At the end of 2010 I wrote a blog that summarized everything I had done over the course of the year. I loved writing it because it made me reflect on how much had happened in a very busy year. It reminded me of how lucky I am to lead the life I do. And it motivated me to continue making each year more awesome than the year before.
I wrote this a long time ago, but failed to type it until now. So, ladies and gentlemen, here it is - Life: The 2011 Recap
I celebrated the new year in the streets of Bocas Del Toro, the crazy party island that I called home for more than three months. On January 2nd, I traveled inland to go work as a Spanish-english interpreter with an NGO doing an environmental project in the interior of Panama. In February I returned to Costa Rica to work as a guide and interpreter for Discovering Deaf Worlds. In March, I played around Panama with my good friend Kelly and in April I set sail to Colombia with my brother and a good friend that I had made on the island. We saw dolphins playing in the wake of the sailboat and swam at night with goggles on in order to see the bio-luminescent plankton light up the water in the way thousands of fireflies could light up the sky around you. It was an experience I will never, ever forget. I continued to travel inland from Colombia's coastline after my brother went home. I met up with a boy I had met in Panama who I really liked and we celebrated my 28th birthday at the beginning of May... and I promptly flew back to the States two days later. In June I flew from Denver to Portland to see one of my dear friends (and the most unlikely one to get married first) tie the knot. By the end of June I had decided to take a huge risk and move myself down to Colombia once the wedding season passed a few months later.
During the month of July I collected my thoughts, continued talking to that cute colombian who was drawing me back to his country, got trained in a new area of interpreting, and discovered that a big part of me felt more comfortable in the Latino culture in Denver than with the people and places that I used to know. In August I flew back to Portland in order to attend another wedding and be a bridesmaid in another. During those 3 weeks I learned something big - the friends that I have developed in Portland are my family. They really are. The boys will always be my boys, even as thinngs change and we all grow up. I had sort of forgotten about all of that while I was gone. But when I went back it was like I never left. Garrett, Kent, Steve-o, Ben, Coren. I never really realized that I had missed them so much until I had to tell them goodbye again. They have become like brothers to me over the years. My other great friends - fellow interpreters, people from camp, old roommates and neighbors - are all truly the best of friends that anyone could ask for. I miss that sense of community.
September was the month to wrap up all of my loose ends, work as much as possible, and get packed and ready for a move to a new continent. At the end of September I went to Costa Rica and scouted for a trip we were planning to lead in March 2012, and from there I moved on down to Bogota at the beginning of October. I celebrated my boyfriend's birthday with him and attempted to adjust to life in a giant city that I didn't know. Things were tougher than I expected them to be. The sweet job I had lined up fell through. So in November I began teaching English while having no idea what I was doing. But it at least gave me something to do with my time. We cooked a big Thanksgiving dinner which was amazing! And, quite honestly, those familiar smells made me quite homesick. I was not expecting that by any means. By December I was finally feeling comfortable with the city and my life in general. And to finish off the year, I went home for Christmas and came back in time to ring in 2012 in the beautiful, sunny, colonial town of Villa de Leyva.
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