Toto, I don't think we're in Upstate NY anymore

I think not.  After two really great weekends, I was prepared for another mundane beginning to the school week, and consequently was caught completely unaware by MONDAY NIGHT MARIMBA MADNESS!!  Yea you heard right- due to the arrival of a new priest in town, there was a festive gathering last night, to which we gained VIP access through invitation by Eulalia.  The news arrived in the middle of dinner, so we hurriedly finished and strapped on our dancing shoes.  We had to be rushed through the door to keep the other ne’er-do-wells from gaining entrance and were greeted by the sight of many happy couples marimbaing around in a circle.  The dance is kind of a hoppy waltz step- very simple- and the gringao were in high demand to boogie the night away.  We were especially honored by high-energy invitations to dance from some of the most heart-breakingly adorable children to grace this planet.  Before the song started you would see them start to lurk about, staking out their claim, and as soon as the first chipper notes broke the air they would make a mad dash towards us.  The fastest and luckiest would then grab onto your hands and announce (not ask) “Vamos a bailar!”  (We’re going to dance.)  It was the best thing that happened to me all day.  I jived my way around the room with these tiny people with a ridiculous grin on my face the whole time.  It was exactly what I needed, and a perfect reminder of how little it takes to be happy.  This coming after a slightly stressful evening, with the arrival of 2 new Foundation residents (Beth Neville and film-guy Chip) and quite a bit of shuffling around and room change.  Fortunately there are fabulous children in the world to remind me that all you really need in life is a good beat and rhythm in your feet.

As for the aforementioned weekend loveliness- 2 weeks ago, Chat, Angela and Fer went to Xela for a fun timez weekend, and I was bummed because I have 83 classes on Friday afternoon and thus could not join the trip.  My bad attitude was enhanced by lingering illness and a loooong day of classes.  At the end of the day I heaved a huge sigh of relief and headed back to the Foundation to slack and mope a little.  Much to my surprise I stumbled into a kitchen full of ALL 54 primero students making fruit cocktail for their home ec class.  I thought I might lose it, but then realized that the best thing to do was take a seat and enjoy the spectacle of Alejandro attempting to chop open a coconut with our bread knife.    It ended up being a beautiful weekend full of nothing more than good old-fashioned lazing around and good food.  We spent some quality time just hanging out at the ruins, ate awesome challah-bread french toast and generally enjoyed not doing much of anything.  It was good for my soul.

This weekend was slightly more active- activities included a nice hike to a far-away field where I got learned some rugby (not a skill I had anticipated acquiring in SMI) and a death-defying, xtreme-sports-challenge hike up a waterfall.  There was some rock-scaling and near-hypothermia-inducing swim involved.  Fer, Brian and I are a champion trifecta.  Despite the awe-inspiring nature of this traverse, I think my proudest achievement and high point of the weekend may in fact have been the Sunday night pizza.  It had fresh pineapple and two kinds of cheese and my best crust to date.  Please close your eyes and just contemplate this glorious gastronomic feat for a moment.

Also, it must be mentioned and sadly told to the world that Fer and I got into our first fight.  It was a lamentable occasion and we had to write it on the whiteboard for the sake of history.  It was simultaneously remarked that Chip and Brian were talking for approximately 10 hours.  Both of these events are eclipsed by the fact that I made one of the most fabulous fruit salads ever yesterday- mango, zapote, banana, papaya, watermelon and pineapple.  Who can blame Pee Wee Herman for wanting to marry such a delicious dish?