{"id":2891,"date":"2011-11-09T13:23:52","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T18:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=2891"},"modified":"2014-04-07T07:16:16","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T12:16:16","slug":"this-summers-mission-trip-to-panama-was-a-rich-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=2891","title":{"rendered":"This Summer’s Mission Trip to Panama Was a Rich Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sophomore Ellen Smith (third from left) and junior Carly Baker (far right) loved the mission trip and service project experience. \u201cIt\u2019s so much different than just talking about different cultures in history class. Really being there and living it was just awesome,\u201d Baker said. Photo contributed.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Kelsey Schnieders<\/em><\/p>\n

This summer, three PHS students and one of PHS\u2019s own Spanish teachers, Mrs. Delia Gadziola, traveled to Panama for a service project and mission trip. \u00a0Emily Gadziola, freshman; Ellen Smith, sophomore; and Carly Baker, junior; applied for the trip and greatly enjoyed the rich, two-week-long experience.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur main purpose was serving the town of La Concepci\u00f3n, Panama,\u201d Smith said. \u00a0\u201cWe did a service project and stayed with families there,\u201d she added. \u00a0Baker said that she wanted to travel to Panama to experience different cultures from other parts of the world. \u00a0The application process was grueling, but all three girls said it was more than worth it. \u00a0\u201cThey want to get to know you so they can put you in a family that has things in common with you,\u201d \u00a0Emily Gadziola explained, referring to the fact that they stayed with host families during their time in Panama.<\/p>\n

Although serving La Concepci\u00f3n, a town on Panama\u2019s east coast, was the main purpose of the trip, Emily Gadziola says that they visited everywhere. \u00a0\u201cWe went to Panama City to see the Panama Canal. \u00a0We went to an indigenous village, and we lived in Chiriqui for a week with our family where we also did our service project (painting a school gym) and other activities as well,\u201d she said. \u00a0Baker said that they even visited a volcano, a black sand beach and spent a day in Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

In reference to the daily schedule while they were in Panama, Baker said, \u201cWe woke up with the rest of the kids and walked to the school with them and spent the whole school day doing things to make their school better. We made them a basketball court and a garden and fixed other things they needed.\u201d \u00a0They got up at 7:00 each morning for breakfast and to get ready for school. \u00a0At noon, they had lunch and played soccer with the kids, then were free to do their own activities. \u00a0\u201cThen you would eat with your family and afterwards we would dance till it was time to go to bed,\u201d Emily Gadziola said.<\/p>\n

As Panama has a very different culture, their foods are vastly different from that of the United States as well. \u00a0All of the girls said they had chicken and rice with almost every meal. \u00a0Smith said she enjoyed the food, and explained that most of the drinks were made from fruits as well.\u00a0 Emily Gadziola said, \u201cWe also had some different things for breakfast too, such as jello mixed with milk or chicken with french fries, or a ham and cheese sandwich and of course chicken and rice.\u201d \u00a0Baker said the food was good at first, but by the end of the trip she was literally sick from it.<\/p>\n

Being in another country where people speak all Spanish was very difficult. \u00a0\u201cHaving to be in a house that only spoke Spanish was challenging,\u201d Smith emphasized.\u00a0 Emily Gadziola agreed, saying, \u201cIt was hard to overcome the language barrier at first but it got easier. \u00a0I had to point to things all the time to try to communicate.\u201d \u00a0Baker said she never went anywhere without her Spanish\/English dictionary. \u00a0They all agreed though that being so immersed in the language greatly helped improve their Spanish speaking skills.<\/p>\n

Panama is a beautiful country, and so of course all three girls had a favorite part. \u00a0\u201cWe saw some beautiful things, from rivers to beaches to rainforests. \u00a0And not only could we look, we could go on the beach. \u00a0We could swim in the river and hike through the rainforest too,\u201d Smith said, adding that she also enjoyed making new friends, who she still keeps in contact with through Facebook. \u00a0Baker felt the same, adding, \u201cThey have the biggest hearts and everyone is so caring and open.\u201d\u00a0 Emily Gadziola said the same about the people, noting that one night after returning from dinner near the border of Costa Rica, they came across a man who had slipped and wrecked on his motorcycle. \u00a0Instead of just driving by and thinking someone else would help, everyone got out and helped him out. \u00a0\u201cIt was life-changing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometime in my life I would love to return to the people I met there,\u201d Smith said. \u00a0Baker wanted to reconnect as well, saying, \u201cI promised my family from Panama I\u2019d come back.\u201d \u00a0The girls all unanimously agreed that being in another country is something everyone should experience. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s so much different than just talking about different cultures in History class, really being there and living it was just awesome,\u201d Baker said. \u00a0Smith added, \u201cYou become so much wiser, having learned and watched so many differences in life and culture. \u00a0It made me grateful for all I have in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

They all agree that spending two weeks immersed in another country\u2019s culture was a great experience. \u00a0Not only were their service projects of great benefit for the school children in Panama, but they all believe they came out of the experience changed as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kelsey Schnieders This summer, three PHS students and one of PHS\u2019s own Spanish teachers, Mrs. Delia Gadziola, traveled to Panama for a service project and mission trip. \u00a0Emily Gadziola, freshman; Ellen Smith, sophomore; and Carly Baker, junior; applied for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2891"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2894,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2891\/revisions\/2894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}