It's hard to believe that we have already been in Panama for a week! I have learned so much in the short time that we have been here. Well, I guess I'll start by saying that we flew into Panama City and stayed at the City of Knowledge for a few days. We took a tour of the Panama Canal and the city while we were there. Panama City is different from US cities because it is still developing and there are very rich areas right next to very poor areas in the city. Many people speak English in the city because it is so close to the Canal zone that the US controlled for a long time while the canal was being built. After a few days we left the city and headed to where we are now which is Chitre :) The clinical experience has been great! I was able to give vaccinations, take height, weight, and head circumference of infants, and today I did a few Pap smears! It was definitely different than I thought it was going to be but in a good way. The nurses in Panama are able to do more than the nurses in the US like doing Pap smears. They focus a lot on teaching and prevention of diseases in Panama. While I was in the Pap smear area of the clinic I noticed that the nurse took the time to go over the self breast examination with each of her patients even if the patient already knew how to do it.
This past weekend we were able to go the beach for a short stay. It was very beautiful and relaxing before our long week of clincals, class, and cultural activities!
Today, the universidad de Panama students invited us to play volleyball and few other games wiht them after we were done with clinicals. It was a great bonding experience for us to be able to interact with them.
While we are here in Panama we are staying at homes in the community to really learn about the culture and be submerged in it. We are staying with a great family, Edy and Raoul, and they have 2 dogs. The experience so far has been great and really eye opening as to how people in other countries live differently than we do in the US. I can't wait to see what's in store next and to share my experiences with my family and friends in the US!!
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