GUADALUPE, ABRAZOS

Honestly, saying goodbye is the hardest part of new relationships. Even though we have been here for just over a week we have gotten to know everyone around us so well. We woke up early to say goodbye to our host family's cousin before he went off to university. We have talked to him about everything from music artists to the differences between America and Panama in politics. He welcomed us into the family and helped us both in Spanish and English during household conversations. The most difficult part of the day was saying goodbye to Nathan, the 9-year-old son of our host mom that we have spent almost every minute with (usually playing war or uno). He has not only been in our camp always wanting to kick a ball around but also has been with us for our dancing and coffee activities. We told Mr. Serpas that giving a 9-year-old coffee at 5 pm was not good idea and we were right because he had the most energy ever until 11 pm, way past his bedtime. We spent time together looking at the river and picking honeysuckle while walking to our house. This morning we played a game of uno up until the last minute and the bus driver knocked on our door. We gave him many hugs, hugged our host mom, and went on the bus. The drive to the recycling plant was fun while we shared stories from Cerro Puntas and Guadalupe, comparing our experiences and recounting memories. We were set up at the recycling plant bright and early. We started off our day by doing different jobs like sorting glass or plastic into different colors and types so they could be recycled. The woman running the whole operation was constantly helping us when we could not recognize a specific type of plastic (she was actually a master at this). She even made us package up a box of trash a company had sent in incorrectly so we could mail it back to them. After sorting, we switched to picking up trash around the area going into tunnels and holes wherever we could find them. We collected lots of very full bags in the hot sun putting on sunscreen every 20 minutes while also trying to get good tan lines. We were walking and joking about who could collect the most trash almost making it a competition. We brought the bags back and headed to lunch. We ate lunch as a group for the first time in a while and then headed off to David for our final night of the immersion. First was mass, which was extremely hot, but the music was beautiful and had burgers (very Panamanian) for dinner. We've had such a great time here in Panama, but definitely can't wait to get home to our families.