Friday was the last day of school and I had woken up unprepared for the day's lesson. While having coffee in the morning, I was trying to figure out what to teach. I thought that shapes would be a good idea, so that the kids could play on paint and make the shapes that I would teach. I had a hard time coming up with things beyond square, circle, and triangle. Then, as I was making flash cards, I thought that I could teach the kids the English words for the pictures that they had been drawing the last few days. So, I created flash cards for about 20 different different pictures. Once I got to school, I realized that what was completed was almost completely for waste, since most of the kids weren't in school that day. Yet again, I improvised a bit and just let the kids play on the computer.
When I had shown up to school, the older man that had been at the school a couple of days before for a dance lesson was back. Shortly after I arrived it was time for dance lessons again and I watched as much as I could. Then, the man pulled me into the middle of the kids to give me a lesson on the dances and had me perform them with one of the older boys at the school. This was so fun and I had such a huge smile on my face when I was doing this! I'm not even one to really dance, but I really enjoyed it, although I really had no clue what I was doing. By the time I left, I had learned 3 dances and danced with the kids. This was one of the most memorable moments of the whole trip and am still thinking about what a fun day that was.
It was sad leaving school that day, especially since most of the kids that I had worked with all week weren't there for my final day. Jacob, the 14 year old that I had worked with, had not been at school since Wednesday, so I could not give him a book that I thought that he could read and learn from. Neither was Lucas (the little boy that I had played with top with and had the extra minutes of going over ears, eyes, mouth, and feet with). The two that I felt I had bonded with the most had been gone for two days and I would not see them again. There were still plenty of kids that I could say bye to, but almost felt that I just wasn't leaving at the right time. As I walked away from the little, green school in Volcancito, I had to hold back tears, knowing that after a week of not being able to communicate with these kids because of language barriers, I still was able to communicate with them and in some ways bond with them. This was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I will never forget it!
I made my way back to Boquete with only enough time to buy a painting that had caught my eye all week, then grab a quick lunch before catching a bus to David, so I could fly back to Panama City.
I arrived in Panama City and went back to the same hotel that I had stayed in during my first night in Panama. It's amazing how much perspectives can change in just a few days. What I had originally thought was a rather blah, gross hotel room was now clean and comfortable and I was excited to be there.
My flights back to Seattle were long and stressful. My flight from Panama City to Miami was delayed, causing me to have a short amount of time to get to my flight to Chicago. Then, after problems with security and having to rush to get some stuff checked, my flight from Miami was delayed for a lightning storm...for about an hour. I only had a 55 minutes layover in Chicago, so during the whole flight I did not know if I would make it to Seattle that night or have to stay in Chicago's airport for 10 hours. Luckily, upon arrival in Chicago, I found out that the plane to Seattle was held and I would be making it back home that night.
Today was very surreal. I woke up early (but late for the time zone that my body was accustomed to) and just thought it seemed weird to be home. I can't really describe the feeling, but it was just not the same as before. I was, though, beyond excited to get my laundry done. I have found quite a few things ironic, since coming home:
~I had not seen any spiders in Pamana, but saw a large, brown spider in my house first things when I got home.
~I had barely seen any mosquitos in Panama, but had a few in the house last night.
~I had been in a sunny, tropical environmental for 10 days without getting a sunburn, but got one my first day back in Washington.
Now that I've been back I can only look back at this trip as the most amazing experience of my life. Absolutely everything that I saw, did, and experienced was better than I could've expected or asked for and I can't wait for the opportunity to do it again.
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