Day 7

Posted by Erin

Today we first went to the US Embassy here in Panama. My first thoughts about the Embassy were about how large and impressive looking it was. We had seen the French Embassy earlier this week and the US Embassy was about twice the size of the French Embassy. When we entered the Embassy security was really tight we had to turn in our passports and then be escorted to the room where we were meeting the Ambassador and a panel of other people who worked in the Embassy. The meeting was very informative. It was really interesting to learn about what the Embassy does in Panama and how life is for people who work at the Embassy. I never really thought about how the people who work at the Embassies move around so much. It was also really great that we were able to meet the Ambassador and that she took the time to talk to us.

After the Embassy we went to eat lunch at Pencas. It was a great restaurant with a terrific view of the water. The food was also delicious.

We then went to the Hospital Punta Pacifica. I had been looking forward to this visit. The hospital was not what I was expecting though. The technology in the hospital had been what I thought it would be, but the hospital it self was different. The hospital was huge and only had about 64 beds, and they were about 70% full most of the time. The hospital also seemed to be more focused on the aspect of health tourism than on helping the people who already live in Panama. I just think that a hospital with so many resources should be accessible to more people. It seems wasteful that not very many people use the hospital. It was different from what I expected.