Monday en Español!

It takes a good breakfast to fuel up for the day and ours was great.          

Then we hurried over to the first Regional Center of this visit.  I should explain.  The whole reason we are on this journey is because the Deans and their team must conduct an audit of 3 of the Regional Centers (Chiriqui in David, Veraguas in Santiago, and Azuero in Los Santos) for accreditation.  I am along to teach about UX in each location.

In Spanish (en Español)  <gulp!>

So this morning, off we went to the Regional Center in David.

First we met with the head of the center and decamped in his office for the next 2 days.  The team used the space to conduct interviews and meetings.  He had all kinds of interesting things in his space.  On the walls were photos, paintings and a colorful swag of souvenirs.  On his desk was a display case with many different types of currencies - many of them quite old.  It was a lively and colorful office and I immediately liked him!  It was just the kind of office I used to have and, although some would say it was cluttered, to me, it represented a life well lived and enjoyed greatly.  I imagine that each of these things has a story.  Just like life I suppose.

Meanwhile, across the hall, I was teaching. En Español!  OK, so it was broken at many times and there were many errors, and there was help when necessary (I even asked the students/professors to correct me and to feed me words - which they did with gusto), but I DID IT!  Yes, the afternoon session with the students went more smoothly than the morning one with the professors, but I actually managed to communicate, tell stories and even a joke or who - all in Spanish - in both classes!

And, as it turns out, it was also the third "El Dia de Las Trenzas" - Braid day!  El Dia de Las Trenzas is celebrated the third Monday of the year as part of Black Culture month  Some years ago, braids were banned in schools, because they were deemed inappropriate for school by the Minister of Education.  There was widespread discontent, especially in the Afro-Panamanian community was much anger about the ruling.  They launched a campaign to disobey the ruling by sending their children to school with braids.  Eventually, the Minister of Education had to acquiesce.   

Needless to day, after such a day as this, I was exhausted.  I almost skipped dinner but was glad I didn't.  Our whole table ordered the wonderful Panamanian soup,  Sancoche.  Rich chicken broth with pieces of chicken and vegetables with rice on the side.  The perfect "comfort food" to cap such an exciting and exhausting day!  So we were off to bed immediately thereafter.  And I was so tired that I was asleep almost before I made it to bed.