This March break, 12 students and two faculty members are traveling to Panama to engage with the complexity of research, communities, and conservation in the unique ecosystems of Panama. Please enjoy the blog post below from Ben ’25 and Gabby ’28 where they share about how the group spent the first full day in the San Blas Islands (Guna Yala) visiting Rio Sidra, where they interacted with local kids, played basketball with the island’s residents, and explored the island’s unique culture and education system:
This was our first full day in the San Blas Islands (Guna Yala), and after waking up we went to one of the most populated of the islands, Rio Sidra, which was a very compelling and interesting experience. My favorite part of the island that we went to today was being able to socialize with the kids who live on the island, who are our age, and it was very fun to practice my limited Spanish while talking to them. It was also awesome to visit the island’s elementary school, and I found it very interesting that although there are two distinct communities on the island, they share one school. The culminating event of our visit to the island was a five-on-five basketball game between some of our trip members and some of the island’s residents. We played four games against them and won the first two, but after those we were tired out and they beat us in the last two games. I felt that in playing basketball with some of the people on the island, we became a lot closer with them and it was a super unique experience I don’t think I will ever forget. Although there are a lot of differences between the lives that we live and the lives of those living on Rio Sidra, it was very unifying to have the sport of basketball in common. It brought us all together and made me a lot more comfortable on the island.
After the basketball game we explored a little bit more of the island and the community. We saw beautiful animals, such as cats, dogs, birds, and even a special appearance from an adorable little monkey. As we walked farther, we were greeting and being greeted eagerly by the curious, young kids. Something we learned that I found very interesting was that the kids grow up learning and speaking three different languages in school being English, Spanish and their native language, Dulegaya. They know Dulegaya from being taught in their home, and they take Spanish and English classes at school. In comparison to US schools where we tend to already know English and possibly learn a little bit of Spanish, I think this difference in learning and education systems is so intriguing to think about. After we left the island, we went to a separate island, which we learned was owned and shared by all 47 communities that live in this archipelago, and they all reserved the island especially for snorkeling. We all got geared up and made our way to the salty, refreshing water. We saw so many unique and beautiful species like fish and coral. A fish that stood out to me is this slightly transparent white fish, with a yellow dot on it. While I sat still on the shore, they willingly came toward me and started pecking at my feet! It was harmless but scary at first, but it was such a relaxing and new experience for me to have a fish so close and actually touching me. They were super-fast and agile and would just swim in circles around me. The water itself was very clear and free from trash and plastic, which was a surprising contrast from the island, which was littered with plastic bottles and jugs. In conclusion, my biggest takeaway from this experience was learning about the drastic differences in culture, education and environment here in Panama in comparison to the US, where we live and study.
