The Little SALTT Camp that Could (aka, "Bootleg SALTT Camp")

I am currently fighting a plague of some sort, brought about by a week with little sleep and snotty-nosed kids of various shapes, sizes, and ages. Please forgive me if I make no sense. My brain seems to be trying to escape through my left nostril, while simultaneously trying to explode out my forehead. It's awesome, trust me.

As many of you know, SALTT camp was last week. SALTT is a club at our school (Service And Leadership for Today and Tomorrow) that ministers to Guatemalan children of Mayan descent, most of whom are illegals. They had to flee from Guatemala because of their ethnicity--the government doesn't want them so they have to get out, or, in some cases, die. Our kids put on a camp for them for one week during the summer and our goal is to not only teach them about God, but to show them that education and good choices can open up a world for them that seems closed. But the biggest, most important thing we do, is love these kids who are told, time and time again, that they are unlovable.

While camp is stressful, sleep-deprived haze of children and crafts, the mission of what we're doing is important and so I go, to participate and to witness.

This year's camp was slightly "bootleg" as timing and weather prevented our first two field trips from being what they could have been. It was kind of the running joke throughout the week. We did make it to bowling (for what seemed like 10 hours...) and the water park so all was well in the end. EXCEPT that at the water park, we found out about the death of Michael Jackson. RIP, Moonwalker.

The day of the water park, Thursday, was uber traumatizing. Not only did MJ die, but I called my friend Drew to de-stress and he told me about Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon. PLUS I was having a nervous breakdown over the way the lady in charge runs things (which I went to camp knowing would happen) and I basically couldn't take it anymore.

Funny story: I'm in the back of my car with three ILS alum. One, the only guy, is driving because I couldn't take his back seat driving anymore (yes, I actually pulled the car over and got out mid-trip), another is in the front seat with a bum ankle, and the third is in the back seat with me, offering me her hand for comfort. The three girls are, like, bitching about everything, basically, and the poor guy didn't know what was happening. I think we may have destroyed his life. lol. This SALTT camp also highlighted something I've known to be true for quite some time: I have a SUPER awkward life. Like, seriously awkward. Case in point: on Tuesday morning, two random guys (CUTE guys, too) show up to camp after breakfast. I a) look like a homeless person b) am not wearing any make up and c) have HUGE bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. Needless to say, I was not looking or feeling very presentable so I avoided these two guys. I said hi, but otherwise avoided them like the plague. But Father Frank, like, corners me and makes me introduce myself to them. I was like, "I already said hi mumble, mumble, I gotta go." I went back to the library (where the girls sleep) and made myself more presentable, then went to find out what these dudes were about. Turns out they were in town for a deportation case, they were "doing a story" on it and they had heard about camp through Father Frank, who they'd heard of because of the case. They were cool guys, or seemed to be, so whatever.

So a little bit later, I'm in the library writing names on bags (trust me, it was VERY important) and the camp director comes in going, "Have you seen Father Frank?" I reply, "He's probably with those guys." Then I hear, "You mean us guys?" Yeah... they were there, in the doorway. Awwwwesome. At least I didn't say, "He's probalby walking around with those hotties" 'cause yeah, that would've been more awkward. And if all that wasn't bad enough, Father Frank and D insisted they get my phone number for NO reason AND they talked to the guys about me like I wasn't even in the room but I WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE! I wanted to sink into the floorboards, for SURE.

And let's not neglect my final awkward story. I was called a boy THREE times during camp. Twice it was by kids, so whatever, I can deal. In their culture, much like the culture of Miami, girls don't have short hair. So they see short hair, and they assume that person is a boy. Okay, fine. I can deal. But then I go to Walgreens to get stuff for the poor sprained ankle (see above) and I'm checking out, and the guy goes, totally unprompted, "Uh, like, don't take offense but, uh, I thought you were a dude for, like, two seconds." Um... Really? REALLY guy who works at Wallgreens? WHY did you feel the need to share that?! Did I ASK you? Did you call me "sir"? No. AWKWARD! More so for him than for me, really. Whatever. In his defense, though, I did look like a homeless person.

Sadly, that was my second adventure at Walgreens during camp. The first adventure, whose point I cannot at this time recall, was funny only because I found this:

Had it not been $20, I would have bought that hot little number and worn it every day. Aww yeah!

Our fieldtrips were, as I said previously, pretty bootleg, but we did manage to make it to the water park for a good three hours and I spent my time there with Aileen who is so sweet and lovely. Here we are after an afternoon of waterslides.
At the end of the week, the kids put on a little show. They have singing, drama, and dance classes throughout the week, and they all culminate in the show, which was Alice In Wonderland this year. The show is always a shortened, dare I say bootleg, version of the real thing, but it goes along with the theme which was uniqueness. After the show, we always do a group picture, and here it is. You can barely see anyone, but trust me, I'm there in the bottom left corner, with Selvin and Domingo on my lap.

Selvin, I decided, is my child, not only because he's cute as heck, but because his last name is also Garcia. Clearly, meant to be mine.
After the show we have a carnival and then the kids leave on the bus, just as they do every day previous. But on the last day, the big kids follow the bus nearly into the street. It's really touching. Here's what it looks like.

All in all it was a great week, although I wish I could have gotten more sleep and I wish I could tell D how to run it more efficiently and smoothly. But I know if I tell her, it won't really matter, so that sucks. Anyway, this last photo is my favorite of camp. Ana Lourdes (another Ms. Garcia and memeber of the English department) took it and when I saw it the first time, it brought tears to my eyes. I just love it...

I think it says so much about the camp experience--it's all about hands. Two hands, reaching toward each other, trying to hold on for a minute.

On the way back from camp I almost got into a serious car accident because the road was wet and this IDIOT of EPIC proportions decided to come into my lane (FALSE) and I slowed down and moved to the next lane but lost control and slid across four lanes, ending up facing oncoming traffic in a ditch. It was scary and horrible, but luckily no one was around so I didn't get hit, I didn't hit anything, and both me and Georgia (my car) are fine. I was pretty shaken up, but I made it home and Tanya, my savior, picked me up for our friends' going away party. I am clearly a rock star.

Monday night I drove up to Ft. Lauderdale to have dinner with Annie, which was nice, and then Tuesday I had lunch at Five Guys, which, apparently, is super famous but I've never been. Let's just say I WILL be going again! It was delicious!

This week has been devoted to researching London, finishing up travel plans, watching Hugh Grant movies, and healing myself from this awful plague. I leave for London tomorrow... I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

One final FYI--my church is doing a competition to promote their summer series called At the Movies. Congregants had to remake scenes from a famous movie, and my friend Yesi and I couldn't resist. Here's what we made--check it out! The video with the most hits is the winner so watch, watch, watch and tell your friends!

Much love!

Camp!

In about an hour I'm heading to school for mass, then off to Lake Worth for this year's SALTT camp. We work with Guatemalan children of Mayan descent and sort of do a vacation Bible school for them, teaching them about God and taking them on field trips. It's a week of life change for everyone, chaperons, my students, and little ones, but it's also a week of extreme exhaustion and hard work. So please, if you're inclined, pray for us and the work we're doing.

I've been enjoying myself the past couple of days. Friday I went up to the summer camp at school and taught some dances for the older girls (8-12 years old). It was really fun, great exercise, and the ladies seemed to enjoy it as well so that was awesome. Then Friday night I invited some ladies over for a board game night, where my complete and total dominance in Apples to Apples was established. I. Am. AWESOME at that game. We also played a new version of Taboo that was... interesting. Let's just say Yesi and I are AMAZING at Bendy Bob. lol.

Last night I went to the piano bar (which I'm now having dreams about, by the way) and chilled. Adam and I are CLEARLY BFFs, and he helped make my dream come true by playing "Dick in a Box." I told him so and we ended up chatting for, like, half an hour. He's a super cool guy--it'd be awesome to be friends with him. I love Michigan people. *sigh* I also met a couple other girls while I was dancing, and then this morning and church I saw them there! Random! Miami is such a small town for being so big! But they were awesome ladies and hopefully new friends.

Today Yesi and I filmed our video for our church's summer series promotion and she's currently editing and posting it to YouTube. Whatever video gets the most hits wins, and the winner(s) get a video camera. So be on the lookout for a link to the video in the next couple of days. I'll post it on FB, here in my blog, my LJ, and email, of course. Tell your friends and pass it on! It's acutally pretty cute and funny, so it'll be entertaining. I promise!

Okay...tons to do before I head to school.

Two weeks 'til London town!!!

Happy Father's Day to my dad! I love you. :)

Much love!

My First Weekend of Freedom!

The stress and anger I felt most of last week all melted away on Friday when we checked out officially for the summer. I had a seriously stressful last week, due to a student who can't manage to follow directions and a poor decision on my part. Anyway, that's all over, and people get what they deserve and life goes on.

Thursday night was a night of premature celebration in the form of the English department's end of the year party. I made Sloppy Joe's ("man food") and we ate, drank, and generally made merry. It was an interesting event, because at last year's party we were saying goodbye to Margie and hello to Melanie, and this year it was goodbye Melanie and hello (again) Margie. Ironic, I suppose, but wonderful all the same.

The highlight of the night was Bree-Ana unveiling the finished version of a song that's been brewing all year. It was captured on video for all of posterity and you can watch it here at YouTube. There are some naughty words, so beware!

Friday night, my first officialy evening of freedom, I met up with my pal Drew and we had dinner and went to a co-worker's show. I have a co-worker who does improv comedy (and apparently has done for years) and so I thought it would be fun to see his show. Turns out, it was a fun night. We ate at a middle eastern place (falafels and baclava are YUM!) and saw the show. Improv always amazes me; the actors (parciticipants?) are so quick! I sometimes think I could do it... but other times I'm convinced I can't. Ahh well, maybe some day.

Saturday morning I had a baby shower to go to for a woman at church. I made her a sweater and it turned out to be perfect--the baby's colors are green, navy, and brown, and I made a mint green sweater. The daddy to be requested two more (Can you guess the colors?) before the little tyke is born.

That afternoon, we had a book club meeting/potluck, a little goodbye to Anya, who's going to New York for the summer. Our book for this meeting was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who liked it, or at least I thought so until we discussed it. I figured out a few things throughout the course of the conversation, so I was quite happy about that.

As the evening wore down, we decided a move needed to be made, or it was time for pjs and bed. T, Adam, and I went out to Crazy Pianos (I told you I'm obsessed!). My quest to become BFF with all of the piano players comes further and further to fruition each time I go, and this outing was no exception. Adam (not my upstairs neighbor but the piano player from G.R.) and I chatted for a while and he hooked me up with a shot of tequila. I am not one to turn down such a gift, especially when that gift is from a cute boy who plays piano and has a great smile.

The best part was the two girls who were kind of stalking him were waiting for him at the back bar and eventually worked their way into his buis-nass. I'm certain that I saw the word "help" written in Adam's eyes, but I have no time to fool around with girls like that, and found the whole situation amusing anyway. It was a fun night and we ended up practically closing the place (a first for me and something I haven't done in ages).

Sunday was pool time and church, and I've been working out and working on stuff for the rest of the week. I'm trying to figure out next year, for both my juniors and seniors (yeah, still don't know what I'm doing there...). I've got this week and next before I head to migrant camp, and then a few days later it's London town!

This summer is going to go by very quickly, I can already tell, but I can't wait for London!!

Much love.

Wheelin' and Dealin'!

Memorial Day weekend was a lovely one, mostly because I didn't spend it in Miami. It's been raining here for the past two weeks or so. We need the rain, but grey skies are, after a few days, admittedly a bit dreary.

I spent Memorial Day weekend in Michigan, hanging out with my family. It was a rocky road getting there though, because Ali, who was taking me to the airport, got a flat about five miles away, on the side of the 826. It was pretty awesome. My mom had some Macy's gift cards, so Liz and I went shopping on Saturday. I didn't find too much--just a pretty, red, BCBG top, but Liz struck gold. I even found her this amazing outfit that I made her try on.

Totally rock star. It was funny.

Saturday night my mom had an awkward cook-out. I say this because there's this guy that my mom is convinced is my soul mate (a son of one of her friends from nursing school) and she invited him, his parents, and his brother over. I mean, don't get me wrong, he was a cool enough dude, and his little brother I just wanted to put in my pocket, but I just feel like she should have invited more people 'cause yeah... It was just awkward. Fun, delicious, and awkward. But whatever.

Sunday I got to see both sets of grandparents; Mema and Grumpa in the morning, and Abita that evening. Grumpa seemed to know who I was but was otherwise pretty quiet. Abita not only recognized me, but told my uncle I'd be coming earlier in the day! That's pretty amazing, I think.

Of course, we took the obligatory photo with Mema and Grumpa, especially since my sister and I are rarely in the same room...
Oh shaggy Bubba. He's currently in Michigan spending the summer with his grandparents. I just didn't think it was fair to board him for three weeks, or ask someone to watch him for that long, even Tiffany. So he's spending time there and then Liz will (hopefully!!) come and visit and bring him back. I miss his little face and his excitement to see me but he's done this before and honestly? He doesn't much care about me when my mom and dad are around.

Overall it was a great weekend and the weather was amazing--sunny, warm but not hot, perfect.

These past couple weeks have been fun as well. The end of the year is upon us (Thursday WOOO HOOO!) ans teachers at ILS are feeling the need to work less and play more. The night before graduation, we decided to go to this place called Little Hoolie's for Ladies' Night and Kareoke. The best moment was when Tanya asked to sing "Summer Lovin'", only it was the "dirty" version (gross and vulgar) and no one knew. She was slated to sing it with Richard (this guy from work) but pulled reinforcements (i.e. me and, eventually, Nicole) on stage to belt it out with them. Let's be honest here: I saved that performance because, as always, I WORKED that song out. lol I'm sure it was pretty hilarioius to watch, and it was super fun to do.

Here's the whole group:

And in this one, I'm CLEARLY channeling Stockard Channing while Tanya does a mean Olivia Newton John...

Now to relay the adventres of this past weekend. Friday night we had a department meeting at K and Ana's house (beer and pizza were involved, always a plus) and we planned what we're teaching next year. Somehow, we decided it was brilliant to teach five novels instead of four next year. BALLS! I barely got through four! Nightmare. Anyway, I'm excited to teach the new new ones, but that means I have to come up with two new units and shave about two weeks from first semester... Balls again. Yay for summer to actually try to get that done.

Saturday I got up early and was extremely productive by 11 am. It was awesome. I even discovered a shoe repair place that wasn't miles from my house. It was a total win.

Saturday afternoon, T and I hung out for the first time in ages (seriously) and ended up at the mall. She had a total win in the clothing department but I came out the ultimate victor. Not only did I manage to spend my gift card and $10 savings check, I discovered AN ENTIRE ROOM OF CLEARANCE SHOES THAT I NEVER EVEN KNEW EXISTED! And the best part? (Yes, there IS something better...) The shoes in what shall henceforth be known as "The Magic Room" were mostly size 9 and above. HOLLA! Let's just say I got two pairs of shoes for less than the cost of each pair. A. Mazing.

Plus, a Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen/Cedric Diggory) look-a-like totally works there. His name is Gabriel and yes, I took a picture with him because I am a dork. I would have stalked him until this goal was accomplished, and now I don't have to. Woot! Seriously, though, he looks JUST LIKE Robert Pattinson...

After the magic of Macy's (those commericals are SO right) I just HAD to wear a pair of new shoes to the piano bar that night. I admit it, I'm obsessed. Don't judge! Mellie and Tiffany had't been yet so we went. At one point we were up to a party of six. I had a great time, like I usually do, and it turns out that not just Tommy, but two of the other piano players are from Michigan! One guy, Dave, is from Sag-nasty and another dude (name pending) is from GR. I'm sure, now that I think about it, that he played at Mojo's. One of the bartenders is from Michigan too. It was awesome--Michigan was in the house! I am now even MORE obsessed with Crazy Pianos and want to live there. *sigh*

Sunday I went to church in the a.m. and then T wanted to go to an outlet mall which she THOUGHT was Aventura. It was NOT. What she acutally meant was Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall, which we finally started heading toward after some aimless driving. I'd never been before and should not go again! Let me tell you--I got some DEALS. Or I could have had I completely lost my mind and bought everything I wanted to buy. But let's just say the Coach outlet was deadly, and I got a sweater at BCBG for $19. You can barely get a sweater at Target for $19! I'm gonna head back there before I go to London, I think, to stock up for the trip and I may go school clothes shopping there too. There were SO MANY stores we barely even saw any of them, but I think it's good we went with a specific shopping agenda in mind. Tiffany? Bag for school/work. Me? Collared button down for work. Missions accomplished, with a few treats thrown in.

Man, this weekend was all about spending money, but I saved more than I spent so that makes it okay, right?

Right?

It's the last week of school, finals week, and I've got two down and three more to go. Let me just say, we can't be done soon enough! I was angry (like, my hands were shaking angry) for most of the day today because of my precious, precious angels. Good riddance to them and God bless David who has to teach them as seniors.

Bring on the department party and the summer!

Much love.

The Tommy Story

God is trying to tell me something, I'm convinced of it.

First, there's the Holt run-in in Costa Rica, the most seemingly random event of life EVER. And then, there's what happened on Saturday, what shall henceforth be known as "The Tommy Story."

So a new piano bar called Crazy Pianos opened up last week in Coconut Grove. Anyone who knows me knows I love a demon piano bar and I've been looking for once since I moved down here. My prayers were answered and so a bunch of awesome people from work and I went there on Saturday to rock out.

There were these semi-creepy paintings on the wall of random celebrities. They were... weird. Oprah was watching over us the whole night. Anyway... So we sit right in front of the pianos--I have a direct eye-line to one, and Tanya has a direct eye-line to the other. We're sitting there, and I look at the piano player and I think to myself, He really looks like Tommy from RumRunners. But he can't be, so I move on.

Then the other piano player, the one in Tanya's eyeline, says, "Let's give Tommy a hand!" To which I think, SHUT UP! Then I look closer at him--he's wearing a hat so it's hard to tell--but he really DOES look like my Tommy. At least, what I remember Tommy looking like. I tell the table of my suspicions, and they're all like, "Yeah, yeah, sure it is." They, as Alishea would say, had "no" in their hearts but I had yes. I really had yes.

I had to know if it was Tommy so I grab a request paper (it's a napkin in this case, classy and raunchy at the same time) and write my requests along with "Are you from East Lansing/RumRunners?" on it. Just as I go to take it up, he switches out and I'm like, Balls! Luckily, though, we not only sat by the pianos, we also sat by the bar, which is where ever piano player goes after a tough half an hour of singing and tinkling the ivories. I can't miss this opportunity, so I dart out of my seat and practically attack him. Turns out, it WAS Tommy, my Tommy, from RumRunners. I had "yes" in my heart; I believed, and it was true. Another home-towner shows up in my life, another seeming coincidence. Too bad I don't believe in coincidences.

Anyway, here's a picture of Tommy and I.

Clearly he's very busy and popular. Clearly.

Anyway, it was a great night and we had a ton of fun. I needed a piano bar for my soul. :)

Sunday, as many of you are aware, was Mother's Day. I have not been in the same place as my mother on Mother's Day for about four years, so I called her and sent a card, pretty standard procedure. But my celebration did not end there. My friend Yesi invited me to hang with her family (some of whom are Garcias) and celebrate. There was food, wine, and X Men Origins: Wolverine. How could I say no? So of course I didn't!

Turns out, her uncle used to be part of Miami Sound Machine (yeah, with Gloria Estefan) and there were pics of him rocking out 80's style in the hall. Yesi's grandfather looks like my Abuelo looked, which leads me to belive that all Cuban grandfathers are the same. When I left, he welcomed me to the family. I even got left overs!

All in all, a great weekend.

Monday I attended a seminar on Socratic Circles--how to do them, how to use them, that sort of thing. It was great because a) I learned a lot of practical stuff I can't wait to use next year AND gained resources, 2) I didn't have to go in to work, and d) I had lunch with my friend Drew who lives out that way. Plus, it only took me about 45 minutes to get home, which is awesome 'cause I thought it would take an hour and a half. Woot!

Much love.

The long awaited Costa Rica post... and several other important events

Let me explain my lack of posting about my amazing trip to Costa Rica. I came home to a box (literally) of research papers, about 90 of them, weighing over ten pounds. I have been grading them like a mad woman and have only recently made my way to the surface of the ocean of papers I've been drowning in. Which is not to say that I am done grading--this is not nearly the case. But I AM done with the research papers, and good riddance to them. My only consolation is that almost everyone did horribly and no one got higher than a 90%. Idiots.

My trip was... wonderful. Truly, truly wonderful. I was apprehensive at first because I didn't know what kind of people would be in my group (I thought it would be all golden oldies) but it turned out we had a great mix. I wouldn't have traded any of them (okay, maybe three of them but no one else!) for anyone. I now have a ton of friends in New York and New Jersey, and they all want me to be their daugher in law. Score!

The country itself is beautiful--a perfect mix of volcanic mountains, lush rainforest greenery, and blue ocean water. The wildlife there is amazing as well--toucans, poison dart frogs, four species of monkey, huge grasshoppers--all of which I saw when I was there. There are nine active volcanoes in the country and we saw two of them.

This is the first, Poas volcano. This is the lake in the crater at the top. That cloud is steam. The whole way up it was hard to breathe, because of the sulfer fumes in the air. My lungs were burning and I felt like I'd been smoking for 20 years. Still, the view was worth it, and eventually my lungs got used to being poisoned. I'm sure the permanent damage is rather minimal...

This is one of the lagoons near the summit. Beautiful.

My favorite place was this little place called Tortuguero. We had to get to it by boat, and it's this tiny little strip of a place where the town, San Francisco, was basically around for tourists. There's a turtle station there, but we didn't get to see any because it's not their nesting season. Anyway, we stayed at these little cabins in the woods and howler monkeys woke us up at about 5 am both mornings. I didn't mind. ;) After they woke us up, they used the trees around our cabins, and the roofs of the cabins themselves, for a jungle gym! They were so close! I tried to coax one into my cabin so I could bring it home, but they wouldn't come. I guess I should've used bananas...

This is me on the porch of my little cabin. That rocking chair was amazing! This is how I spent the very early hours of Easter Sunday, sitting on my porch thinking and journaling about the trip.

After Tortuguero, we went to a pineapple plantation. It's the place that supplies pineapples to the Collin Street Bakery, which is apparently in Texas. The guy taught us how to pick the perfect pineapple (all I ever thought was wrong!!) and he gave us samples of a pineapple that he cut. Right in front of us. With a machete. Talk about fresh! It was SOOO GOOD. Of course. Now, I've seen the Dole Plantation in Hawaii (far superior) but still, free pineapple makes me happy. Yay pineapple!

This is Arenal volcano, the second we saw. The day was amazingly and miraculously clear and we could almost see the peak. All that white vapor isn't clouds, it's steam coming from the peak of the volano. Our tour guide, J.P., said this was a rare sight! We acutally had amazing weather the whole trip and for spending several days in the rainforest, it only rained once, and it was on our way back to our cabins so it didn't really put us out. Amazing, right?

The whole trip was just an amazing experience and a huge blessing in my life. I really needed to get away from everything and everyone, and Costa Rica was the perfect way to do that. I met wonderful people and saw fascinating and beautiful things. It was awesome in the true sense of the word.

I do have one crazy story from the trip, though. The second night at our hotel, which was Good Friday, I'm sitting in the "restaurant" enjoying dinner with a fellow traveler. All of a sudden, these two young ladies walk in and one looks extremely familiar to me. I can't place her though. The second lady turns around and BOOM! They're two girls I went to high school with! They weren't in my class, they're a bit younger than me, but still. Three HHS grads randomly meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica at a Holiday Inn restaurant. What are the odds? I couldn't even believe it!

Of course, I took many, many pictures on the journey. Four albums of pictures are posted on Facebook. The first one is here. The second, here. Numero tres? Here. And last but certainly not least, number four is here. Check them out because these few don't even begin to cover what I saw and experienced there.

Last week Thursday I went to see Ray LaMontagne with my friend Drew, who I converted to the ways of Ray. It was at the Fillmore on South Beach and we sat IN THE FIFTH ROW!! I could NOT belive my luck! Granted, I did get presale tickets, but still. These seats were only bested by my second row Jason Mraz seats on Halloween. Anyway, he sang "Hold You in my Arms," which I will one day dance to at my wedding, and I know that he sang it to me. Clearly. He also sang Drew's favorite, "Jolene." He sang almost every song I wanted to hear (but let's be real, I wanted to hear them all) and the show was just... perfect.

Here's what fifth row looks like:

*sigh* I love him SO much, and have wanted to see him live for about three years. He barely speaks to the audience and doesn't even stand in the middle of the stage. I really think he has anxiety or something, but who cares? He's amazing. The opening act was also awesome, Jessica Lea Mayfield. Drew bought me the CD, so she and I are becoming friends. She sounds like a Zooey Deshanel/Mazzy Star combo, Drew and I decided. She was good.

The next day, I slept in because I was chaperoning Grad Bash. Remember last year when I went to Disney, got in for free, got a fast pass for nearly every ride, AND got a stipend for going? Yeah, this year I did it again but it was at Universal. It was outstanding. Here's the group I hung out with most of the evening. How cool is it that I work with cool gals such as these?

Before the park opened, there was a "pre-party" at this paino bar (sans alcholol for the night, however) where there was food and pianos for the chaperones. We sat down to chill and eat (there wasn't much else to do at this point) and were dubbed "the party table" by the paino player. I'm sure people thought we broke the "no boozing" rule, but no, we just know how to party it up in the MIA! It was super fun!

We basically walked onto every ride. I rode The Hulk and Dueling Dragons, my first up-side-down roller coasters. The Hulk was intense but super fun! The Mummy ride was totally the best and we went on it twice, which you can totally do when you don't have to wait in line. How will I ever go to a park and deal with having to stand in line forever? I've been spoiled, clearly!

Pics of both events are posted, again, on Facebook. Click here for more Ray/Grad Bash photos.

Whew! Finally getting this posted is a Costa Rican howler monkey off my back!

Much love, y'all!

Food, Wine, and Flights

A couple of weekends ago we had Food and Wine By the Bay at school--a fund raiser for the Salesian Summer Camp they do on campus each summer. Tickets were $40 each, but teachers got one for free. Now, I am certainly not above free food OR free wine, so, of course, I went. A few other teachers went too, as you can see from this photo:

We were happy. :) The food was pretty good, too--appetizers and hors 'd overs from all sorts of restaurants, most of which were delicious. Win! After, T and my neighbors and I went out to Gordon Biersch, a brewery downtown, and chilled for a while. There was a slight miscommunication (T went to hang with some MBAers but got the date wrong) but it turned out okay anyway.

In other news, last night Alishea, Bree-Anna, some other folks, and I went to see Flight of the Conchords at the Bank United Center on UM's campus. For anyone who doesn't know, FotC are "New Zealand's 4th most popular folk band" and have a show on HBO. They're basically two Kiwis who sing funny songs and are adorable.

Our seats were great (score one for me!) and the show was great--hilarious, quirky, intimate, and awesome. Now, for the documentation...

Here are Bree-Anna, Ali, and I at the show. I wore my Shakespeare shirt because I knew Jemaine would appreciate it. I love him!

The opening act was Kristen Schall, who plays Mel, the band's biggest--and only--true fan. She was pretty funny, and her comedy is different. She uses props, which I haven't seen much of, but she was pretty funny. Her special was just on Comedy Central last weekend, and I watched it, so that was pretty cool. I wasn't expecting that at all! I enjoyed her act, and we didn't even have to wait for the guys to come out after, they just walked right on. That. Was. KEY! I hate waiting around for the headliner to come out whil they switch all the equipment.

The guys came out with Robot heads on, very fitting if you know anything about them. The closest to the foreground is Jemaine, the furher away is Brett. Both are super cute, but Jemaine is my guy. :)

And here the guys are singing, sans robot heads and shiny coats. I don't remember the song but I'm sure it was funny.

The show was a great way to almost begin spring break, but it didn't officially start until 10 a.m. today. I stayed at school working and moving for about another hour, and now I'm home and getting ready to go. I'm almost all packed (this might be a record), Lancelot is washed and ready to head to his vacation home, and I'm working on cleaning up after myself so I can come home to cleanliness.

I take off at noon tomorrow and will get back the 18th at around 5. I'm excited! Costa Rica, here I come!

Much love.