Damn, it´s 2009 already?!

FELIZ NUEVO AÑO! Happy New Year to everyone! 2008 was quite a year for me and I can only even imagine what 2009 in Ecuador will be for me.

But it has been quite a busy past few weeks. The Van Fam trekked down here to visit me, which I can’t thank them enough for doing. We had a great time…very adventurous which I can only begin to tell you about.

I madrugad-oed or woke up at 3:30 am to catch a bus to Loja to get the fam. Their flight got in around 6 am, so I had to make sure I got there in time to meet them at this GORGEOUS hotel in Loja. When I got there, they were already there…very surreal meeting them there. I was expecting to see everyone, but to walk in those doors and see my family…IN ECUADOR was a little weird. I was very surprised to see them there so early, what took them so fast to get to the hotel? Well, the lovely workers at Continental Airlines tagged their luggage as SANCHEZ and sent their bags to Portland (Oregon or Maine…we still don’t know) and were sans luggage for almost 5 days. I felt so bad, they were wearing corny…I mean cool…Ecuadorian t-shirts and Gracie, god forbid, didn’t have her makeup…quite a shake up for them. But they were great sports about it and had little to no luggage to worry about when we traveled to Vilcabamba for Christmas.

We did have dinner with “the doctor” as some of you have heard about him. He was nice enough to join us and fill us in on Ecuador and everything to know about it. He won some points with the parents, too, I think.

The day before Christmas Eve we voyaged down to Vilcabamba for Christmas and stayed at this gorgeous German-owned hostel I had stayed in for Thanksgiving. It was great, the weather was really nice (only rained at night), we got massages, the food was AMAZING…everyone was happy. We didn’t have Christmas presents, but us just being together was all I really wanted. Took some hikes, the ‘rents and Grace went horseback riding (I eagerly opted out of that one)…but overall I think they really enjoyed it.

We managed to negotiate a cab ride to the airport in Loja to get our luggage (however only 4 of the 5 bags…) and then we headed over to Yantzaza. I think Mom and Gracie wore out their rosaries on that cab ride; there was really bad fog and the roads weren’t that great for some of the way. Its funny how used to things I am now…I can’t imagine after 2 years what I will be like…heck, I’ll be eating off the floor and taking showers in the rain…syke.

Yantzaza was hot…and they noticed. I was hoping they wouldn’t, but there wasn’t much humidity so I thought it wouldn’t be so bad. We couldn’t do much because after a few hours outside in the sun, some were ready to call it quits. We saw the house I used to live in, my new apartment, a little Yantzaza tour…met all my gente. It was really cool showing them around and having them see what my life is like. I think they were overwhelmed at points, some more than others, but like I said, I’m so used to stuff now that I don’t really notice some of the things they did. I felt bad, a lot of the time I would just ramble off in Spanish and they would just be standing there like…Uhhh Corrie…can you just tell us what happened? Even with the Spanish I didn’t even realize I was speaking it, or I just assumed they knew what was going on. Sorry about that, guys.

One of the highlights, however, was this “Gringo Conference” I helped the Doctor’s Association put together. My dad and I, along with Chris, gave charlas on healthcare in the US. I started out with a charla on public relations in healthcare, sharing experiences with my internships, etc. Chris talked about the medical school system and Dad absolutely blew me away. He gave a great, loud—but great, charla on healthcare and insurance in the US. They really liked it and he was awesome with the Spanish…even answered questions and everything! Afterwards they had a big baile and we drank and danced our butts off. Greg, of course, did the worm and all the nurses were lining up to dance with him. We went to a dance a few days prior and Gracie loved it…she was very popular with the 11-year-olds.

Overall, it was a great visit. I am so happy they came down to visit…it was great showing and sharing everything. It also helped me a lot; helped me appreciate Yantzaza more and the work I am doing. I realized how much I love it here and the thought of having to return made me really sad. But thank you, you guys…I loved having you and I hope you all had a great time.

For New Years, I traveled out to Chris’s site and hung out with him and his girlfriend, Emily, who was visiting from the US, as well. Here, tradition is to make paper-mache muñecas or dolls and they represent people from the past year. There were a lot of President Correa and other political figures. They write little quips or amusing sayings and then at midnight burn the dolls in the street, as a way of getting rid of the old year (hence why they call it Año Viejo here and not Año Nuevo, or New Year). Very anti-climactic, though…thought there was going to be a lot of hoopla, but people just set them on fire on the street corners and danced around the burning dolls. We danced a lot, too.

Overall, I was very fortunate to spend my holidays with family…but from the US and here in Ecuador.