Christmas, New Years + My Resolutions

2:17 PM

Hello everybody!
                           As many of you know, I am currently in Paysandú, Uruguay, where all my family lives. How did I end up here? Since October, I had been planning a surprise for my grandmother: I was determined to come home for Christmas. However, she had no idea that I was even considering coming during Christmas time. She was convinced that I might be arriving somewhere around New Years, and as the days passed she would count the days that remained to see each other for the festivities. Some people may say it's kind of silly that I was so keen on coming home before Christmas, but for my grandmother it meant the world: she's a very Christmas and family oriented person, and this would be the first time in almost four years that I'd be home to spend it with her.
I told a very small group of people I was coming home - I didn't want anyone to spill the beans to my grandmother before I was able to get home from Decorah. So, on December 22 Amanda and I embarked towards Minneapolis, where I would take my flight. I stayed for the night with Jessica, one of my co-workers and really good friends from college, and it was SO much fun. We went to the movies and saw Mockingjay (and this super dope USA themed van)


Jess stayed awake until 2 in the morning with me and then drove me to the airport, where we said goodbye until February. I waited for a while in the airport, and at around 3 in the morning I finally was able to board my first flight. I was slowly getting really excited and really nervous to finally be able to go home after a year and a half away from my family. When we boarded the plane and sat down, I was so exhausted from sleeping so little that I don't even remember the take off. From Minneapolis, I was to arrive at North Carolina, then I would go to Miami, from Miami to Panama and from Panama to Montevideo - and that's not the last stop: I had to hop on a 5-hour-bus that would get me home at around 3 pm on the 24th of December. Although the journey was a little bit long, some of the sceneries that I saw from the plane were totally worth staying up!


When I got to my hometown, I was a bit baffled by all the changes that have happened since I left - so many stores have closed, and so many others have opened, and I guess I was a bit sad to see some of my favourite shops close. When I stepped out of the bus as we arrived to the bus station, I found my friends and my sister waiting for me and it was SO NICE to see familiar faces waiting there for me to get home.


Some of my friends stayed at my house for a while and hung out while we talked about life, catch up and had something to eat. I was slowly getting really nervous about going to my grandmother's house because I thought maybe she suspected I was coming home. My sister reassured me that she had no clue, and after my friends left, we got ready to go surprise her.  At around 10 o'clock, we got my Grandma's house, and my sister went in first. I slowly went in, hiding behind her, and sneaked into the house. Then this happened:


I was so happy to see how well she reacted to this - she really had NO idea, and she had been telling everybody I was coming home for New Years. She told me it was the best surprise she'd had in years, and I was so stoked that it went so well. Here are a few pictures!

 

After our Christmas dinner, the beautiful fireworks and spending some time with the family, my friends and I went out for the night. There's an event every year in my hometown where they have 4 types of music playing simultaneously on different places in the venue, and usually - almost - everyone attends. My friends and I got together at one of our friends's house, and we got there at around 2.30 in the morning. We met up later on - at around 4, I think - with our other group of friends, and we stayed around until 9. The fireworks display this year was not as good as in previous years, but it was so nice still!






Since Christmas, I've seen so many of my friends. It's crazy to think that even after I've moved around so much in the past years, we can still keep in touch and when we meet up it's like nothing has changed. 

After Christmas, my friend Carolina (pictured above) stayed over and we watched Criminal Minds. The next day, my friend Fiore came to my house and we went out for ice cream and I think we talked for 5 hours straight. Then, my friend Alfonso and one of his friends and I went out for pizza and then watched a movie, then in the past days I've been visiting my grandma a lot, and since New Years I've been out and about visiting people. In fact, right now I'm going to one of my friend's - Analia - whom I haven't seen in probably 3 years!



Before I go, I've been meaning to share with you all my New Years Resolutions. This year, I have decided to  have resolutions I can actually stick to, and that - hopefully - will improve my overall happiness.

  1. Read more books before going to sleep
  2. Use my phone less
  3. Write letters and actually send them
  4. Keep up with this blog
  5. Take more pictures and improve my skills
  6. Try harder in keeping in contact with my friends and my family
  7. Exercise more and eat healthier
  8. Have more meals with friends and not so many take-outs
  9. Improve my GPA 
  10. Be a better R.A and be more present
  11. Be mindful
  12. Rush less
  13. Enjoy more conversations with my residents and people in general
  14. Judge people - and myself - a little less
  15. Enjoy more sunsets
  16. Start baking again
  17. Make a bucket list of things I want to do and actually do them
  18. Help others more
  19. Donate blood at least 2 times this year
  20. Surprise people more often!
What are your New Years resolutions? How were your holidays? 

- Vicky

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Vicky is a 5'3 South American who loves traveling, taking pictures and writing. You can reach her at any of her social media accounts, unless it's finals week - then you might have to wait.

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