Merry Christmas and Happy New Year family and friends!
This is just a little update to let you know about the wonderful visit I had from my parents and sister over the holidays. I hadn't seen them in almost a year, which is the longest I've ever gone without seeing them so it was pretty crazy to see them. I ran like a crazy person through the airport when I saw both my sister (she came 4 days later) and when I got my parents. People probably thought I was crazy, but whatever I just wanted to hug them. Since I'm a "diplomat" (ya not a big deal, ya know just pretty important and this country couldn't run without me) I get to pick people up directly from the gate, so it was pretty sweet to act like I was a big deal and meet my parents and sisters at their gate when they were getting off the plane. The 4 days I had with my sister, we mostly hung out in my town with my people, went caroling with the kids in town trying to learn the words to Christmas songs in Spanish, built a rancho (small house with palm fronds on top) for the nativity scene, went to my beach, and Kelly learned how to make tamales from my neighbor. Then, we went to Panama City to pick up my parents. The first night my parents were there we all stayed in my house, which is literally one room with a kitchen, bed, living room combined into one. But, if you're thinking of visiting me, it's a great size and very luxurious! You pretty much feel like you're staying in the fanciest Hilton ever, minus...well everything fancy about it. It was fun to have all of us in one house and be altogether after 11 and a half months apart. All night (and the rest of the trip pretty much) my mom kept saying how much she liked the weather and how it was so warm and my dad kept saying that it was way too hot The next day we picked up Austin from a nearby town and then my friend Kimber for her community and went to a beach house we rented in Las Lajas, Chiriqui. That house was sick! The house was complete with its very own not helpful and not really doing anything native housekeeper! (Long story.) The next few days were filled with games, beach, hanging out at the house, Christmas presents, watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and lots of cooking and laughing. It was great for my family to get to meet some of the people I'm closest to in Peace Corps and we had a lot of fun. We also spent one day hiking in the mountains and trying to take self-timer family pictures by putting the camera on rocks and fences and whatever else we could find. It was pretty funny and I almost fell more than once running over to try to get in the picture in time (go figure!). Then we went back to my community and spent the next few days meeting all my friends. It was crazy going from house to house and we didn't get to go to everyone I wanted to, but it was a start. Maybe when they come back next year we can finish meeting all the people...yes mom and dad and shameless just announced that you're coming back next year, so now you have to :) I think my favorite part was watching Kelly interact with one of the 4 year olds who lives near me. He's the cutest thing and while we were hanging out with his aunt, he took Kelly to meet his parents and told her he wanted her to stay forever. As we were leaving their house he yelled after her, "Portate bien, Kelly!" which means "behave yourself," which is what all of the adults tell the little kids. We also got to visit my neighbors' family in a nearby town and go swimming in a river. My neighbors are like my Panamanian parents, so it was crazy to watch my two lives come together and see my parents interacting with my Panamanian family. After this, it was off to Panama City for one night (part of which we spent returning our rental car for about 2 hours and me yelling about how I hate Panama...not true but heat of the moment, you know how it is). Then, we got picked up at 5:30 am to go to a group of islands in the Caribbean side of Panama. This place looks like a real-life version of a computer background. It was so beautiful and relaxing! If any of you want to come to visit I will take you there. That's a promise. We basically just hung out on the beach there for 4 days meeting the other guests on the island (we were one of about 15 people staying in huts on this tiny island), went snorkling and saw incredible bright fish...like the ones you see in the dentist's office but actually for real out in the ocean!, read a lot, and ate lots of rice with coconut for just about every meal (the native people who own and run the island make all the meals, so of course it was very Panamanian with lots of rice). This was the best visit I could have had, and although it was a different Christmas and New Years than any I've ever had, it was better than I imagined. When my parents got here, they kept saying "now this is the only trip we'll make to Panama while you're here, Sydney." As the trip went on they started saying, "so hypothetically if we came to Panama next year..." and by the end of the trip they were saying, "hopefully we can come back next year..." So see you next year mama, daddy, and Kelly! :)
Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years and no matter how or where you spent it, remember the most important thing isn't where you are but who you're with. Here we go 2013! Bring it on...it can't be as crazy as 2012!
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