Panama!

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My last night in Ecuador I had dinner (pizza) with Sophie and then Brittney, Sophie and I watched a movie before going home, saying goodbye and thank you to my family, and packing. Completely lost it when I was packing, but it had to happen at some point I guess... Saturday morning I went to the market one last time, then the sandwich shop, then home to get my stuff and to taxi Lagos where I was supposed to get a shuttle to the Quito airport at 11:30. It's supposed to take 2 hours to get to the airport. My flight was at 4 so I needed to be there by 2. 12:45 we finally left Otavalo. Awesome. But somehow we still managed to get to the airport by a little after 2! Probably the fastest I've driven in my life, but hey, whatever works. Then of course the line to check in was ridiculously long, but I made it to my gate before they finished loading! Pig flu scare so we all had to put on masks before we were allowed to leave the plane in Panama. And then only half the people in Panama had masks so it obviously wasn't required...

Saturday evening I arrived in Panama. Got through customs and everything without a problem and then took a taxi to Albrook bus terminal to meet Kallie. I was supposed to call her in order to meet her, so I tried multiple times both from the airport and the terminal. No answer. I found an internet place at the terminal and emailed her to tell her that I would wander around the terminal until 9:30 and then go to Luna's Castle Hostel for the night. Luckily we ran into each other soon after that in the terminal. Finally our reunion after almost a year! Really really really exciting!!!
Apparently her phone had gotten stolen earlier that day and so she had been at the terminal since 6 (it was now after 8) wandering around so that we would hopefully find each other. Kind of how her luck has been going all year and mine the past couple days.

Saturday night we went to Fito's house (one of Kallie's really good friends) with Lili (another good friend) and a couple other people. Then Sunday we ate our way around Chorrera (when it wasn't busy pouring rain) and then Monday explored Casco Viejo (old part of Panama City), the Causeway, and Albrook Mall. Lots of time to catch up and tell all our stories. I'm really glad I got to see and experience her second home! It was really really good to see her again after practically a whole year! Thanks Kallie for a great couple days!

Tuesday afternoon I got on a bus to Guarare. I got there in the evening, was met by my family, and we went to Las Tablas to our favorite pizza place for dinner. The next couple days were filled with visiting all the relatives and AFS people, seeing Guarare, dying from the heat, baseball game (one of the finals for the whole country) etc. It's crazy how much is still the same. Some differences: paved roads now instead of full of potholes, Grandma died a year ago, all the cousins and Jose are a lot bigger (Jose is better behaved then before and still adorable!), new bathroom and living room in my house (under construction before), the room where I stayed has a door!!! But then some things are the same: my family, the town, neighborhood, the beach, etc. Last time I was there we were always talking about langostinas (big shrimp) but they were out of season so I never had any. So this time Iselis made sure she cooked them for me! Delicious! And mango and pineapple of course... Andreas, an exchange student from Germany is staying with them this year. It was good to go back and visit and I'll definitely have to go back again! I want to take my Alaskan family! And I want to explore more of Panama!
Friday night my family drove me back to Panama City where I'm spending the night at Luna's Castle (and I'm pretty sure I'm in an all-guys dormitory... they must have run out of room...) before getting my flight early tomorrow morning back to Ecuador and on to the Galapagos! Supposedly Jose cried for half an hour after they dropped me off because he didn't want me to leave. Adorable! I can't believe he remembered me because he was so young before!
Sunday off to the Galapagos!

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