Christmas En Español

I spent Christmas in Panama with Panamanian Pal, et al. I know you were really hoping for a post full of photos, but, as is often the case when PP and I are together, there are no photos. Unless we are, like, BOTH on vacation away from home, we just don't do that much that is photo worthy. Let me list for you now our Christmas break activities:

• Shopping: I did not know what to get PP's parents for Christmas, so on my first day there, we hopped over to the mall so he could help me. It was a pretty quick in and out proposition, but we had fun dawdling and meandering. 
• Movies: I don't know if you know this, but it is *HOT* in Panama. A couple hours in the uber VIP theater (recliners? seat service? full on lunch? I say yes!) with delicious air conditioning was welcome. 
• Cooking shows: Seriously, more cooking shows than I have ever watched at once in my life. Cooking shows all the time.
• Making fruit cake: technically, watching fruit cake get made. I was not entrusted with any kind of assistant activities.
• Eating Panamanian Christmas food: the above fruit cake, tamales, ham, turkey, I think three kinds of rice, and arrocha, which is their special Christmas bread.

Also, we spent Christmas afternoon with PP's extended family, at which there was a gift exchange, fer funsies! However, by the end of the night my brain refused to parse any more Spanish sentences. Seriously, it's exhausting to spend all day communicating in a second language, but I think it's even more exhausting spending all day switching between two languages, and that's what I was doing all day in Panama. Yikes.

I should probably also mention the migraine that I got on Christmas Eve. Gross. Luckily, by Christmas morning it was all gone. I will also complain a little bit about the paucity of sweet treats. So much delicious savory food, but nary a cookie in sight. Sad.

The above aside, it was a fun and merry Christmas!