First 48 hours - a whirlwind!

 We have arrived!  We have been on a whirlwind of activity since landing with little time at our host families home.  Panama City is a busy place with a metro line being constructed so you have to watch out when you choose to drive.  Lots of traffic and crazy drivers!  You have to watch out for the Red Devils, the old buses with paintings on them, because they are overloaded with people and rule the streets!  We are staying in a newly developed area on the Bay with a direct view of the city just minutes away.  Many people here live in apartments.  Our host family and the eight siblings of Mr. Heilbron own this 14 story building and each family occupies a floor.  How cool that all of the cousins are in one place!  Will has become friends with the Heilbron's nephew and there has been some sweaty basketball going on!   Highlights so far have been a visit to the Panama Canal.  Amazing!  Better yet, two gigantic cruise liners were going through at the time so we were able to see how they managed the passage in the locks with lowering and raising the water levels and having special boats pull them through.  These cruise liners and other ships save 5 million dollars by passing through the canal which takes 8-10 hours vs. 2 weeks if they were to go all the way down and around South America.  As we flew in we could see all of the cargo ships lines up waiting for passage.  

 Our school visits took up most of yesterday.  Will presented four times in three different schools and I must say he has become quite the speaker!  He and Danielle, daughter of Xania (Exec Director of OpSmile Panama) were the perfect team.  In the Balboa School they were able to coordinate an Operation Smile Final Mile last year with 300 elementary runners.  Our mission was to convince the other schools to join in this effort next year.  We have incredible high school clubs in all of the schools we spoke in so I believe this will happen.  September or October is the target date!

Will loved the schools.  WIth everything opening to the outdoors and huge sports areas with coverings, you get tons of fresh air.  We also liked how they let the kids wander a bit at lunch, choosing different spots to eat, even walking around with friends eating - we think out lunch times are too structured!  It gives the kids a chance to relax and stretch their legs!

We spent the end of our day at the Governor's Mansion with a wonderful reception.  The Governor was SO personable and supportive of Operation Smile.  She brought in traditional dancers and music -even gave Will his own traditional Panamanian hat!  Everyone loves Operation Smile in Panama.   There was a patient and his mother at the reception who gave testimonials and they were smiling from ear to ear.  We cannot wait to be with the patients of Operation Smile.

We leave in an hour on an Airforce Jet that is transporting all of the Operation Smile volunteers from Panama City to David.  We should arrive around 2p and will be brought to the screening area of the hospital.  We have many students from Panama City traveling with us, so Will is in awesome company.  Lots of great kids who have a passion for Operation Smile.  You know Will - he has not missed a beat!