Yep, that little chubby girl in the red dress is me, circa 1989. This was taken on a US base in Panama City during a time of great turmoil for the country. The US officially invaded Panama under the name, Operation Just Cause, helping to remove a harmful dictator from power. This conflict is the beginning of my story of how I came to be.

My dad came to Panama as a doe-eyed, skinny, blonde US soldier from the cornfields of Iowa. This was his first duty station, and boy was it a hell of a first place to go. He always described it as a paradise, a place, unlike anything he’d ever seen in the mid-west. He quickly fell in the love with everything about the country, the food, the culture, and eventually, he fell in love with his future wife AKA, my mom. She was a fiery Latina that commanded a room with her beautiful face and strong attitude. They quickly began a whirlwind relationship to the backdrop of 80’s rock bands such as Rush and Aerosmith, cruising the streets in my dad’s golden 1968 Camaro. (Yes, it was Gold). It was a good time to be alive. Neither one of them spoke each other’s languages but they made it work somehow. I wonder how…

One and a half years, and a marriage later...enter me! We were a picture perfect family. I could understand both languages, my parents were happy, and overall things were going well. After the conflict was over, we moved to Colorado to start our new life in the USA, and unfortunately, this is where everything started to crumble. After realizing that they were not right for each other, my mom and dad divorced. Spanish dissapeared from my life, and the next 16 years would be tough. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

Fast forward to 2012, I’m a young 20 something working at Starbucks. Not doing much, but having a great time and enjoying life. I meet this great guy and fall head over heels for him. (Our story is another post altogether). The cliff notes version is he was the best thing since sliced bread, so we got married, moved to Germany for three years, and in 2017 we decided to pick up and move to Panama.

Fast forward again to 2017, we are now in Panama. I decided that it was time to come back to my roots and channel my inner Latina. If you know me, I’m pretty American, like Harry Potter loving, John Mayer obsessed, brunch enthusiast gringa. It was time to get back to when I was speaking and understanding Spanish and slurping San Cocho likes it was going out of style. I told myself that I wanted to learn Spanish again, so hot damn, I'm doing it! I love trying new things and getting out of my comfort zone.

It's 2018 and we are loving our life here in Panama with our new cat Roman. I’m excited to share my life and knowledge with you guys here on Steemit! Nice to meet you all.