First Few Days

So we are finally in Panama! And its been quite the adventure already. Monday seems like such a distant memory, though at the time, I was having a little bit of a freak out. Of course I left everything that I needed to do until the day before I left the country. I collected all pairs of shoes, most clothing, and many other items that day then needed to head home, pack, and answer all of my mother's demands for information about where we were going to be.... Intermingling with all of this preparing was the need to write my JINS ppr for Wade. I ended up being finished packing at midnight and writing my ppr from 1-3.

After that, I was just in time to shower and meet my brother to go to the airport. I'll stop narrating this part now, as it is nothing too exciting. The only things that I discovered from my first time being on a plane were that it sucks to sit by the window when you need to go to the bathroom, and that my ears hate altitude change. The descent in both Miami and Panama were excruciating. Chewing gum did not really help at all. I moaned quietly for the twenty minutes before landing from each flight, trying to soothe my painful ears. For some reason, they refused to pop and rendered me nearly deaf for the next few hours. This odd trend with my ears has continued for the following days as any altitude changes or turns of my head will make my ears painfully pop.... It probably didn't help that I was trying to make them do it for awhile after getting off the plane.

So our camp at La Mica is pretty amazing. We are literally right in the middle of the jungle. To get to our camp, we have to hike for about 20 minutes down quite a difficult trail. Ill post pictures next time (hopefully if I can find my camera). Our dorms are one giant room divided by a tarp for males/females. It is quite interesting sharing space with 16 other girls, especially when trying to be quiet during the night. I sadly failed at being quite the first night here, as I brought a cold with me from the US. REALLY hoping it goes away soon.

Now, I really want to mention our trip to Omar Torrijos National Park. This place was so unbelievable. We arrived to this location by travelling up the side of a mountain by Chiva (illegal truck that carries people in its bed) for 40 minutes. I actually really enjoyed the Chiva we were riding in. It was pretty fun rocking with every bump in the road while feeling the wind in your hair (all the while trying not to fall out of the bed of the truck).

This National Park is the home to so many beautiful plants and animals. While waiting for the second group of people to arrive at the station we were able to look at some colorful flowers and we even spotted a sloth and its baby hanging in a nearby tree. Once the second group arrived, we began our journey in the rain forest.

Our hikes through this beautiful scenery was the best part of my trip so far. We walked down some perilous trails, and ended up finding a river that some people are going to be doing their projects at. I really wish I could think of the words to describe what this experience meant to me, but the only words coming to mind right now are words such as awesome, majestic, and beautiful. I'm not particularly eloquent right now, but this journey into the rain forest was all those words and much more. It was just witnessing all the beauty of nature while hiking through it, feeling a bit rugged and BA at the same time. As we were walking back up the slippery/mossy trail, it started to rain, and, in all honesty, that only made the walk back even better. I got rained on in the rain forest... How perfect right? I brought a poncho, but I'm enjoying the rain so much thus far, lets see how much I actually use it.

From our journeys into town, to the excursions into nature, I'm finding that I'm falling in love with this place. While I do worry a bit that I might still be in the 'Honeymoon' stage (initially in love with the place that you visit), I do not see myself really having any reason to leave this bliss. I have always loved nature, and its so fulfilling to finally spend this much time getting more in tuned with it. From showering under the open sky to falling asleep to the sound of crickets to doing homework with the rain forest as my backdrop, I am just so content with life right now.