First Impressions

My first impressions of Panama were the mountains and all the vegetation. Coming from a state where brown grass is nothing new to a country that is nothing but green everywhere is really different. I think it is beautiful to look at. A lot of the local neighborhoods remind me of the more ghetto parts of major cities in the United States. The roofs look like they are about to fall apart and some of the windows are nothing more than square holes in the wall with no glass. Many of the homes sit on the side of the mountains and they are very colorful. Pink, green, yellow, and blue tend to be the more popular colors. Some are not painted at all; they are just concrete brick. I have noticed that the cars here are nicer than what I expected. Almost every car is an American dealer. I saw a lot of hondas and toyotas. This evening we went to the supermarket and I was completely taken by surprise. I expected all the foods to be Panamanian brands, but majority of the foods are the same as what we sell in America. I was happy to see this, because it felt a little bit more like home for me. The villas we are staying in are interesting. Our kitchen has no pots or pans and no stove, so trying cook dinner was an experience. Our beds are very hard and the pillows are a bit lumpy. The hot water tends to kick on and off every few minutes. We like we are kind of camping. I have come to realize that Americans are a lot more spoiled than we tend to rhink. I think this trip is going to be filled with many more suprises, but it will be really good for us to have the opportunity to experience them.

Autumn