A vacation from vacation: Thanksgiving at the Sweet River

I spent my Thanksgiving very differently than I have in the past. This year, I was in Rio Dulce (the sweet river) with my friends. This was the first major holiday that I have been away from my family but I was very happy to be with my close friends that are like family to me!
Carrie and I arrived in Rio on Wednesday. It was a long day (we left Xela at 4:00am) but totally worth it. Once we got there, we called for the Lancha (a boat taxi) from our hotel to come pick us up. We settled into our bungalow and headed for the restaurant for drinks and dinner.
We were exhausted from the day of traveling and I was in bed with the lights off before 8:00! About 15 minutes after I went to bed, Carrie and I were awakened by the voices of three men how had wandered down our dock to our bungalow. Because I had been asleep for 15 minutes already, I assured Carrie that the men that were outside our door were only there because they were on a scavenger hunt (I come up with some pretty crazy things when I'm asleep). I could see the guys and I could tell that they weren't going to try to get in, they were just curious what was down there...anyway, they wandered off only to come back two more times (once to pee off the dock, the other time, I have no idea). Needless to say, we were happy to wake up in the morning and everything was still intact (don't worry mom and dad, it wasn't really dangerous, more entertaining because we were in a big cabin by ourselves. We were locked in so it was okay).

McNabb and Jason came on Thursday and we, of course, were very happy to see them!
We were all pleasantly surprised to see that our hotel was going to be serving Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, dressing, veggies, cranberry sauce, and pie) and enjoyed our first night together in the restaurant laughing and carrying on.

We had three more friends join us on Friday on their way back from Tikal and the seven of us had a wonderful time laying out, jumping off the platform above the marina, kayaking, visiting castles, eating, napping, working puzzles, and just being together.
I was reminded during this vacation that sometimes it's best to get away and do nothing. Unfortunately, I came down with something on Saturday that knocked me out of comission all day. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to travel home but I woke up Sunday and felt so much better.

There are so many details that I didn't include in the post because I don't feel like I could do it justice. This was a wonderful vacation that I'm so thankful for. I was listening to Jimmy Buffett's 'Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes' and the lyrics fit this trip so well:

'I took off for a weekend last month
Just to try and recall the whole year
All of the faces and all of the places
Wonderin' where they all disappeared
I didnt ponder the question too long
I was hungry and went out for a bite
Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum
And we wound up drinkin all night
Its these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of our running and all of our cunning
If we couldnt laugh we would all go insane'


A few other things:

• I have decided to come back and teach for three months this spring. I will be teaching Middle School Math and Bible while the current teacher is out on Maternity leave.
• I am coming home Dec. 18 and will be in the states until mid-Feb.
  
• I am considering moving to Wyoming this summer!
  
• I have started looking at Masters' programs in the areas of Internation Studies/NGO administration. This could potentially include a Peace Corp stint!
• My avacado guy is back (I think I may have already included this but I'm super stoked about it!)
• And lastly, BOOMER SOONER! Way to go Sooners! I know that there is controversey in the BCS but this year it happened to fall in our favor!
  

Viva la Vida,

Liz

(sorry, no playlist today. I forgot my headphones and I'm at a cafe...)