Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Elayna Grace

Lexis' 1st email home from Panama!

Lexis left for PANAMA Saturday morning at 4am! She will be there for almost 3 weeks with her Spanish class. She called me on Sunday morning to tell me she had gotten there safely which I so appreciated!


Monday, June 1st
Hola familia!

We just got done with our first day traveling around Panama! It is so humid here and very hot! Everyone is in tanks and shorts all the time...and we are all so amazed at those who can stand to wear pants in Panama!

Our families last name is Araya. They have three kids: Nicole 7, Mimi 4, and Gabrielle is almost 1. They are so cute and Carrie and I play with them all day. We are always playing horses or princesses or sitting outside when it rains. Our family speaks english but they are speaking spanish most of the time. Im not doing too good on responding but i can listen and comprehend most of what is said.

This morning we woke up, got dressed and went over to the local store to buy batteries. It is so different. Police are everywhere on the streets and at stores. We came back to the house and were the last ones to be picked up by the bus. We made our way to Panama Viejo but on the way one of the girls threw up three times in the car. We had to stop at a car wash and get the car washed because it smelled so bad. While we were still on our way to the car wash i was covering my face with a newspaper so i wouldnt smell it and when i took it off there was newspaper ink all over my face. Everyone took pictures and it was very funny. After starting the day off with so much adventure we made it to Panama Viejo. It is the ruins of the old panama city built back in the 1500s. It ended up being closed until tomorrow. We decided to walk around the mini market and we got a cold smoothie made from pineapple. We decided to switch today and tomorrows activities. So we drove over to the Panama Canal. We ate at the resteraunt there at the canal that was outdoor and looked over the canal. I found a hair and some kind of octopus tentacle in my food which was not what i wanted to expect out of this suppousively nice resteraunt. After eating we went down to the museum and walked through four stories of museum and learned about the canal and how it works. At 315 we watched a boat from the US go through the canal that contained cars, it was on the way to South Korea. The way that the canal works is so interesting, you guys should look it up. After standing out in the hot sun forever we are now home at our families homes. Tonight we are going out to dinner with our family and i hope to not find anything in my food this time.

I am having a lot of fun. There are TONS of mosquitos and they get worse as you get closer to jungle. I have around 8 mosquito bites already with many layers of repellent on. We got one of the best families compared to the others and are very lucky to get picked up last and dropped off first. I cant believe we still have two weeks. It seems like we have been gone forever already.

But i love you all and miss you. Hope the birthday party went well noah and have fun at fifth grade camp this next week. Dad i will call the Lambs tonight to get their fax number and will call you with it. Mom, i hope your not stressing out over me and Grace i will try to email you all the time! :)

Lots of love from Panama! Adios!