I’ve been in Panama for about 24 hours and we’ve already done so much! After we landed Sunday night and made it into the country with no hiccups, we made our way to the Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge for the English speakers). But first we stopped at a local store called Rey to pick up some necessities (food, because I love to eat). I was pretty surprised when I walked in tbh. I wasn’t sure what I was really expecting a Panamanian grocery store to be like but it reminded me of a local store we have at home called Harp’s. It was relatively small and had everything you would need. The prices though were little different. Shampoo and conditioner were much more expensive but produce and most alcohol (sorry mom) were a lot cheaper. I found that pretty interesting. After a long day of travelling we finally made it to our home away from home.
The next morning we started out with a lecture telling us about the City of Knowledge, like the history of it, what there is to do, where things are, etc. After that, we made a visit to the Innovation Center they have here on campus. It is a program that they started in 1995 that serves as a platform to help entrepreneurs start up their businesses. They accept people into the program that have seen an opportunity within some sector of the market, identified the need, and come up with a viable solution to the problem. Being accepted into the program seems like a great privilege to me because it gives you the opportunity to be surrounded by other entrepreneurs with the same passion and drive as you. We learned that one of the main reasons people fail when they start a new business is because they don’t have that kind of environment with like-minded people. A few other reasons why they fail are because they don’t know what the “problem” really is, they are unable to self-reflect (you need to be realistic), and because you are unable to share your ideas with others. I’ve never heard of a program like this in the US. If there’s already one, I wonder if it functions in the same way or if there isn’t, I wonder if it would be success or failure.
After that we ate lunch at a small restaurant that serves Panamanian food. It was really cheap and I got a ton of good food, so it earned an A+.
To conclude our day, we took a driving tour of the city with a local woman named Gloria as our guide. She told us all about the history, buildings and landmarks we passed. It was a lot to take in in such a short amount of time. The biggest thing I took from the tour was the gap between the upper class and lower class’ living conditions. The difference was so drastic. Where I’m from, the lower class doesn’t live in such rough conditions so it was a little shocking to see. Overall though, it was a great way to start off an exciting trip by learning so much history about the country I’ll be calling home for the next three weeks. I’m excited for what’s to come next!
Christen
Christen in Panama 
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