Hola Familia y Amigos!

GGL Cyndi Oji here, posting the blog as today’s Lider del Dia. Today’s theme was Culture and we had a fun-filled day of activities. We started with a delicious breakfast of chicken sausage (mushrooms for our vegetarians), peppers, onions, and ojaldre. We then hopped on our bus and travelled to La Arena were we learned from a local artisan about his family’s pottery business. The Glimpsers were incredibly inquisitive asked thoughtful questions of our host, Lucrecio. All Glimpsers were able to decorate their own tinajas (small clay bowl) that the artisans made especially for our delegation. Some Glimpsers even volunteered to get their hands dirty and try out the foot-powered throwing wheel!

After our trip to La Arena, we returned to Hotel Bali for a filling lunch that included options of fried chicken, lentils, salad, and rice. We then hurried off to our next adventure—dance class! At La Capsula, we met our dynamic instructor, Eduardo, who taught us three traditional Panamanian dances. Everyone fully committed (especially our lone male Glimpser, Jeremiah!) and had a great time. Our delegation has some skilled dancers, and even those of us who aren’t used to choreography were able to get in step with the Panamanian rhythms. 

After we returned to La Capsula, we had a Culture and Safety Orientation led by our PCs, Larry and Cristina. We talked about ways to safely navigate our community and any cultural experiences we may encounter over the next 13 days in Chitre. Unfortunately, our City Tour had to be postponed due to a short burst of rain, but the Glimpsers showed their flexibility and had a great time bonding and getting to know each other better during our unexpected downtime.

After our dinner of sandwiches and salads, we had a self-reflection section that focused on deepening the friendships of the Glimpsers so we they can be prepared to tackle our future, more emotionally charged days as a unified, bonded group.

Finally, we had our nightly meeting where I passed the LDD torch to our first Glimpser Leader del Dia, Helena. She “earned” the LDD mola by sharing her journalism skills. She’s very excited about tomorrow’s theme of Environmental Day, so be sure to check back in for her Blog Post tomorrow night.

Big Love,

Cyndi