25 de julio

Lo mejor de mi día: Participar en la concentración y marcha a favor de la Ley 61 y ver a tantas caras conocidas

Lo peor de mi día: Haber perdido la paciencia en una discusión y que mis emociones bajas ganaran.

Agradecida por:
- Mi educación! Por haber tenido una buena educación, que me enseño a pensar por mi misma, a ser curiosa, a ser responsable, respetuosa y por haber tenido una educación laica lo que no significa que no haya sido basada en valores importantes que me hacen quien soy.
- Mi salud
- Mi mamá, el mejor ejemplo de vida. Me me ha enseñado a escuchar, a instruirme y formular mis propias ideas las cuales tengo la responsabilidad y el derecho de defender de manera coherente. Me ha enseñado a tener empatía, a creer en el poder de la gente.

A little midnight ramble...

Six years ago today I went to bed like any other day, not expecting that in less that 24h my world would be moved upside down and broken. I don't remember anything too particular from that day, watched some funny videos with my brother on youtube, went to bed. No red flags, no warning, nop, nothing. Life is simply that, unexpected. No matter how ready you are for things, life will make sure to change your plans somehow,  by little changes or massive ones. 
A year ago I embarked on a very exciting and surprising journey in which I said goodbye to having this one day, this one event, affect me in a completely negative way and simply accept it as part of my path in life. I decided not to allow it define me anymore. A year ago today I was freaking out a little over the 9th of november, I didn't want it to be a big deal. It still affected me, it was still a sad day and I cried when I heard my mom on the phone and thought about you so much. But, I didn't want to let it define me and "ruin" my day. Hey, I was in the middle of the african bush, what I had to do was live it, and appreciate every second of that day. I try to do that every day now...appreciate. Be grateful. For life is too short and too unexpected to be in angst, to feel bummed over silly things, to not be PRESENT. 
Take a moment, stop, and think about your like right this moment: About today, how you felt, what you did, what you said or didn't get to say...are you happy with what you did? with who you are? where you're going? 
I tried to make this a short post but I guess I'm just too good at rambling. Bottom line is, LIFE CHANGES. People change, cities change, time takes it toll every second and we have to be aware of it. Take advantage of time, enjoy the little things and be thankful for every passing day (even for the shitt days), tell those around you that you love them, live without regrets. 

Reminiscing...

Me encontré estas fotos en el compu de mi mamá y me acordé de este paseo tan rico que tuvimos en septiembre de 2009 a San Francisco, fue un paseo increíble!

I was looking through my moms computer and found some pictures from our trip to SF in september 2009. It was definitely one of the best times of my life.

Summary

It feels like I haven’t written in forever! I really miss having my space here to get thoughts out into the world but these past weeks have been crazy. So, this post is going to be a little summary of my life recently.

Birthday celebration – Last Tuesday (July 31st) I had a dinner celebration for my birthday. My uncle made AMAZING paella (it weighed 11.5 kg) and I had friends and family over. I made two delicious cheesecakes which were loved by everyone so it’s good to know my cheesecake recipe worked. A few days earlier I wrote to all my friends and family telling them about my trip to South Africa and you know, saying that in case they wanted to give me some birthday or graduation present, money would be the best thing for me at the time! I was seriously in shock and amazed at my birthday presents during this dinner, I still am to be honest…not only the fact that I got this money but I simply felt so much support and love from everyone there that it was pretty overwhelming. I am thankful from the bottom of my heart for everyone that came to spend that night with me, it was really great and it was nice having a birthday celebration!

Work – These past two weeks I have been working with my mom at her daycare. Last week was planning and this week has been first week of school. I am an assistant teacher with the kids aged 3.5-4 years and it has been great! I get home completely exhausted every day but the experience is wonderful and kids really amaze me. It’s incredibly for me to see how different they are, some of them can be talking and go to the bathroom by themselves and others a few months older or the same age haven’t gotten to that stage yet. Their personalities, creativity and ideas amaze me every day and it has simply been a great experience.

Friends – I am so tired from works that during the week I rarely see any friends or have any energy to go out but I have been able to see some of my friends and it’s been great, non-stop talking sessions. Tomorrow I’ll be going to an impromptu class reunion which is going to be great because some of the people who are going I haven’t seen in years (left school in middle school) so I’m sure tomorrow night will be a beer-drinking, crazy-story telling fun evening.

Family – My relationship with my parents has been pretty great, I’m taking advantage of being with them and cuddle in bed or hang out watching stupid TV shows or the Olympics (I love watching Olympics). We do have our occasional fights and what not but overall it’s pretty great, I love seeing how supportive my dad is with my mom’s new venture and feel that they’re in a good place. I’m also very proud of my mom for starting her school, it’s going to be a wild and crazy ride for sure but I’m so happy she finally decided to go ahead and do it and do it with so much love and passion. Working with her I have learned so much and admire what she does and knows, although I get very annoyed at the way some people abuse of her goodness and she won’t stand up for herself.

On the way back from the beach two weekends ago I felt my brother, it was strange but great. We were just driving back, my parents talking about who knows what and I just felt that we were complete, the four of us, my brother sitting on the other side of the car just…there. I pictured him taller than me, with his messy hair and mainly a big smile. I miss him and yes, my eyes water and tears roll down while I write this because I will always wish it were true, I will always wish that he was still physically here with us, but I know and am accepting the fact that is will not happen and that I need to live. This trip I’m about to begin (oh wow, in a month and 4 days actually) I really want to focus on me, on being alone and looking in and figuring myself out, coming to terms with life, really letting go and trying to find a new spark in life that I feel I lost years ago…Right now its just a tiny spark that comes and goes but I want it to fully explode, and light a fire inside me and keep that fire burning for many, many years to come.

Alright…that was pretty short (I could write pages on each of the subjects) and it’s almost midnight and I have to wake up in 6 hours so, goodnight. Hopefully I’ll be able to write more often, promise I’ll do my best  ( no computer at the time so it makes it harder…and just too tired to sit and think and write, but I know I have to do it, it really helps). 

Happy Birthday to Me!

This weekend was my 24th birthday, no big bash, no big celebration, just enjoying the beach, watching the olympics and eating way too much. I went to my parents friends' house in Bijao with my parents and 2 other couples friends of my parents, it was very relaxing and sadly there was no sun so no tan but it was still great. 
I was tired on friday night so I slept a little and then at around 11:45 woke up to chat a little outside but the conversation was too heated to get in when I had just woken up...so, I went back to bed and checked my watch right when I stepped inside..it was 11.59 pm, and basically the first 10 min of my birthday I cried...I really don't know what I was crying about but I just felt like crying. Its weird...being back home and having Panama as my "home base" but not really feeling it, my room doesn't feel mine and I know I'll only be here for a month so I dont feel or think that settling in has a point. Sure, my parents are here and I love being with them but its weird being in-transit...at home...I'm not unhappy, im simply kind of trying to find my place, physically, here again. Perhaps thats why this past week I've been so "in hiding", I haven't seen any of my friends yet and I feel its because im trying to find my spot, my focus, and a rythm of my day-to-day activities. I also realize that hey, I'm only here for a month, and I need to take advantage of that and see the people I care about and that care about me so starting tommorow with my bday celebration dinner I'm getting off my lazy butt and doing something about my social life, enjoying the people around me as much as I can!




Here are some pictures of the weekend, it was gray and rainy on sunday (and the rain has continued throughout the whole day today) but it was still a great birthday weekend and just what I needed.

A great way to start the day, normal and banana pancakes

These are the breakfasts I love

I love Panama

Two gorgeous ladies, an awesome friendship

The best woman in the world, my momma!

Champagne and good conversations

Relaxation 

Perfection

Chill

One year older

Thinking of you...

And this is how I enjoy spending my birthday...I'm an old lady, I know.

Daddy

My birthday company

Time for dinner!

An incredibly simple and delicious recipe!

My mom struggles using my camera

Carta abierta

Amigos y familia, en unos días estoy de cumpleaños y en un mes recibo mi diploma de graduanda de Antropología de la universidad. Les escribo contandoles mis planes en los meses que vienen y una *sugerencia* sobre algun regalo que quiza esten pensando darme. Para mi pedir cosas no es fácil pero en este caso la necesidad y entusiasmo le gana a la pena y me lanzo a escribirles…

Como ya muchos sabrán me voy a Sudafrica en septiembre por tres meses. Llego a Johanesburgo el 13 de septiembre y el 16 comienzo un mes en una reserva llamada Thanda a 3 horas de Durban, enfocandome en mi fotografia de naturaleza y apoyando a las investigaciones de conservacion asi como los programas educativos.

Después, del 14-31 de octubre tengo dos semanas de puro viaje. Encontré un bus tipo hop-on-hop-of diseñado para viajeros backpackers asi que pienso comprar el pase de 14 días y viajar de Durban hasta Cape Town donde me quedare unos días. En Cape Town definitivamente me metere en una jaula a conocer tiburones blancos (esta la opcion de hacer snorkeling pero creo que ese ya es un riesgo bastante alto y no estoy segura de querer tomarlo). De Cape Town vuelo a Durban nuevamente donde cojo bus a Richards Bay.

El 1 de noviembre estaré en Richards Bay para comenzar otro mes en un voluntariado de conservacion marina que se enfoca en recolectar informacion del ecosistema de la zona (Mar Indico), principalmente se enfoca en las poblaciones de tortugas y tiburon ballena pero tambien delfines y manta rayas. Será un mes totalmente marino donde voy a hacer cursos de buceo en las areas que me interese. Termino el 1 de diciembre y regreso a este lado del mundo el 6 de diciembre, esos 4 dias (viajo el 6 madrugado) estare conociendo Johannesburgo.

Como se imaginaran para todo eso necesito…plata! Ya tengo suficiente para los tiquetes y programas a los que voy a participar, pero les escribo pidiendo su ayuda, donacion, regalo, como quieran decirle, para poder costearme mis dos semanas de viaje. Si me conocen bien saben que viajando soy muy ahorrativa asi que la verdad lo que me puedan dar sera aprovechado al maximo y una gran ayuda! Todo mi viaje estare registrandolo en mi blog www.mariantoslittlebox.blogspot.com asi que podrán seguirme en mis aventuras y ver su regalito lo mucho que me ayuda!

Muchas gracias por tomarse el tiempo de leer este “mensajito”! Les mando un abrazo muy grande a todos! 

Monday, FUN DAY!

From now on I'm gonna be mixing things up a little here in the language department, sometimes spanish sometimes english, depending on the mood a little (sorry, blame multiculturalism, bilingualism, etc). 

Cousins

Today was my first day back in Bogotá after spending some time in Lima. Martina was left at a dog daycare/hotel so instead of having them drive her over I decided to make a little trip and get her. So, left Mr. P at the office, went to pick up my cousins and we were off! We picked up Marti who went insane when she saw me, jumping to and from the car like a crazy flying squirrel (seriously, I just love my dogs so much, no one can give you so much unconditional love). After that we decided to go see the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira. It's a very touristy must-go when you come to Bogotá and I had never been so it was a pretty fun plan. The cathedral is located underground, it was also a salt mine (obviously), and its 2km long. Yea, when I heard "2km, and we've only done 300m" I almost had a mini panic attack, I really don't like closed underground spaces such as caves, crypts and such... Luckily this place was big and had very high ceilings and there was no sensation of stuffiness. Because Martina was in the car, and we were startvign and really not catholic enough for the whole thing, we skipped the tour guy and walked around on our own. Its really beautiful specially because of the lighting they have which are constantly changing and give everything just a greater dimension.
After the Salt Cathedral we went to look for lunch. I have heard about a great place in Chia called "Galapagos" but apparently no one knows how to get there so after a LOT of driving around almost in circles we ended up at a restaurant we had seen on the way to get Marti. It was perfect, had a big indoor patio for Marti to run around and it was empty so service was super fast, we had "bandeja paisa" which is basically a plate full of yummy delicious fattening stuff (beans, rice, powder beef, avocado, chicarron, chorizo, arepa and a fried egg). It was very, very good and after eating we headed out towards Sopó (again we got lost getting there and went in circles) to have dessert at the Cabaña Alpina. We were so full and the desserts were so big we didn't even finish them but packed our stuff and headed back to the city. We went through the small route which has such a beautiful scenery, I love it. Got into the city at 5 sharp, when traffic just decides to go insane, so quickly picked up Mr. P at the office, stopped by to get some anti-flea stuff for Marti and headed home to wait for traffic to cool down before taking my cousins back to their place.
All around it was a fun day, a different one, and thankfully a BEAUTIFUL one! The sun was out, the sky was blue, a perfect day to be outside Bogota. If you ever happen to come to the city, rent a car and drive towards the outside of the city, the scenery is great and there are many little town you can see (not so much fun if you ask me) and lagoons or river dams that offer a great view and a fun camping experience!


Alright, after like 2 hours of blogging (adding some info on my Lima Day 3 post and writing up my Lima Day 4 post) its finally time to go to sleep! I have LOTS of studying to do tommorow because I didn't read anything for my class during Lima and Mr. P has been trying to get some sleep but I won't let him with the light on. So, goodnighty everyone! I wish all Mondays were always Fun Days!

Before getting to the main cathedral you go through 12 "chapels" (not sure what to call them exactly),
which represent the 12 steps that Jesus went through during "the passion"
(again, my spanish..not sure how to call all this in english)

Catedral de Sal, Zipaquira

Being silly with the short ceiling
 

The lights made everything look magnificent

Sisterly love

Climbing the wall of salt

When we left the mine the sun had decided to come out,
it was a beautiful day!

Mmmm...yummy food!

The first one to finish her plate

Great place for dessert

My cutie 

Couldn't believe how beautiful the day was!

Driving and photographing, not very safe 

Only posting this one because Marti looks so cute in it

Girls day out

Maria Jose and Marti

The outsides of Bogota are so beautiful

The road and us