The Modern Wonder

Naturally, no trip to Panama would be complete without a visit to the Panama Canal. It was fascinating to learn about the American involvement with the building and maintaining of the canal. The French, fresh from building the Suez Canal in Egypt, started building a waterway to connect the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic However, they lost some 22,000 technical workers to malaria and yellow fever and spent over $270,000,000 before deciding to hand over the project to the United States.  Even with the great U.S. competence and execution, some 5,000 American lives were lost before the project was complete.  This feat of engineering has been called one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

Since its inception in 1914, some 900,000 ships have passed through the Canal. Now days, 35-40 ships pass through the canal daily providing Panama with rich royalties that make up a significant portion of the country’s GDP. Some ten thousand people work at the canal keeping it running each day. From practical pilots - highest paid Panamanians, who jump onto an incoming ships before passing through the canal - to direct it through to the mechanics trying to maintain the ever working canal, people are busy at work 24/7. 

Old Panama City was subject of Dutch and British pirate attacks.  Panama Vieja was the first Spanish outpost on the Pacific coast but was burned down immediately before one of those attacks by the famous pirate Morgan.  The most precious item that remains is San Jose, a gold alter, which was painted and covered with mud to be saved.  It now rests in Casco Vieja, a newer old town that was built to replace the burned one.  Casco Vieja is going through restoration, no doubt it will be beautiful when it's done - with its Simon Bolivar and Independence squares.

Panama City has the most beautiful skyline with tall, modern buildings - a low tax place, apparently, great for retirement.  We loved the food, specially at Maito and were excited to head home, back to sweet home, USA.

Leader In Sustainability

Costa Rica was probably was my favorite stop of the whole spring break. We basically stayed by the pool and beach the whole time besides one afternoon when we went zip lining. It was such a fun and rewarding experience. I faced my fears and climbed up 10 foot vertical ladders and flew across hundreds of feet of jungle. Enjoying virgin Pina Coladas, stellar sunsets by the beach and long conversations with family and friends made for a relaxing time, much needed after a tight Mock Trial schedule which landed our school third in California. 

Yes, I was gaga over the warm sand and mellow kayaking but the amazing development of the country, and specially its progress on the environmental and political level did not go unnoticed. Costa Rica has had no army since 1949 and ranks 62 on The World Development Index. In addition they are the 5^th most sustainable country in the world and 1^st in the Americas, topping the US and Canada. Also, in 2007, Costa Rica decided to become carbon free by 2021 and recently banned recreational hunting. They are the greenest country in the world and determined to preserve their great biodiversity.

Inching towards Freedom

Guatemala, the largest Central American country, is home to Tikal National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The “Place of Whispers” has ancient ruins from the Mayan times, dated from 600 BC to 1000 AD. 

While Guatemala was a short 4-5 hour stop on our way to Costa Rica from Belize, we still got a chance to learn a lot about the country’s history and current issues.   Our local, highly educated and opinionated tour guide gave us a flavor of the country's politics. When asked about woman’s rights, his answer was bluntly, “what rights?” When we asked him about gay rights, he simply grunted implying, “are you out of your mind?” He continued by saying that people ostracize gays and they don't dare come out.  We asked if the elections were fair in Guatemala and he responded by saying, “no, of course” as if it was a given. He believes that his country is corrupt and if he had a chance to lead the country, the first thing he would do is shoot the politicians. “Politicians know how to create a problem out of a solution, they get paid to do it," he went on.  He said that the elders in the small towns know what the most pressing problems are and how they can be solved. He believes the people have the answers; it is just that no one asks them. He continued, “the kids here pick up a machete before they pick up a pencil,” backing up the statistic that 30% of men and 50% of women are illiterate. According to him the illiteracy is not an issue of too few schools or poor teachers, but a political tactic to keep the population ignorant and easier to rule. People just don’t have the means or the motivation to go to school and the government is not making it easier or encouraging it. 

Guatemala has serious gang and crime issues related to the insatiable demand for drugs from the United States.  Our guide said we should legalize drugs because we are losing the "war on drugs."  He said he thought he'd be the last person to support remnants of the old regime that in the Guatemalan Civil War destroyed 450 Mayan villages, killed 200,000 people and displaced another million, however, he said we now need a strong hand to handle the drug criminals.  There is some optimism in Guatemala now because at least now people can talk about politics and in the old days they could not.

It was interesting to learn about the special relationship between Israel and Guatemala. Given Guatemala's claim to Belize which was a British colony, Guatemala supported Israel's creation as an affront to British rule in Palestine.  Guatemala tried to get votes for Israel's creation and its vote ensured the final approval of the state. Israel in turn has provided arms to Guatemala in addition to educational and healthcare support.  The numerous Star of David signs show the Guatemalan appreciation.

Elizabeth, Queen of Belize?!

I was really surprised to learn that Belize had been a British colony until 1964 and English is still the official language there.   Mexico had tried to take Belize for Spain but it was defeated by Britain. The Spanish continued to try for Belize but were never successful. In addition, Guatemala claimed Belize as a territory and this has been a point of contention in the past although more recently the two neighbors are trying to cooperate more.

Belize is home to the second largest barrier reef. We took a boat ride to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley where we got a chance to see many different sea creatures and the corals. Although the underwater life was not very colorful, the ocean was picture perfect and there were little houses everywhere painted in yummy pastel colors.

Belize is trying hard to make tourism a main industry but it has a long way to go to become a “Costa Rica”. Unpaved roads can be bumpy and, in fact in the little town of San Predro, in addition to a few taxis, everyone uses golf carts to get around.  They kept things simple there:  Front Road, Back Road and Middle Road.  Don't miss Hidden Treasure restaurant and Victoria House, both of which serve delicious local fish.

Tati and Me

Colored buildings and shanty roof tops decorate the streets of Managua and Granada. And while the streets are covered in trash, and poverty seems to drip from leaking pipes, one can still see some lingering happiness and joy on the faces of the towns’ people.

I went the Nicaragua this past February with 15 other students from my school. We were participating in a program called Knight School where students have the opportunity to take a week off from the normal class schedule and pursue a particular interest either locally or globally. We visited the country for a total of ten days through Me to We, a corporation that is affiliated with the non-profit organization Free the Children. Two years ago, I had the privilege of working with Free the Children in leading a group of girls to raise over $5,000 for a clean water project in Equator. These two organizations offer students from Canada and the United states educational and service learning trips to rural and developing parts of the world.

The goal of the trip was to start building a preschool for children in a community near Granada. Currently students age three to fifteen study in the same classroom with one teacher. At the end of this project they will get a separate learning space with multiple teachers. In addition to working on the build site, we got a chance to play games and get to know the children that attended the school. While, unfortunately, I don’t speak Spanish, I was still able to make a connection with one particular child. Her name was Tati and her hair was always so sweetly styled in pig tails and braids as well as adorned with an array of colorful hairbands. She was, in my opinion, one of the most adorable kids in the school group. One day we played Duck Duck Goose and Quack Dily Oso all morning. I tried to wave goodbye to her from afar but she wasn’t looking at me. All of a sudden though, she turned around and waved back. I was so overjoyed by this little gesture of communication. My goal coming into this trip had been to make a connection with someone or meet a memorable person, and that is exactly what I was lucky enough to experience. While our short stay allowed our group only a chance to dig dirt for the foundation, we still had a great sense of satisfaction that we had contributed to a worthy and sustainable cause.

Looking back, this was a rewarding trip in more ways than one. Not only were we able to help people we didn’t know but also we got a chance to strength the bonds with people from our own community. Even if I don’t make it back to Nicaragua, I plan on following the progress of this community and especially Tati.