January 2017
My school has a three week Interim term in January where you take a break from your normal classes and explore a subject that interests you, travel or in the case of seniors, do an internship. We have family in Panama and for my senior year internship I had the opportunity to work in their engineering and construction company and practice speaking Spanish. My sister went with me and completed an Independent Study on biodiversity in Panama. Although I’ve vacationed in Panama many times, this experience was unique and I learned more about the isthmus of Panama than in all my other visits. On my 1st day of work, I climbed to the top of the Bridge of the Americas which is a bridge that joins the Northern and Southern continents of America over the Canal that joins the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. I spent a weekend in the canal exploring the island of Baro Colorado formed when waters were dammed during the construction of the canal. The Smithsonian Institute operates a tropical research center to study biodiversity in the tropical rain forest. We saw lots of species of birds, monkeys, a sloth, etc. Panama just completed an expansion of the canal so that supertankers (called Panamacs) can cruise through. The locks are immense with huge concrete walls and giant steel gates over 60 feet tall (the company I interned for does maintenance on these). Around 12,000 ships travel through the canal each year saving them a trip around South America which ultimately leads to sustainable ocean development. One weekend, we were able to fly to the island of Contadora on the Pacific and part of the Pearlas Archipelago. A first for me was visiting Colon on the Atlantic side. My Spanish improved while I was there and I hope to be able to live abroad in a Spanish speaking country one of these days….seaing more of the world!
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