The UCF Knights Without Borders group left Orlando at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning, arriving in Panama City around mid-day. The Knights hit the ground running, as they took advantage of the remainder of their day to visit the ruins at Panama Viejo, the original Panamanian settlement.

The group enjoyed its first authentic Panamanian meal and checked into their accommodations at a local hostel. After getting settled, they enjoyed dinner at Casablanca in the historic Casco Viejo, the historic district of Panama City. Then, the group turned in early, as the Knights were going to  be up very early Monday morning to drive to Colon and begin their first day of improvement work at the SOS Aldeas Infantiles home there.

Below is a blog entry from women's soccer student-athlete Lianne Maldonado, recounting the group's first day:

Blog - May 5, 2013 - Lianne Maldonado (Women's Soccer)
Today was definitely not your ordinary Cinco de Mayo for all of us traveling with Knights Without Borders! 

It has been less than 24 hours since we took off from Orlando, but it definitely doesn't feel that way. After arriving in Panama City, and being greeted by our hosts from a local university, we headed over to Ricon Tablero to have an authentic Panamanian lunch. It was awesome to try new food ... and we all know food is definitely a way to bring people together!

Since we are going to be busy most of the week with our service project, we took time today to learn about the history and culture of Panama and become more familiar with not only the Panamanian students, but our own group's members too. We started off by visiting the ruins of Panama Viejo and also stopped by a small museum. Learning about the history of Panama, including the search for gold by Henry Morgan in the 1600's and his destruction of part of the country were all very interesting to me. 

After checking into our hostel, which we nick-named "The Palace," we headed out to dinner at Casablanca in Casco Viejo. Once we stepped off our bus, we were all in amazement. The structure and architecture of the city was beautiful and antique--it looked like something you'd see out of a romantic movie. The aroma of flavors, the dim lights, and the sound of salsa all helped set the mood for what we knew would be a great dinner and night.

It is obvious this country is very different from the United States. However, it has a lot to offer. I admire how rich the culture is and I cannot wait to meet the people we will be working with. As exhausted as I am, I am eager to wake up bright and early to start our adventure!