Howdy, My name is Juan Lopez I am a sophomore Management Information Systems major and I have had the opportunity to participate in this amazing trip. My initial impressions of this trip have been great as I have learned so much about how global business is facilitated in Panama and the Panama Canal itself! I have found the city to be very amazing with its amazing culture and the vast amount of diversity in such a city. The city has given me the opportunity to explore social lifestyles and partake in cultural traditions that many Panamanians do! This program has been great in allowing me to travel to Panama and learn about the specifics of global business in a different country! We were able to visit many things such as government offices all the way to indigenous communities in the country and we really got a feel for how people construct their everyday life and contribute to business in a global way. I hope to gain many things within this trip such as becoming a better global business leader, being able to adapt to situations with refined global skills, and building relationships with the people I conduct business with. I feel as all these experiences I have during the trip really will allow me to flourish and contribute to my gain of knowledge within this business trip. Many differences I have seen between the US and Panama have been the way business is conducted and the way people present themselves. I see people working 24/7 in Panama as compared to the US. Another thing has been the food. The food in Panama mainly consists of things such as seafood, plantains, and other things such as cassava, which is available in the US but not as common. One final difference I have noticed is how fast-moving everything is as the people are always in a rush so it feels as if everything is nonstop.
