Hola familias!

Our names are Jazlyn and Freddy, and today we lead our fellow Glimpsers through an exciting trip to the community Paris. While there, the Glimpsers were split between seven families where they were able to converse with the families to see what their life is like in the countryside of Panama. Even though many of us struggled with the language barriers, we still found effective ways to communicate, like hand gestures with broken Spanish. Also, most groups had some students who spoke Spanish, so they were able to translate for them. The Glimpsers also participated in various activities depending on which family they were with. Some Glimpsers made traditional desserts, made hairclips, watched novelas (soap operas), and took a tour around the community. The community of Paris was very welcoming and patient with us as many of us could barely speak Spanish. However, many Glimpsers took risks by attempting to put their Spanish skills to test. Many expressed that they were surprised by how nonjudgmental the people of Paris were when they were struggling to communicate.

One thing that stood out to us was how close the community was. As we were walking with our families to their homes, they greeted every person that they walked past. Even while we were at the house, many neighbors came over to greet us. One thing that also stuck out to many of us was that many people left their doors wide open. One of the families expressed that the community was very safe due to the lack of crime; they were very proud that they can heavily rely on their neighbors to have their back. This is something we noticed to be very different from our communities back home as many of us, later on, reflected that we barely know our neighbors. That is something we want to change going forward. We want to build stronger communities and radiant positive energy when we get back home.

After we got to spend some time with our families, we got to play soccer with some of the kids in the community. Soccer is a very popular sport here that many glimpsers enjoy as well, so it was a great way to connect with the community.

After soccer, we ate lunch with all the families and then headed back to the hotel. While at the hotel, we got some transition time to shower and then took some time to reflect on our experience with living like a local. After that, we took time to finalize our CAP project, as we will be presenting our ideas to the director of the Escuela Paris tomorrow.