Day 1

We finally arrived in PANAMA. Yeah!! The flight was a little over 2 hours and it wasn't too bad. At the airport we were welcomed with USF Health signs and a white bus, not too shabby, at least it had an air conditioner. The luggage guys took most of the luggage to the bus and looked around after they were given a 5 dollar tip, so a few of us gave them another 5 dollars and we left. The bus driver took us to Rey's Supermarket to buy a few food items to eat for breakfast and lunch the next day. By this time most of us were starving and hoping to eat as soon as possible. We then arrived to the Villas at Clayton Army Base in the City of Knowledge (Ciudad de Saber). We were given 3 duplexes that each contained: 1 couch, 2 chairs, 1 coffee table, a TV (but only 5 channels that work and only 1 channel is partially English music videos), 2 desks, 1 dinning table with 5 chairs, one group has a stove, another has a full sized refrigerator, some have pots, pans, plates, and cups, some have internet access and phones, some have hot water and others are not so lucky, 2 twin beds in each room, but on a good note we all have central air conditioner, some have holes in their front door, 1 room doesn't have a working toilet and they have to take the toilet top off and pull the chain every time they go to the bathroom, some don't have light in the bathroom, BUT at least they had toilet paper for us. We then got settled in and went and ate at local restaurants on the base. Some of us had subs and others pizza or salads. We got a whole 16" pizza for 8 dollars and a can of coke for 70 cents which is a great deal for a college student studying abroad in Panama. We came back to our villas and sleep till the next morning.
*Sandy