And on the fifth day,

So this is me in the Miami airport, blogging last last last minute. Sorry folks.

Hi, I'm Barbara and I'm terribly late.

I will be honest. Everyone else wrote their blog posts much faster than I. I'd like to mention, if you don't mind, that Day 5 was quite the packed schedule: we hopped a from new hotel to the (old) city to school to church. It was a busy day indeed; we returned to our (new) hotel with many memories and tired yawns.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

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Our lovely villa home was expecting another team to arrive on Friday. We moved out in the morning and drove to a small hotel. Girls had plenty of space this time -- no bunk beds. I do miss the glass doors and stray cats of the villa, though.

I didn't even see that hotel sign from the steps.

After we settled in, we switched gears into Tourist Mode. Marianella and David, our wonderful missionary guides, led us through the Casco Viejo (the Old Quarter), a historic site full of rusty, old brick buildings. It was beautiful.

A photo of three paintings of a couple buildings. Art inception. Artception.

The clouds were absent and the sun showed no mercy. Fortunately, we found refuge from the heat.

That is indeed a giant block of ice. The man was selling literally shaved ice.

I bought a cup of coconut shaved ice, topped with coconut shavings and caramel sauce. Many teammates followed. It was only $1 (Panama conveniently uses USD because of the American presence from the canal construction era.)

Andrea's lemon shaved ice lacks coconut topping flair. #teamcoconut

Like I said, there were plenty of old buildings. This one was burned down a couple times; it was recently reconstructed with the original bricks. A team member who shall not be named suggested to take a brick as a souvenir.

The windows resemble a face.

We continued our tour of beautiful scenery by trekking up (by bus) onto a humble mountain. The view was wonderful; I didn't know Panama City was so expansive.

On a dark note, we witnessed smoke plumes rise from a suburban area near the city. I admit I'm a fan of smoke and clouds, but our prayers go out to whomever was affected by the house fire.

We took another group photo.

Master Wong and adorable servants of Christ.

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We can't play all day, of course. In the afternoon, we visited PCA (Panama Christian Academy) again. Their Bible Club invited us to share testimonies, songs and a drama.

I can't tell you how much energy was in that room when we worshiped together. English was a struggle for some of these students, but they shouted "JESUS!" (a name that transcends language) louder than anyone I've heard at CCIC. Quite inspiring.

Our new friends Victor, Michelle, and Juanca.

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The last stop of the day was a Chinese church.

It was so rewarding to connect with other teens with little language barrier -- praise God for this opportunity. My Mandarin allowed me to play rock-paper-scissors with a 7-year-old, discuss spiritual joy and freedom with other girls and even make small talk with other adults. 

(Mom and dad, thanks for keeping my Mandarin skills sharp all these years.)

Chinese Christians: we're EVERYWHERE.

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This blog post was originally for Day 5, but now I have the blessing and responsibility of concluding our adventures' records. I hope our posts were enjoyable to read. Thank for you for following, commenting and praying for us; our team shared praises on Sunday night and we realized it was impossible to count all our blessings. Praise God for plentiful food, clean facilities, warm hearts, beautiful sights and safe flights (one flight left; we're boarding in 30 minutes!) We'll see you soon. 

I bet you guys miss us. Here's another group photo.

TEAM PANAMA 2013 YEAH!