Tikal adventure day 1

The last few days I have been at a place in Guatemala called Tikal. It’s a part of the Peten region up in the North West part of the country. Its one of the flattest parts of Guatemala in the lower elevations and also in the middle of the jungles. It’s also where the richest Mayan history is and these ruins are the draw to make the trip up to visit.  Now making this visit is kind of an adventure to say the least I was booked as part of a huge package where I had my airline, hotel for one night and a tour of the Tikal Mayan ruins/park one of the two days.   I was picked up at my aunts house at this ungodly early time of 3:45 am and taken to the airport by a shuttle service what they didn’t inform me was that my tiny little plane left from a totally different airport then the Guatemala city one and so I frantically wandered around the wrong place hopelessly looking for someone who spoke enough English to tell me where I needed to go. I had to take a taxi for 100 Q (um a ton when you don’t have much like I did) to the right airport and ended up being able to make my flight even though I was a bit late because luckily other people seemed to be in the same boat and showed up after me.  This flight was insane. I mean it was one of those tiny planes you see in movies where like ten people fit and makes a ton of noise. Like a tiny gust of wind makes the whole thing shift about 20 feet in the air. Lucky for me I am not fearful of flying at all so I had no worry about these crazy events.

my tiny little  plane

look at the view out the window

So after the crazy flight I was in a city called Flores. It was so freaking hot here. I have never been at a place where the sun was so intense. We jumped on a shuttle to the hotel and I got to meet some of the other people also staying in the hotel and taking the tours. At the hotel I was given the option of trading in my daytime tour of thee ruins for two different ones. One was a sunset tour and the other a sunrise tour where you get out at 3 am and watch the jungle wake up. I eagerly opted to make that trade. One I didn’t want to head out in blazing daytime hours and two I figured that if I get two for the price of one that’s such a bargain.  I took a few hours just kind of wandering around the parts of the park I could get into without paying the fee.   I found this random road that seemed to go on forever and started down it. I saw some super incredible birds and even this crazy fox that was tiny like the size of a cat although had these super scary huge fangs hanging out of its mouth. It gave me a super scary death scare as I walked passed it, I was way too afraid to even try to get the camera out of my pocket to take a picture in fear of it attacking me.   It was nice to be out in this pace alone. I have always loved to hike and walk because it makes me the most reflective about myself. Being here where all these wonderful animals and plants were just made me feel so content with everything about myself. It was peaceful and relaxing exactly what I was looking to get out of this trip.
 

the view from my rooms balcony who I shared with Greg

the hike around the jungle I took by my self

the one picture I could get of the creepy fox thing.

When I met back at the hotel for my tour I was able to meet some other people who were along for it with me as well.  I deiced that I would take this time to try to work on my social skills and strike up some conversations. Again I figured here is this chance where I have no pressure on me. I mean none of these people will ever see me again and I will be so insignificant that I don’t need to worry about making an impression.    It helped that may were also travelers and around my age.  I loved being out in the Ruins. Mayan history is very complex and to think that there were people out there making these incredible temples brick by brick long before the time of machines. They had this ability to figure out stuff that I sometimes feel even modern civilizations couldn’t even with all our tools and gadgets.  It was so amazing and I can’t even begin to describe how it must have been almost spiritual to be in such a place where so many really amazing events and creations occurred.   We had the chance to really explore all around the ruins and even climb all the way to the top of some of the taller buildings to catch a truly amazing birds eye view. It was tough on the body but totally worth it.

a model of the whole park

one of the ruin groups

temple 5 that we all climbed to the top of.

going up was intense

once at the top it was completely worth all the effort. Look at this view!!

OK you know how I have mentioned that I love seeing animals in nature right. Well I will say that seeing animals in the natural jungle was so much better. We saw monkeys galore, both spider monkeys swinging around in the trees looking for food and howler monkeys crying out for each other high up in the tree tops. There was coatimundi all around the place acting like the modern day raccoons would in my home town. We had so many amazing birds like parrots, turkeys, and so many more flying around. The small lakes had crocodiles and turtles and even a pair of wart hogs enjoying the mud for a bath.  I even got to see a jaguar lounging in the mid day sun enjoying a  very bloody carcass for dinner but it was so far away you could only catch a glimpse through the binoculars in the distance.   I want to pack up my bags and move into the center of it spending my life studying the amazing jungle animals. Maybe someday this will be what I end up doing who knows. But I can say that I felt so much more complete as I sat looking at this incredible wildlife that I knew my life is forever changed now.

spider monkey

coatimundi

some sort of cool huge bird.

Watching the sun set over these temples was a once in a life time experience. Seeing how these people had built this city among the properties of moon and sun cycles blows me away but being there you can totally see how it was done.   These people are so amazing.  They were able to create so much from so little they should be an inspiration for us all.  They still carry this sense and history to all the generations still alive.  It makes me long even for some of that same sense of heritage about the African American side of myself I am so out of touch to. Maybe that should be my next step. Try to figure out about the stories and struggles my fathers side had to endure.

another of the large temples in the plaza

from the top of that one in the above photo

another view from the top of the plaza temple

sun setting over the ruins

we were so lucky to have a shaman performing a ritual during our tour so we got to watch him  set up and tell us all about it.

The night was spent hanging out with some of the other travelers I met drinking beer and talking about where we had all come from and gone to and just about who we are.  It was perfect and for once I felt like I was just another member of the cool crowd. Maybe it was being in this foreign country with so many in the same place as I am that made this conversation so easy.  One of those guys was named Greg and he was traveling alone like me and also from the states.  He happened to be my next door neighbor and we shared a balcony. He was also taking both the sunset and sunrise tours. After the tour was over he came over asking if I drank beer. I said of course I do. He told me about this awesome deal the hotel had where you could get 10 beers for like 100 Q and asked if I wanted to share it with him. I totally jumped on that deal so together we sat at a table next to the pool and just talked drank beer and a few other people from the tour and hotel joined us. It really was awesome.  I felt better then I ever had before on this trip and I tried to just enjoy it and feel how easy it was to be this person.   After all that beer and conversation we all eventually headed to bed,  a few people saying that they weren’t sure if they could make it up at 3 am to take the sunrise tour. I knew that I was going to so I made sure to set my phone alarm. Then drifted off into a very contented sleep.

Guatemala day 4

OK I have now officially had a few days in this country and I have one pretty serious thing I must talk about. What is the deal with the food here? Ok now I know that I am a vegetarian…ok well honestly I eat fish and seafood but no other meats. Although I do eat a small amount of cheeses and yogurt but rarely other dairy products.  OK so yeah I’m a vegetarian and I know that sometimes having weird diet habits in foreign countries is super difficult. But I figure heck it’s like Mexican-ish and that’s super easy to eat things from and with the seafood it should be fine. Yeah I was a little wrong. Ok so yes some of the places have some veggie things to choose from but many don’t.  It’s been ok so far but I am a little disappointed.

But what is disappointing me a tons more is the fact that so far most everything I have eaten has turned out to be super bland.  Here I am in this wonderful colorful country with a million different colors and full of bright bold flavors but all the food I have eaten is super bland. I mean what’s up with that? Where is the spice? I was expecting lots of bold pungent flavors but so far my expectations have fallen flat.  I must say that maybe it is just me because the three other women I have been with the last few days seem to be totally ok with the food and sometimes even enjoying it remarkably a lot.  I’m puzzled because very bite to me seems to be lacking in some serious spice and heck I’ll even say it flavor. I feel like I could have walked to my local taco time and eaten more authentic Latin American food and that even with the weird ranch dressing taco time uses instead of sour cream. That’s so not a good comparison.   I now that you were expecting some huge detailed description about my latest day in Guatemala but I am so perplexed by this whole food thing that I cant seem to move on and write about anything else.  Shrug?

 These last few days have been spent at the lake. It has been very enjoyable to spend time with my aunt and her friends. Donna is from California and also works for the same program that my Aunt does. It’s an origination that helps to get low income rural area people into higher education by providing scholarships and such. One of the ways that they do fundraising is by buying up all this local hand made crafts and such and selling it in the states. It’s amazing how much junk there is to buy. Now I am not a huge shopper so it’s hard for me to spend a whole day doing it. But it’s fascinating to watch someone like Donna who obviously loves it and knows what she is doing. These towns are full of local markets and merchants that want to do nothing else but bargain and get you to buy all their junk.  It’s like a whole different world walking into these little stands full of beaded jewelry and purses. Next door is woven bags of every imaginable size and shape. You have hanging rugs and table linens, tiles, wall hanging, paper products, and seriously so much more that I couldn’t even begin to name it all.  The part about the shopping that I found the most fascinating is that the local villages all have their own style of dress and head pieces and clothing. Each village differs a ton from the other and being with Donna she was able to know so many from just the look of it. I was able to learn a lot of what each different place represents and their individual style.  Let me tell you watching all this shopping and seeing all this bartering sure made me tired.

Isn't it pretty?

a view from afar

the town next to the one we stayed in

its such a different world.

shopping like crazy

enjoying drinks after a long day

I was able to have a little time to myself to walk down to the pretty lake side park and see some of the sights along the water.  I enjoyed it a lot and just sitting watching the locals fish and work the boats was very relaxing and just what I needed after such a busy day.

the very pretty water front park

this place was so nice

all the boats and ferrys

I just sat and watched.. just relaxing and listening to the waves

Another random day in Guatemala

 I know I have been back for a week and I still haven't posted a non vacation post. It totally amazes me how long it takes you to recover from your vacation. My body is still recovering. I seem to be tired all the time and I just cant seem to get very motivated to do much. But this week I think will be better so I can resume my real life posts. But until then enjoy another post from my vacation complete with more pictures.


OK so at day three in Guatemala here are a few things I have already learned.

1 this city was so not made for people who are super klutzy. All it is cobble stones and dirt roads and huge gigantic holes in the streets and sidewalks, which are already totally unleveled and sometimes so loose that the second you take a step it totally gives out. So if you are not paying even the slightest bit of attention to where you walk you will fall. In the first three days I have already totally fallen over like 6 times I have skinned both knees and torn a hole in my favorite jeans.  I turned both my ankles already and once I fell forward so hard into a wall that I can’t lift my shoulder up above my head with out excruciating pain because I had to brace myself to not fall so unexpectedly.  Oh and if having to watch the crazy pot holed streets wasn’t work enough, then they throw on these crazy iron bars along the sides of  all the buildings and windows, that seriously are perfect head level and seem made for having your head run into. So I have a huge egg on the side of my head from running in to one of them sadly more then once already.  And it’s only been three days, that a pretty good record for even my level of clumsiness.

I hate seeing all the stupid wild dogs around. Ok this one is hard for me because I came here knowing that this is how countries like this view pets and I came expecting that this is what I was going to see. But being in the middle of it all, I just want to cry every time I see one come limping by me. Because I know that in some other place in the world it would have such a different life.  It a strange thing when you see dogs, cattle, and horses on the sides of the road picking apart garbage and eating it. Or when you see a pack of wild dogs turn on each other and attack on f its own because I bet they haven’t eaten in forever and that was the only choice they have.  Oh and yes that is what I ended up seeing today and it was horrible and I never want to see it again.  Its ad knowing that millions of these animals get hit by cars or develop tumors of cancer and never in any of it get to experience what having a real home would be like. I mean I know that I am in the vet field and I know that in the US we do above and beyond for our pets and I know that so many other countries view us as the stupid ones for being this was with animals. But I can’t help but feel a lot of sadness that these poor animals don’t get to dream about having a better life. They just deal with the crappy card they were dealt and that’s all.

How come people don’t die more here either? Ok so seriously I have almost been run over while just walking around on foot. I mean nobody wears a seatbelt and seriously the driving is so insane. Its also seems like the best and easiest way to get around in this town is by motorcycle and you can bet that no one wears a helmet. Heck I see these tiny kids on the back of these bikes weaving crazily through traffic that are so young they can hardly grasp the driver.  No seriously it’s totally insane and I mean I feel like more then once I could easily have been ht by something or seen one of these random kids fall off something and get killed. How come it doesn’t happen more?  I mean in the US people die all the time from not wearing seatbelts and we go out and pass a huge law and spend a million bucks to plaster the country with that lame “click it or ticket” motto. I mean why haven’t people done that here yet? If anyone needs a seatbelt and helmet law its crazy ass central and South American countries. Guess what they are also not wearing a helmet. Oh and also here the women totally carry shit around in huge baskets on the top of their heads. I mean where is my mom when you need her? How come they don’t seem more traumatic neck injuries? Are Guatemalans just born with thicker neck muscles and a better since of balance for motorcycles? Must be.

Not speaking Spanish sucks huge ass, but being with three other people who do speak fluent Spanish sucks ass even more. I mean if it was me by myself I think I would be forced to ask more if they speak English. But since I am surrounded by Spanish speakers, then I feel so retarded having to be the only lame non speaking one, so I try to just make due. But it’s annoying because I don’t know who I should ask for about the translation. I could ask my aunt or her friends that are right here, although if I had been alone I would have just asked the people in the store if they speak English, so I’m torn in which direction I should go. But what I find weird and probably totally unreasonable is that part of me kind of feels like maybe my aunt should speak more in English so that I am not so left out, although I don’t think its fair to think that way either. It’s not her fault that I don’t know anything about the language of the foreign country I chose to come on vacation in.  I guess the thing is this is that stuff I was talking about where I have to start to challenge and push myself. I just have to step out of my comfort zone and be like “habla English?” And if they say “no” then not freak out and not depend on the three women around me who do speak the language to translate for me. But instead just suck it up and figure it out on my own. I will probable get to that point but for now I am timidly breaking out of my aunt’s wing and coming into my own.  Just wait until I am returning home I bet I’ll be a Spanish speaking fool.

This day we took a trip to a cool lake a little bit out of the city and spent a few nights in the town. On the way there we stopped for lunch at this amazing hotel with these huge gardens and birds all around. That's where the pictures are from. It was a awesome place and so pretty.

Grapefruit tree!!

 One of the famous temples we visited  on the way there

Look at this view

The grounds were so pretty

There were birds just loose and chilling all around

You could take a boat out on the lake

Or get in by Helicopter cause it had a heili-pad.

Its so hot I wish I could have swam in this pool.

that's the hotel in its own little lakeside valley

Guatemala day 2

I spent the day today by myself just exploring this city that I have already started to fall in love with even after just being here two days. Well like less then two days more like 36 hours.  It’s so colorful and I love the fact that it still blends old world with new, but you can still tell that everyone is proud of the heritage even if they have moved away from some facets of it. As I started out alone walking in no set direction, I put in my ear buds and for a second felt kind of guilty because I was afraid that this was that typical crappy American “flaunting the wealth” junk that you read about when in poor countries.  I didn’t want people to look down on me or think that I was disrespectful in any way.  But I am so lost without music and my soundtrack to life makes me so much more … Well it makes life so much better for me, so I kept them on and soon realized that ear buds were commonly seen with both the young and older crowd I passed.

The more I started to walk around Antigua I was brought back to a time in my life where I was ready to ditch my life and take a year off to tour the world. This was long before I had made the decision to be a vet tech and enrolling in Bel Rea (the vet tech school) pretty much decided my fate in not going o this trip. At that time in my life I was kind of just floating. I worked hard but didn’t have a real clear direction about who I was and what I wanted to even be someday.  I figured what better way to figure it out then to give up my comfy life and travel. I mean in books and movies all the really life changing events happen when the main character up and abandons their existence and travels. I figured that the same things would happen to me. So anyways I started to work two full time jobs and saved ever spare cent I made, safely tucking it away in cash into the safe in my closet ( yeah I know not a great place but I was young) and after I had about 6000 I started to figure out where I wanted to go. It took a few months to find the company that allows you to just book an open end ticket to anywhere in the world and I happily forked over my deposit. I found places for the cats and turtles to go while I was gone that I knew would acceptably care for them, and I was all set pretty much. I just figured that I needed to have a few more months of hard work to save enough to live on while traveling, but for the most part the rest would just kind of work itself out.   I don’t know exactly what changed my mind. But I remember exactly where I was when it happened. I had always seen these super cheesy commercials about vet tech school on the television, but I have no clue what prompted me to call one day. But I remember requesting info and as soon as this info came in my mail box and I read it, I knew that I was no longer going to go around the world. And that was it; suddenly like that I had some sort of direction.

Why am I bringing this all up right now when should be writing about this super awesome country I am hanging out in on a once in a life time trip? Well because I can’t help but long to be that woman who spent those 12-18 months traveling anywhere and everywhere. I know that I would be so much freer and friendly as I walked around today, and wouldn’t feel so depended on having those ear buds to allow me to not talk to anyone.  I allow myself to stay enclosed in my shell and I know that if I had taken that trip all those years ago I would have chipped that shell down to a very small nubbin which I could no longer hide behind.   Today was one of those days where I truly missed what I could have been, I missed the person I know I would have become, and I wanted to find some way to find her and make her a part of me again.  I know that life is all about challenging yourself, and I know that I do end up doing this all the time, but today I wish that I would have done it a little more. I mean what would I have lost? I am in a different country for Christ sakes and the worst they could say is “stupid American woman,” which heck I would have agreed with if they had ended up saying this. But instead I threw on the I pod and I walked all around this really awesome city in my own world. Really only speaking to people as I ordered lunch, bought water from a small store, or paid admission to get in a ruin or museum. I returned home happy because like I said earlier I found how much I truly love it here but so disappointed that I wasn’t able to just be more for once.

Here are a bunch of random pictures form my day out alone.

Guatemala day 1

Well since I have obviously returned from this vacation its kinda weird to say day 1, but this is what I wrote after that first day being in town.  Because I never did get the chance to go online I was never able to post when in Guatemala so I'm doing it after I have returned home. So I figure that I'll try to post vacation stuff and real time stuff together in the next few weeks. Enjoy

OK so I have officially settled into this city and I have to admit that I do feel a little out of place.  So far I have met a few people and they have all seemed really kind, but it’s a very nice blend of my aunt’s older friends and people who I can’t for the life of me understand… Why didn’t I try to learn a little Spanish in the last few months? Oh yeah I was insanely busy as it was and would never have found the time for that addition.  My airport trip in was insane. I have to basically sprint through the E terminal of the Houston airport and made it with only four minutes to spare.  After 12 hours of traveling and not eating anything I made my way though the long hallway and into customs easily and thought the whole baggage, immigration and customs was a breeze.  I met my aunt who was nice enough to come and meet me even though it was past 10 at night and I’m sure past her bedtime. She said that she doesn’t like to make the drive into Guatemala City from Antigua which is about 40 minutes this time of night but can be hours in the day time. As we were heading back I could see why. Antigua is quietly nestled between three volcanoes and so getting into it requires quite the uphill trek. The roads are crazy curvy and visibilities not great. Between the cars, motorbikes, random wild dog and occasion wild horse along the road you have a high chance of hitting something if you’re not really looking out.  Oh and apparently the chance of crime is high along this same road so if you do hit something or have a breakdown or something you might also get robbed or heck something much worse.

Anyways finally arriving in Antigua and getting all settled in my aunt’s house I crashed out for the night with my whole body aching form the crappy seats on the plans and my legs sore from the sprinting. I slept ok this first night. I always have a hard time sleeping in unfamiliar places or in unfamiliar beds. Sometime during the middle of the night I got freezing which is so surprising cause when I went to be it felt like a very warm oven in my little room. The other thing that woke me up was at some point there was some pretty intense rainfall.  Now I am from Seattle so trust me when I say that I have seen some pretty crazy rain showers. This was like the equivalent of what would fall on a whole stormy day in Seattle, but only falling in a maybe hour long period. It was crazy to say the least. But regardless I was able to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to explore a bit.

My aunt who is also named Martha had been telling me about her friends who are running a dog rescue out of the city. We went with one of them and a whole pack of dogs out to a huge coffee fink. A finka is another word for kind of like a plantation or farm, but a very large farm. I guess the rescue has permission to let the dogs run around on the property and it allows them the chance to burn some energy. It was so pretty, so many plants were there and some was in full bloom so you could smell the sweetness of the coffee flowers as you hiked along.

The Coffee Finka

All Guatemalan coffee is shade grown coffee

 Afterward we headed into town where I was given the grand tour of the rescues home. Its was primitive, but you could tell that the people running it have a ton of passion and are really doing some amazing things with these animals. It’s weird to be in a country where dogs run around so freely. There are these huge packs of dogs that chase cars all over the place. Same with the horses, while driving back we got held up because a wild horse pack didn’t want to leave the road way.

Three of the rescue dogs

After spending time with the dogs, my Aunt and I walked all around the city of Antigua. I love it here; it’s so lush and green. It was a perfect day, sunny but not to hot or humid. All the people we passed were friendly and they have so many types of plants that grow its amazing.  We went to some of the old churches and building in town, some had been rebuilt after earthquakes and some were just still ruins. I loved the sense of culture and history you get from being here. They love intricate stone and wood work in the buildings; they use lots of colored glass and fabrics. It’s very much what I expected, but seeing it in person was so much amazing then I thought it would be. I can see why my aunt loves it here.

One of the churches still in use today

walking around town

This place was so freaking cool. and so detailed.

One of the old ruins in town

in the center of one of these ruins.

After walking around we went to a restaurant for lunch, where ironically I had this super yummy Italian pasta dish. I started to notice that all the building might look unassuming form the outside street but inside they could have these huge courtyards or open air gardens with trees and fountains. This restaurant was like that, it had a huge courtyard with tables and fountains and birds galore, and it was the perfect place for afternoon lunch.  After eating we headed a bit out of town and went to a coffee roasting place and Mayan museum music of sorts.  We took tours and I learned all about the Mayan influences that are still heavily in Guatemala as well as all about the coffee grown here. I will say this that from now on I will forever only buy shade grown Coffee. I kind of had already thought to do that because its killing less habitat to grow, but after knowing about how coffee is harvested here it has just strengthen my desires now.  We then made a drive to another small city where my Aunt also has some property and visited some of her friends out there. Everyone has been very nice to me but maybe that’s because I’m her niece. After a long day of seeing a lot about this city I am exhausted but so excited for the next day.  Tomorrow I have another day in Antigua and I figure maybe I’ll get a chance to head out to the finka with the rescue again and walk some doggies in the morning. Either way I’m expecting it to be as exciting as today was.

One of the places to buy traditional Mayan stuff

at the coffee roasting plant.

Making my own traditions

(This was from the day I left for my trip almost 2 weeks ago... I wrote it in the airport as I was waiting for my very late flight to depart. Over the next few days I will try to post the Guatemala trip blogs I have written but not been able to post due to my lack of internet service while out of the country)

Last week my little sister and I celebrated out one year anniversary. At this point we have made the required time commitment that the big brothers big sisters people asked of us and so we are each able to decided if we want to continue or take the chance to say good bye. I couldn’t imagine saying good bye and walking away from Michaela. I feel like I have worked so hard to get this child from being kind of shy and not talking a lot to being the chatty cant stop her random train of though girl that she is today when we hang out.  I remember back to our very first outing. We went to the park she was really into swings and monkey bars and sometimes she would want me to watch her do stuff or push her or just swing with her. It was a fun day and I instantly knew that she would be a good fit. What I didn’t know is that she was really this totally different little girl someone who is smart, and funny, and independent, and shy, all the things that I have seen in myself before.

Anyways, so yeah one year together now. I so couldn’t imagine my life with out this little girl either its amazing how quick someone becomes a staple for you. We have a match coordinator who checks in with us monthly, and I think so far me and Michaela have made her job fairly easy, because I never seem to have many problems. Well I guess I can’t speak for them, just myself, but I never seem to have many issues. This last phone call she said something that made it seem like maybe Michaela and her mom didn’t want to continue on with the program and have Michaela be my  little any longer.  It was weird this feeling that I instantly got, I was as close to heart broken as I think you can get. But lucky it was just a weird miss understanding and after talking to Lindsay (her mom) we figured out that they want to continue with me just as much as I do them.  I am glad because just the other day when I and Michaela were out at the science center together during her spring break, I told her that I would take her ice skating again at Christmas time. She was so happy  and already super excited even if it is more then half a year away. I told her that I would take her every Christmas as long as she was my little sister. It would be our tradition together.

I was driving home thinking about it and it hit me that right at that moment I had accomplished something so easily that I had been working most of my adult life to achieve. I made something that was my very own tradition. I mean you know that traditions exist and most times they are passed down from your parent’s traditions. It’s sometimes not something that you get to choose but  just how it is or what always happens. When I was a kid my family had a ton of traditions. We spent most holidays with the same group of people. At Christmas time we made gingerbread houses and went ice skating with these same families year after year. We would open presents and have a big family breakfast first, then head over to one family for Christmas eve and another for Christmas dinner.  We always got crappy nuts and oranges in our stockings while my friends got presents and candy and I was always envious. At Easter my dad hid eggs around the house and my mom would do the baskets.  Almost always you could expect to find one of the Easter baskets in the bath tub almost like clock work. Even more predictable you could bet that the chocolate bunny would have its ears bitten off cause my mom couldn’t have resisted.   When I was Michaela’s age I would have just figured that these traditions would go on forever. But they didn’t seem to for me.  My father died and I realized that a lot of the holiday stuff was a result of his effort and planning.  It wasn’t like my mom hated traditions but for some reason she didn’t seem to feel like it was necessary to work hard to keep them going. Or heck maybe it’s just that we grew up and we stopped caring.  And eventually she met someone else  and started to make new traditions with him that didn’t seem to include her kids anymore.

The problem for me isn’t that we abandoned the traditions but that we now can’t seem to find a way to bring them back. We never see the same families for the holidays that I grew up with being a staple for any holiday event. We never go ice skating or make gingerbread houses, even though now we have a few little kids who might thoroughly enjoy it. We never head to an Easter egg hunt and watch the little kids gather candy eggs frantically as I did when I was a child. Heck in my family, we rarely mark a special occasion with a card and if you are lucky enough to get one on time its even less likely..  Maybe it’s the fact that I’m older or that I’m at an age where I could have my own kids, but for some reason this lack of tradition has really bothered me the last few years it like I find myself really missing them and like I said seeking people and things to incorporate into my like on a regular basis.   That’s why I am so glad to be able to have the chance to start one of my very own with some one who is special to me.  And I’m excited to be able to put the same kind of time and effort into this tradition as my father did for the ones we had growing up. Because I want Michaela to look back and remember how every year she got to go ice skating for Christmas and heck maybe someday she can be telling her own children about  how the tradition got started.