Paradise Island = San Blas in Panama (Kuna Island)!!!!!!!

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS JUST LOOK AT THE PHOTOS!!!!!!! MANY MORE TO SHOW WHEN I GET HOME!!!!!!! SEE YOU ALLLLLLLLL SOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

WOW!!!!!! Panama is absolutely amazing!!! When I was visiting some friends in Mexico, one of them told me that I´m not going to like Panama and that 10 days was too long to spend here... I just brushed that comment off my shoulder and went to capture my own impression, and I love it... I met the best people and have had a great time, so I have made the best of any type of situation...... We went to see the old city and the canal, which were both amazing... Panama City seems to have both run down houses as well as new houses all within blocks of one another... Back to Mexico tomorrow and them home SOOOOOOON!!!! SURPRISES!!!!!!!! ;)

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO!!!!!!!

Last weekend we did a few mini tours of the city which is HUGE... Javier and his wife live quite a bit outside of the city in a beautiful neighborhood near a lake... On Sunday, we managed to arrive at the Cathedral just in time because at 6pm everyday the army marches out to take down the big flag in the middle of the plaza and at 6am they put it up again... Then we were able to go to the top of the Cathedral and we were part of a tour that explained a little bit about the bells and the Cathedral as a whole... We also went to the Palacio de Bellas Artes which is a beautiful building and they have events inside... Off to the airport soon to go to Panama, but I will post more pictures of Mexico City soon!!!

My 27th Birthday in Mexico City

As many of you already know, I spent my 27th birthday in Mexico City... In the morning, Javier, his wife, Belem, and I went for brunch at their favorite Mexican restaurant... Then we did some sightseeing during the day... For dinner, we went to an Italian restaurant called Italiannis and another friend who I met in Spain, Andres, joined us as well... It was great to see Andres as I hadn´t seen him since Spain which was about 5 years ago... All I have to say is that Mexico hasn´t been the best part of my trip, but I´m trying to make the best of it... At least I can have some time away in Panama for 10 days... Off to Panama today!!! :)

Bandits Enter Che Lagarto Santiago

The staff at the Che Lagarto hostel that I was staying at in Chile warned all of the guests that they were going to be playing a joke on the husband of one of the owners on Thursday, the day before I left Chile... The joke was going to be an armed robbery but of course they weren´t going to be using real guns... The husband, Adrian, of the owner, Carolina, is an actor and works for a TV program that does hidden camera events... As we were all eating dinner, the 4 bandits with guns came into the dining area and asked who the owner was and then pulled him off of his chair and onto the floor... They kept on asking where the money was and he said that there wasn´t much in the cash box since they had emptied it earlier in the day... They also asked for everyone to put their cell phones, wallets, etc. on the table... It went on for about 15 minutes and I almost started laughing twice so a couple of the bandits had to take me out of the room so that I wouldn´t ruin it... Adrian kept on saying to leave the guests alone!!! After about 15 minutes went by, another group of people entered who appeared to be the police except for the fact that one of them was his wife, Carolina... Hehehe!!! The bandits got all flustered and started shooting their guns and then Adrian started fighting with them and finally he saw his wife and realized that it was a joke and started hugging his wife and then proceeded to hug others... Even though it wasn´t a real robbery, it got to be a bit scary because they were amazing actors and it seemed soooooooooo real!!!!!!!!

SANTIAGO, CHILE TAKE TWO!!!

On Wednesday, I went out to do some sightseeing in Santiago with Andrea and Nick, two people that I met on the Valparaiso and Viña del Mar tour..... We went to this Precolumbian Art Museum and some other places and then we just walked around the city and ended up in a flee market type thing that sold crafts as well as clothing of all types... Now I am in Mexico City visiting some friends and having a great time!!! :)

VALPARAISO, CHILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After we went to Viña del Mar, we kept on going along the coast to the next city on the agenda, Valparaiso... First we stopped for lunch at a revolving restaurant, called Coco Loco, that sat on the 21st floor of a building overlooking the Pacific Ocean... After lunch, we got back on the bus and went to see part of the city and the to ONE OF Pablo Neruda's houses... He was a famous poet who has now died, but he also has houses in Isla Negra and another one in Santiago... Both of these cities were very interesting... I will post photos of Valparaiso later as the system doesn`t seem to be working too well now...

VIÑA DEL MAR, CHILE!!!!!!

On Tuesday, I went on a tour to visit Viña del Mar and Valparaiso which are small cities about 1 1/2 hours from Santiago... We first visited Viña del Mar which is a beautiful city right on the water... Both of those cities are on the coast... We went to a nice park with an outside theater, a museum of Easter Island, and the beach... Although it was cold and foggy, it was still a nice city to visit...

Soooooo Cold & Noooooo Clothes!!!!!

For the past 6 days I have been in Santiago, Chile, and it`s cold here... As you may know, it is getting to be winter down in the Southern Hemisphere, and some countries tend to get colder than others... Chile is definitely one of the colder ones whereas Brazil doesn`t tend to get as cold... That being said, I have to say that I do not have the clothes to keep me as warm as I would like to be since I figured that I was only going to be in cold areas for the first two countries of my trip-- England and Sweden... It`s actually not as cold as I am making it come out to be, but it`s colder than what I have clothes for... That is why I spend a lot of the time inside so I don`t get sick and just wear sweaters when I go out... :) At least I will be getting back into warm weather on Friday when I fly to MEXICO and then for the rest of my trip I will be in warm weather, so I will be able to get a little bit of my tan back before heading home at the end of the month... ;) Can`t wait to see everyone in just about 3 weeks!!!! :)

Going Away Party in RIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday night was a very sad but fun night as it was my last night in RIO... The hostel threw me an amazing going away party!!! There was a BBQ and then some other tourists were playing guitar and it was just so much fun and a good send off from RIO although I have been sad since I`ve left... I made some amazing friends there and plan on coming back next year hopefully to work at the hostel that I stayed at for a few months... Rio definitely is a magical place as my brother put it... It`s like nothing else you`ve ever seen or experienced in your life........... The night ended at about 4am when I decided to go to bed since I had to wake up at 10am to get ready to go to the airport......... My next goal is to make it back to RIO to work... Too bad that I couldn`t stay on now but I have other commitments to attend to in the United States soon after I get home............ There`s always next time!!! :`(

Mais Novas Amizades!!!

Here are just a few more of the many new friendships I have made from staying at the Che Lagarto Copacabana Hostel and around Rio for 3 weeks now... It has been an amazing experience, and I really hope that these will be lasting friendships... They will be on my end as we have shared many great experiences together... Tomorrow I depart Rio, and it will be sad to leave, but I won´t say goodbye... I´ll just say see you later either in Rio or another part of the world!!! ;)