u.s. winter tour

Even though Costa Rica is in the northern hemisphere and technically has the same seasons as the United States, December falls during the dry season, so the December-January break is often referred to as "summer vacation." To allow students and their families to take advantage of the nice weather, most schools have long breaks at this time. I spent most of the 5-week vacation visiting friends and family in the U.S.

I started in North Carolina, where I spent time with my grandfather and extended family. While I was staying with my grandfather, I was organizing old family photos and putting them in albums and interviewing him to get the stories behind them. I found a bunch of old photos from when my grandmother lived in Costa Rica, many of places I now recognize, which was really cool! One of my aunts took a bunch of the cousins to see a play by a theater company that performed a play about my grandfather in June. I was not able to attend the play about my grandfather, so it was really neat to see the theater where it was performed.

From North Carolina, I road-tripped north with my sister to Ithaca to visit our parents. While there, I enjoyed some QT with my sis,

got to see lots of friends, including KE, my middle school BFF,

threw a bridal shower for my cute friend SR, who's getting married in May,

admired the frozen waterfalls and rock sculptures around town,

and en route to visit friends in Texas, made an unexpected detour to Detroit after the plane experienced some "technical difficulties," a.k.a. engine failure.
(But luckily, the hotel where the airline put me up was home to Michigan's longest continuous hallway. Allll riiiight! Look at it...it was so long I couldn't even see the end of it!)

Texas was great! It was so great to see so many good friends again!

Hanging out with my friend's adorable son

Isn't seeing family and friends the best?!