Hola y bienvenidos a día 2! With a good night's rest, we started the day bright and early with an amazing selection of Panamanian pastries and fresh fruit from the hotel breakfast.
Today, we visited the beautiful Casco Viejo! After a quick bus ride from the hotel, we went on an educational walking tour of the old Panama City. We learned about the complex history of Panama while standing on the very ground where the events took place. For those of you in IB History HL, we also stopped by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores Palacio Bolivar, or where the Congress of Panama took place!
From there, we walked to the Panama Canal museum where we saw exhibits that took us through the history of the canal, from the original idea through its construction.
Our next stop was the Geisha Coffee Experience (which, surprisingly, is not related to Japan despite its name!). We learned about why Panamanian coffee is world-renowned, saw how they brew it, and tried three different types of coffee roasts.
After that, we toured the Mola museum, highlighting the vibrant, hand-sewn textile art created by the indigenous Guna communities of Panama.
Afterwards, we had free time to roam around the old city and pick up some souvenirs. Some of us even got to see a Youth World Boxing Association competition in one of the plazas! Many of us also took the chance to take beautiful photos on the coastline.
To finish the day off, we enjoyed some authentic Panamanian cuisine for dinner. We were treated to amazing live dancing performances where a few brave BCA students joined in on the fun!
P.S. As a treat for reading to the end of this blog post, here is an amazing photo of Mr. Lancaster fully immersed in Panamanian culture!
