MADE IT

So it's only 6 days late announcing this but...I made it to Panama! I'm not sure where to even start - so much has happened! I'll start off with my living situation.

I am currently living in a part of Panama City called Villa Lucre, where I am living with the lovely Patricia Lewis (who is the principal of my school aka my boss), her husband Eddy, her father, and her two grandsons Michael and Justin. It's a super busy house which is exactly why I love it! These are some of the sweetest people I have ever met and they have definitely adopted me into their family. They have been more than hospitable and overly generous, and I am so thankful that I am able to spend a whole year with them!

Hanging out in the family living room

For the first couple of days, Glenda took Joseph and I through different parts of Panama to give us somewhat of an orientation of the city. Panama City has a lot going on, and it's an extremely multicultural and diverse city. We were able to see a lot of different parts of the city, so here are a few pictures to show you what we got to see and experience!

This is Panama Centro - the old downtown of Panama.

Sunset at the Bay of Panama. To the left is the Pacific Ocean and very far away and straight ahead is part of the Panama Canal!

A beautiful view of the city from a district in Panama called Casco Viejo - a very nice and historical part of Panama that was built right after the destruction of the old Panama City (which was destroyed by pirates - seriously)

Then on Wednesday, Joseph and I were able to visit the school for the first time and observe classes. I will be assisting Rev. Dennis King and teaching World History (taught in English) and Religion (taught in Spanish) for grades 7, 8, 9, and 10. The incredible thing is that each class is 40 minutes, so the students have 9 different classes each day. WOW! So, throughout the course of the week, I will have 15 different classes to teach. So, it seems I will have a lot of planning to do soon! Here is a picture of the front of the school:

I will find a better picture of the school and classrooms soon! :)

The next day was a holiday celebrating the birth of Panama City. So, Glenda was nice enough to take Joseph and I to a parade downtown. Basically, it was a select set of school bands that marched in the parade. San Cristobal was one of the chosen schools, so that was pretty cool to see! Band is a HUGE and popular thing here, so it was fun to watch how excited everyone was. Here is a picture of one of the bands

One of the bands playing some Bruno Mars

After the parade, my family wanted to take a day vacation to the rainforest. Fun fact - Panama City is the only city in the world that has rainforest inside the city limits! So they invited Joseph and I to go with them - such a good time! Eddy even drove us over the Panama Canal so we could get a quick look. I took a terrible photo, but you get the idea!

After showing us around a bit, they took us to a place that has a pool out in the rainforest, especially because the boys love to swim. It was super nice and relaxing and we all got to talk and hang out. Here is a picture of my new little brother and I:

I could probably post a lot more but I will save that for another blog post! This is enough of a novel!

But, I thought I'd add one more thing. Patricia took me to church this morning with her to La Iglesia de San Cristobal, and it was a really nice service with even nicer people. During the service, we sang a song called, "In His Time" and although it was a super short song, I thought it had a powerful message. The last two lines were:

Lord, please show me every day as you're teaching me your way,
That you do just what you say in your time.

Usually things don't jump out at me, but I thought this was especially relevant. Sometimes I get antsy while wondering what is coming next, what my regular routine will be, and just in general thinking about the rest of the year and what is to come. But this reminded me that all will fall into place in his time, so for now, I will just live in the present and enjoy every second!

Hasta luego!