My life in retrospect

A few months ago a dear friend asked if I could cover her fall 2024 classes while she was on maternity leave. Absolutely ecstatic at the news that she was expecting, I of course said yes. The University was okay with me teaching online and I figured it would be a good resume builder to add adjunct faculty as another experience. She was very upfront with the low wages that adjuncts make but I assured her the experience made it worthwhile. I’ve always imagined I’d end up in academia eventually so this would be a good way to dip my toes in the water without a firm commitment and having to move.

Well fast forward another month and she texts asking if I’d be interested in some work this Spring. I was intrigued so I asked for more details. Turns out the offer was to accompany another professor and students on a study abroad tour to Panama for 9 days. It was an immediate yes. Who turns down the experience to travel to another country to learn about Agriculture?! And boy was I not disappointed.

I was lucky enough to travel abroad while I was a student, so I knew how impactful this experience can be and I was excited to see it from the other side as the faculty advisor. My trip in college was to Prague, somewhere I would have never really thought about visiting, but that trip opened my eyes to the beauty of the world.

The trip was already planned by the time I signed on so I was just going with the flow at this point. The other professor had actually been on this trip 8 years earlier so he had a much better grasp of everywhere we were to visit. The itinerary looked put together really well but I would expect that when booking with a professional travel agency. The plan was to start our trip flying into Panama City and travel West across the county to end in Boquete. We’d then fly back to Panama City for our return trip to the US.

The proposed itinerary was as follows (however, as you’ll see in the upcoming posts we had a few changes and surprises along the way!)

Day 1: arrive in Panama City early afternoon and immediately head to Casco Antiguo (historic district/old town ) for a walking tour, followed by dinner and then head to the hotel.

Day 2: tour the Panama Canal, followed by a boat tour on Gatun lake to discuss the goods being transported through the Canal with opportunities to observe wildlife such as sloths, monkeys, lizards, birds, and more. That evening enjoy a dinner of traditional Panamanian food, dancing, and music.

Day 3: depart Panama city and visit a 500+ acre pineapple plantation, and visit a small scale organic poultry farm.

Day 4: travel to the Instituto Nacional de Agricultura (INA) to meet with extension agents and students and learn about the agricultural practices being taught. The day will end at a small beachside resort in Las Lajas.

Day 5: travel to the Guaymi village and meet with the local indigenous people to learn about their culture. The afternoon will consist of visiting a dairy and beef farm.

Day 6: leave to visit with local school children and participate in a service learning project before leaving for Boquete (rated one of the top 5 retirement destinations in the World) and tour a coffee plantation and processing facility.

Day 7: Free day in Boquete! Various excursions are available to explore on our own.

Day 8: travel from Boquete to Cerro Punta to visit a renowned horse farm (yay!!) followed by a cocoa workshop to make our own chocolate bars before heading to David to fly back to Panama City.

Day 9: up bright and early to fly back to the US.

Stay tuned for following posts to see how the trip really went down!