Preparing for Port!

You can tell by the atmosphere on the ship that we will soon be reaching land (after 11 days on the ocean). Tomorrow we go through the Panama Canal! And then for many of us we are either off on Academic Field Programs, Shore Excursions or Independent Travel. How do we get ready for these wonderful learning experiences?

Well it depends! Most of us have been reading through travel guides, internet sources, promotional materials and briefing sheets. In several classes students do research on the upcoming port. For example, in my human geography class we had a field trip (to the library around the corner) where we identified some basic information about Panama (e.g. population 3,320,000, life expectancy of 72.7 for males & 77.9 for females, 275 people per square kilometre and so on).

Today we had sessions on “The Ethical Tourist”, the local culture of Panama and the current situation in Central America (a presentation by Dr. Eduardo Gutierrez of the UN). Some students had meetings with their learning circle teams in preparation for their AFP’s (they review their five-day itinerary, set some goals and determine how they will maximize their learning in Panama). Tonight we get a safety briefing on Panama and Panama City.

Many students are discussing plans to rent vehicles and travel on their own (independent travel) while others have chosen shore excursions. Davis has signed up to spend five days in the jungle with 14 others. I will probably do a tour of Panama City (half day) and then a full-day trip along the Chagres River to a local village where we will learn about the native culture. In between shore excursions I will be preparing for classes as I am on an AFP in Ecuador.

We will definitely report back on our experiences.

Ken

P.S. An update, its 6:00 am and we are now entering the port. It will take the whole day to get through.