both of these tasted a little different than what I was expecting but I would go back again. once we were done eating we walked back to the hotel.
everyone met up in the lobby for a quick meeting where we introduced ourselves, and got to meet our mentors. after, we all split up into our teams to formalize a plan for what our research project was going to be when we got to batipa. my mentor's named jake and my project partner is robert.
once we finished, we headed back down to our rooms because once again we were leaving. our ride to the airport would be arriving soon so we had to grab our stuff and head back down to the lobby. We would be flying to David, the city that's near the research station.
originally we were supposed to be driving six hours from panama city to david but there's been a lot of protests that often result in roads being blocked, which is also why there police everywhere. i am not mad about this flight at all.
When we got to the airport it took awhile for them to start checking us in. the worker that helped us was super nice and we had a good time talking with him, i've realized that maybe jari and i just have no shame when we're together and start talking and joking with anyone and everyone 😂
overall we had a good flight, i even had a window seat (score). I immediately felt the air cool once we got into the air. I also noticed that in one of the pictures I took a cloud was heart shaped.
When we arrived to David it was raining so hard. we quickly grabbed our bags and headed towards the exit. Edmundo, who is the sort of like the manager of batipa (for lack of better words), was waiting for us with a big smile and welcomed us warmly. once the mentors had got the rental cars we went to the hotel. I quickly noticed how dark it was outside. it was only about 4PM. apparently since we are so close to the equator 12-hour days are more common. When we got to the hotel, we checked in and went to our rooms. Our hotel room wasnt the best - it was giving vintage - but we were only staying for a night so I didn't really mind. That was until I seen Jari and Juans room which was way more modern and decorated than ours was. we barely had outlets and a support beam taking up the space between the beds. whatever.
valeria, virginia, and I headed out to dinner and met up with some of our mentors. we decided to walk even though it was raining. I was wearing crocs and by the time we got there I was soaking wet, I embraced it tho. even though it was raining hard and it was so hot despite it, it was a fun thing to experience for the first time. We ate at a restaurant named BOCACHICA. the food was amazing!! I ordered some kind of garlic shrimp that came with rice and a salad. This was the best food i've had so far, if possible, I would love to come back again. Virginia's order was basically half the size of her which was so hilarious.
after dinner we went back to the hotel and washed up. showering here is so brutal. it is so humid that once you get out you're immediately sweating again. I did receive a warning that there is no hot water here and was a little scared of that but once I got here that was the last thing I wanted. cold showers are the way to go. but that pretty much sums up our day.
see you next time!
xoxo, sara
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