It's the Final Countdown!

One week, baby!
I really cannot believe that in one week and 5 hours I will be on my way to Panama. I have been thinking about this trip for about a year now and it still does not seem real. Maybe once I decide to start packing it will seem like I'm actually going...

School is here good. Very, very busy with classes and preparation, but I know it will pay off when I have a little less work to do while we're down there. Biology, JINS, and Environmental Studies have been great tools for both learning and getting to know everyone a little better. I think by the time I get down there I will have everyone's name down.. haha (Disclaimer: To anyone in the class reading this whose name I get wrong, it's not you, I'm just very bad with names.)

Currently, I've been working on two projects for Panama, one through Environmental Studies and one through Senior Seminar. For Environmental studies I am working with a group of about 5 students to do some advertising/fundraising for La MICA (La Montaña para Investigación y Conservación Ambiental), a biological station doing conservation research in El Cope, Panama. We are spreading the word on Facebook about this wonderful NGO through a fan page we created, and hope to soon help with La MICA's website as well. In addition, we are raising money to support La MICA's crucial research.
Please visit their website www.lamica.org and if you are into Facebook, please fan us through "La MICA" and "Gringos in Panama".
Awesome :)

My second project for Panama has been through my Senior Seminar in Anthropology/Sociology. While we are there, myself and Hanna Hartman are going to volunteer at El Cano, an archaeological site of the Cocle. This will be the project of a lifetime! I am extremely excited to join in the dig and learn a lot about this Central American culture. To prepare, I have been doing a lot of research about the site and archaeology in Central America. Hopefully this will aid me while working, but also for writing a paper and compiling a brochure for the site. This is one of two archaeological sites in Panama open to the public, and they are in need of some English brochures for tourists. Therefore, Hanna and I are creating a brochure for the museum at El Cano and hoping to print that for them through the university when we return.

Well, thats a good update of where I am right now in the mix of things. Let the countdown begin!