Back in the States, Part I

I'm back, y'all!

So, one week at home, two weeks in sunny Panama, one more week at home, and here I am; back from my long absence. Classes started up again on Monday (damn you small liberal arts colleges for not observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day)... I wasn't really ready for it, but that's ok.

Here's the beginning of my recap from my wonderful, wonderful holiday to Panama...

Back story: Lucky me! I was selected to take a travel course to Panama through the Biology/Environmental Science department of my school. It was slightly over two weeks, leaving just after Christmas and returning on Jan. 12th.

Going to Panama was probably the highlight of college for me. The trees, the ocean, the monkeys, the spiders... Panama Cerveza...

Ahhh, the good life.

We were there for a little over 2 weeks, mostly staying at Smithsonian field stations. We got to frolic in the rain forest, listen to howler monkeys, snorkel near coral reefs, catch spiders... You know, normal stuff.

I took a shit-load of pictures while there and my computer is being a little fussy about uploading them. I'll post some in my "Back in the States, Part II" post.

The best part of my trip, I think, was that we got to celebrate New Year's in Panama. We went over to this swanky resort nearby to our field station, drank Panama Cerveza, and danced to Van Halen's "Panama." Haha, a little overkill I guess, but at the time (and after a few cervezas) we thought it was awesome.

My favorite thing we saw in Panama: howler monkeys!


Ok, yes, that's a picture I took. My camera had one crappy zoom for being so new. Camera with a decent zoom = #1 need for next trip to Panama.

Now that I'm back in the States, back in Wisconsin (ugg), I'm having trouble re-adjusting to winter. Especially since the temperatures didn't get above zero for a few days there. Classes have started, too. Good thing most of my classes are easy this semester. It's my last semester as an undergrad; I don't think I could handle another hard one.

On tap for this semester:

• Oceanography - biggest. joke. ever. Today we learned that there are 1000 meters in a kilometer. 7th grade anyone?
• Art History - fun, awesome professor, and only 1 paper. Hooray!
• Environmental Chemistry - my last required class, taught by my advisor. Nice.

That's it! Hooray!

I'll update more about Panama soon, I promise.

love, allie

ps - I'm sorry for not updating for so long. Naughty girl. I missed you guys :)

$@#!!$@! It's winter!

It snowed today! Really it was just a tiny bit, but it was there. It started to feel like Christmas time to me today, also. I was running across the street to get some food from the sandwich shop when it started snowing. The wreaths were up on the light poles. And when I walked into the store, they were playing "Deck the Halls" on the stereo in that old-fashioned, full orchestra style. It all felt a bit out of place, seeing as how it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but it still gave me that nice, warm, Christmas-y feeling.

No plans for tonight yet. A couple people said we should go out, but nothing for sure. Surprisingly, the bf wants to go to the jazz concert at school tonight. I know it's because one of his roommates is playing, but I'll take what I can get. After that, I might go out to the bars with the girls. Should be a good time.

Short post today, I should make my Friday afternoon a productive one.

love, allie