This last week my amazing friend Norma coordinated a private group tour to The Panama Canal! We basically got to go all the places we were jealous of not being able to go the first time. Some of us (not me) touched buttons we definitely weren't supposed to, but thankfully nothing bad happened.
I love being able to experience things from a unique perspective and this time the difference came from having the private tour vs. the tourist tour. There was also deep gratitude for all of the friends I've been introduced to and able to get to know since being here in Panama.
I met Norma the first time I visited her restaurant Beer & Cow after meeting most of their staff at the same time as they all came over to try and figure out what we wanted to order because we didn't speak Spanish. Thankfully Norma knew English and
My first tour of the Panama Canal was with out Internship Coordinator, Fanny, and the other two intern girls from SUU. That visit we got to do the basic version. We got to go to the visitor buildings overlook area, look through their exhibition halls, watch a short video about the history of the Panama Canal, and visit the small gift store. It was one of those perfectly fine visits that honestly left me sure that it was a place I wouldn't visit again. (I feel like I need to add here there it wasn't because it wasn't cool; it's just not one of my passions. You'd more likely find me revisiting the same art museum over and over again). I'm so glad I got a second chance to go back and experience a completely new version of it that gave me a much deeper appreciation of all it makes possible.
Some major difference the second time was that I was going with my dear friend Norma, who's husband and father both worked at the canal. This time we got the "behind the scenes" tour. During this tour we were able to walk across the canal gates, take a ride in the locomotives that help guide the ships in, and even push buttons on the computer to start the water! We also got to see the very cool and now retro control board that was used to open the gates and control the water manually.
When I think about this trip, I'm humbled with the thought that I had such different experiences at the same place. It started me down this road of thinking about things that I tried once and then said "never again!" and if I should write a list and try to revisit some things from my past. It's seems like such given that things will be different day to day, but it's also easy to forget. At least for me it is.
My question to you is: What experience have you had that was completely different from the first time that left you feeling more open to trying things again?
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