Panamazing

Name: Gwendolyn Broderick
Class Year: 2020
Hometown: Oregonia, Ohio
Research Assistant
Gamboa, Panama

Hello again! Welcome to my second blog post! I wanted to give everyone an update about how great things are here in Panama! We are down to a little over a week left, and I cannot believe how fast time has gone by! There is so many fun and amazing things to do in Panama, and I cannot wait to come back here one day so I can visit everything. But for now, the work must gone on. Keep reading to find out some pretty cool stuff I have been doing and what amazing things I have experienced

Panamanian food is much different than your typical Ohio foods. Luckily I am not a picky eater, so I am willing to try anything and everything. Even if that means eating fish, a whole fish, head still attached and everything. They just throw that sucker right on the grill and serve it up. Surprisingly it was amazing, just had to get past the part where it is starring at you.






Along with exotic foods, there is some amazing wildlife in Gamboa. From waking up to parrot calls all the way to falling asleep to the cicadas lullaby. It is never quiet in Panama. Everyday you never know what you will see. One day I saw multiple toucans, three coati,  and two capybara!

Now some in-site on my experiments. THINGS ARE HAPPENING. One half of my experiment is officially complete! Now to the fun part. Image cutting into a large apple. Now shrink it down to about an inch. Now give it super fragile skin and organs that tear extremely easily. Now you are dissecting a tadpole. After doing a few dissections, I am gaining confidence and my goal is to not break the intestines (practically impossible). You never truly appreciate the time you learn to dissect things during labs at school until you have to do it for your own experiements. I think performing the tadpole dissections is the most fun part about my experiment because of the results that follow. I cannot wait till I have everything analyzed and I am able to see if my hypothesis was correct! My second half is taking a little longer than expected to wrap up, but that just means more time to enjoy my stay as we wait "patiently".





As time is running short, we are making the most of our time here. From Emma and I's movie nights, ice cream hang outs, and sunrise canopy tower attempts. I have really enjoyed my weeks here in Gamboa and I will be very sad to leave this peaceful place next weeks. Though I will not miss the mosquitoes and the humidity, I will miss the people I have gotten to know and the tropical wonderland that is Panama. I hope you guys enjoyed my blog! Here is some pretty great pictures with one of my best friends who I am so glad I got to go on this crazy adventure with, and who's awesome parents took me to see the Mira Flores Locks.