Students who participated in the Spanish trip this year returned Saturday, March 29. The first week the students traveled together seeing different historical sites and tourist attractions such as the Panama Canal.

The second week of their visit was the homestay portion. During this time the students stayed with their own specific host family. For example Senior Nick Joslyn stayed with the Bravo-Bellos in the town of Nuevo Emperador.

“They spoke almost no English, only ‘God Bless You,’ ’Yes,’ and other simple expressions.  However, they were very patient with me and accepted me into their family as a fourth son.” Joslyn said.

During the trip the group visited various historical and tourist attractions. These include places such as Isla Grande and Casco Antiguo. Isla Grande is a small island of the coast of Panama and is known as a beautiful place full of beaches and nice people. Casco Antiguo is the historical district of Panama City. The students also visited the other part of Panama city. Here they got to visit tourist themed market places and even were able to see the house of the Panamanian President.

The trip was not only fun because of the amount of new culture the group got to experience but also the funny things that the group got to experience with one another. There is an entire section dedicated on the Team Panama blog to “Sleeping Selfies.” This section features Michael Burton taking pictures of anyone on the trip who fell asleep, whether it be on the plane or on a bus while traveling to a new location.

The group kept up a blog during their time in Panama. It contains pictures and stories from the entire trip. The blog is still being updated with more info and can be found at http://teampanama2014.blogspot.com/.