Happy New Year!

Well, welcome to 2009! I hope everyone had a festive and safe New Years celebration. Mine was pretty laid back actually. I came to Panama City this year with some friends and it turns out that all the bars, clubs, and restaurants in the city are closed until about 1 a.m., after the fireworks and cheers of feliz año nuevo. That would be because apparently all the local Panamanians stay at home with their families for the midnight explosion, and to light their muñecas on fire (I wrote about those last year, right?). Then they all go to party the night away after that. Unfortunetely we were not prepared for that so wandered aimlessly amongst the closed bars, saw some fireworks, then went to back to the hotel. Oh well. It'll still be a good year. :) For Christmas this year I was also with friends. We went to an island just south of Panama City in the Pacific called Isla Taboga. Very beautiful, quaint town. Relaxing. We stayed there for two nights and just hung out. I posted pictures on facebook and added the album to the list on the right so check it out! Christmas day was very relaxed here simply because Panamanians actually celebrate the birth of jesus at midnight exactly. With a midnight mass and fireworks. Then... nothing really for actual Christmas day. Quite different from the tradition I'm used to. But we still had a good time. Anyway, I hope everyone is prepared for the new year and that it starts out (and continues) to be a good one! I'll be living here in Panama again for the whole year as I'm extending for a 3rd year. I miss you all! :)