Random Walk - Panama
A Letter Home
IRENE CHIAO '10
Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: GSB Life
Dear Mom & Dad,
Thanks for sending money for my Panama Random Walk. The $2,000 we paid to Uncle Rick was sure worth it - even though we met some Canadians who spent two weeks at the same resort for 1/3 of what we paid - as they say, you can't put a price on friendships, "which are the best ships ever", according to Domenic, one of our four amazing trip leaders. Overall, it was a very wholesome (sure, I'll run with that) trip. The first few days were spent on various outdoor activities like kayaking, hiking, zip lining, and, in JJ's case, grease pole-ing. Ah…who doesn't love a good grease pole? JJ sure does. We were also fortunate enough to catch the town in celebration as the first Panamanian gold medal winner, Irving Saladino, was returning from the Beijing Olympics. With all the activities, we made sure to keep well hydrated (especially Stephanie, who had probably the most reason to…well, stay well hydrated). Of course, hygiene was also a top priority. Our mild mannered driver, Fernando, drove us to the local hot springs for a mud bath.
We spent the last four days in Decameron, an all-inclusive resort on the beach with multiple pools, bars, and restaurants which seemed to all close as soon as Ernie showed up. Luckily, we were able to occupy our time at the discoteca and casino. I think most of us were salsaed out by the end of the trip, but Emily the dancing energizer bunny kept going and going and going… At the tables, I was hesitant to gamble too much money so I followed Olivia's strategy of buying one $5 chip, the table minimum, at a time. We were pretty pooped at times but Greg, the human alarm and tipper, made sure we were on time for activities…the tipping part, not so much.
The people on the trip have been very nice. In fact, Vanessa told, or rather, screamed that she loved me (and everyone else) at least four times throughout the trip. Sure, there were some pranks by the more immature members of the group (namely the second years), but the rest of us played nice. Besides bonding, it was also a very educational trip - we learned of the resemblance of Josh to "El Presidente" and Anil to…well, to someone who is not quite so nice.
And we also learned that Irene's name was actually Irene and NOT Eileen. We also sharpened our softer leadership skills such as communication and coordination. Marshall "communicated" he was hungry by kicking over a chair and yell-ing "I'm f*$@#ing hungry" after not speaking for ten hours and Jessie showed her coordination by balancing multiple drinks at once. The last day of our trip we visited an artisan market where most of us bought Panamanian straw hats. David bought one that was more suited to his style.
We had only 30 minutes at the market, but we left just in time as the cops came looking for Will "the thrill" and his sticky fingers (don't ask). There were no major aches or pains during our trip, except for the huge gash Joe got from sailing, David's stomach virus, and everyone's post-Panama Montezuma's revenge. Let's just say that the straw hats aren't the only souvenir we came back with…
Love,
Your $150K Investment
Thanks for sending money for my Panama Random Walk. The $2,000 we paid to Uncle Rick was sure worth it - even though we met some Canadians who spent two weeks at the same resort for 1/3 of what we paid - as they say, you can't put a price on friendships, "which are the best ships ever", according to Domenic, one of our four amazing trip leaders. Overall, it was a very wholesome (sure, I'll run with that) trip. The first few days were spent on various outdoor activities like kayaking, hiking, zip lining, and, in JJ's case, grease pole-ing. Ah…who doesn't love a good grease pole? JJ sure does. We were also fortunate enough to catch the town in celebration as the first Panamanian gold medal winner, Irving Saladino, was returning from the Beijing Olympics. With all the activities, we made sure to keep well hydrated (especially Stephanie, who had probably the most reason to…well, stay well hydrated). Of course, hygiene was also a top priority. Our mild mannered driver, Fernando, drove us to the local hot springs for a mud bath.
We spent the last four days in Decameron, an all-inclusive resort on the beach with multiple pools, bars, and restaurants which seemed to all close as soon as Ernie showed up. Luckily, we were able to occupy our time at the discoteca and casino. I think most of us were salsaed out by the end of the trip, but Emily the dancing energizer bunny kept going and going and going… At the tables, I was hesitant to gamble too much money so I followed Olivia's strategy of buying one $5 chip, the table minimum, at a time. We were pretty pooped at times but Greg, the human alarm and tipper, made sure we were on time for activities…the tipping part, not so much.
The people on the trip have been very nice. In fact, Vanessa told, or rather, screamed that she loved me (and everyone else) at least four times throughout the trip. Sure, there were some pranks by the more immature members of the group (namely the second years), but the rest of us played nice. Besides bonding, it was also a very educational trip - we learned of the resemblance of Josh to "El Presidente" and Anil to…well, to someone who is not quite so nice.
And we also learned that Irene's name was actually Irene and NOT Eileen. We also sharpened our softer leadership skills such as communication and coordination. Marshall "communicated" he was hungry by kicking over a chair and yell-ing "I'm f*$@#ing hungry" after not speaking for ten hours and Jessie showed her coordination by balancing multiple drinks at once. The last day of our trip we visited an artisan market where most of us bought Panamanian straw hats. David bought one that was more suited to his style.
We had only 30 minutes at the market, but we left just in time as the cops came looking for Will "the thrill" and his sticky fingers (don't ask). There were no major aches or pains during our trip, except for the huge gash Joe got from sailing, David's stomach virus, and everyone's post-Panama Montezuma's revenge. Let's just say that the straw hats aren't the only souvenir we came back with…
Love,
Your $150K Investment
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