January 14th Last Day of Fun

Hola from Panama City,

We had another beautiful fun-filled day in the sun here in Panama. We toured the canal and were able to experience firsthand the incredible process of moving within the locks. It was incredible to see how such a small country like Panama is able to impact the world economy in such a huge way. While in the canal we past massive ships from all over the world and were able to wave to them from our tiny little tour boat; thankfully waves don't come in different languages, because we all have a tough enough time getting our Spanish across let alone Mandarin or Chinese (although Sam has been holding his own in that department). We soaked up the rays all day long and some have the red backed battle wounds to prove it, but I think it is safe to say that no one on this trip yearns for the snow just yet.
We have had our fair share of interesting characters on this trip whether it be the non-English-speaking cab drivers who drive like maniacs and dance with us to American music or the old man who made a fortune from the Bryant University female population shaking homemade maracas and singing in Spanish, our tour guide for the trip might take home the prize for being the most interesting character yet. Sounding like an exact replica of the late Paul Harvey with the vocals of Sinatra (more or less) this man kept the entire boat entertained for the full four hour excursion.
To wrap up the day's travels and unfortunately the entire trip we had a fantastic dinner provided to us by API our travel company, and had to say our sad goodbyes and thank yous to our favorite tour guide Esteban. There were fist-fights over the chocolate mousse but overall the dinner as well as the trip can definitely be considered a success.
We are all very sad to see this trip end and all wish we had at least a few more days in the warm weather (although a cute little hut in Manuel Antonio would be nice too) we are all glad of the new memories and friends that we have made along the way. To wrap up this lovely little blog session Sam Davidowitz has a poem he wants to share with everyone.

The Panama Canal is where we spent the day
Everyone got plenty of time to soak up the sun ray
It all started on the tour boat's docks
And proceeded to see the massive canal locks
No one knew what we would see on the boat
It sure is amazing to see such massive vessels float
Several hours later it was time to return
Not only was it a fun experience but much we all did learn
Four hours later it was time for the API dinner
We can all agree that Esteban is certainly a winner
I am starting to get sad thinking about this trip ending
I will miss my new friends and the time we have been sending
Tomorrow our group is leaving well before sunrise
Setting multiple alarms will be very wise
I can't wait to tell everybody about the fun I've had
Flying into wintry weather make us all very sad


(Joseph Buda, Sam Daviowitz, & Jennifer Gullotti)