Monday, January 11, 2010

Bring in 2010 with a visit from Mama and Timbo!





































I am not quite sure where to start so I will probably keep this short. I spent New Years in Panama City and had a fabulous, "classy" time with Peace Corps friends. We danced a ton and tried to record too many moments because there was a lot of sweating going on due to the intense humidity. haha.
Mom and Tim got in late afternoon and we enjoyed time by the pool and introduced lots of friends. We visited the Canal. Super exciting body of water...NOT. We decided to head out to my site and I made them eat at FRIDAYS when we got to David, the city on the other side of Panama...because I wanted a taste of AMERICA. Well, my plan was thrown back in my face when I received a raw burger as my meal. Awesome. Not even Tim would eat it...you know something is wrong then.
We spent a few days in my community hanging out on the beach, meeting people and we even got to go fishing with my friend Daniel. It was a lot of fun and even though we sweat a lot - none of us lost weight because I made sure to stuff us full of water and food every minute of the day. Mom got to practice her Spanish, Tim got married off a few times (obviously, what else is new) and then we headed to the Caribbean side of the country. The Pacific is gorgeous but we had places to see and people to abuse. So we took our three buses to the other side of Panama and then a boat to the Island. We had four days of glorious weather, beautiful beaches and really good food. We played an absurd amount of Gin Rummy and Spades. And the entire time mom made sure all of us knew she is a "card shark"...too bad she lost so much. Yeah, some card shark you are Ms. Ritner. Myles made it nice and even for the two days he came out to visit us; it definitely made cards fun to be able to play Spades. It got so pathetic that we carried our card hands in our pockets to dinner and played while we waited for food and after. Whatever, go ahead, judge us. Foolish on your part because we had a GREAT time.
All in all an amazing time, it was so good to see my family. Now is the hard part - going back to the jungle alone. I already miss them and miss the states more than ever. May come quickly!!! March will be Lettie and Bill, I am excited but don't know if Panama is ready. haha.
Happy New Year Everybody!!!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Awesome pictures! I miss your fam...and your mom cooking pounds of shrimp for me... We'll have to do that again when you get back!

Unknown said...

GiGi: It looks like you are having a little too much fun down there. I'll have to come down there and join you...LOL. When do I get a chance to waterski on the Canal?