Pandemonium of One Kind or Another

A couple of weeks ago, The Aussie texted me about $25 tickets to a show. Not being one to turn down theater of any kind, especially cheap theater, I took her up on this offer and we headed to see Pandemonium on a lovely Saturday evening. The show is by the same people who, I dunno, "invented" Stomp. It was actual musical instruments, though, rather than just percussion.

Anyway, we decided to do dinner before the show--classy style. We picked a restaurant on the Miami Spice promotion (I think I've mentioned it before but Miami Spice is a promotion where expensive restaurants create a $35 set menu for August and September). It was called Maya and it was Peruvian food. DELICIOUS Peruvian food. They gave us a basket o munchies, full of these giant kernels of salty corn that I COULD NOT get enough of. SO good. I'm totally obsessed with Peruvian giant corn. For the appetizer, I had ceviche which I've been craving for months now (I wanted it way back in Traverse City and my mom laughed at me) and which I also CLEARLY asked for without cilantro. BUT... the cilantro showed up anyway. This was unfortunate, I agree, but I didn't let it get me down. I simply picked it off--which resembles more of a surgical procedure than the dainty picking off of ickyness--and enjoyed. The main event was chicken in a cheese sauce. And I think bacon was involved, too. Basically, a winner all around. SO good! And dessert was this, like, cup of caramel (good) and something else that was like flan. Also good.

After big success at dinner, we headed to the show. Little did we know that Marc Anthony, Mr. Jennifer Lopez, was plotting a nefarious plan to make us late, because HE was doing a show at the Arena downtown and the traffic was OUT of control. We got to the show a little late and had to wait for a break to enter. There was this super intense lady who was, like, herding all the naughty late-comers like cattle. It was kind of funny. I think we only missed one or two numbers (damn you Marc Anthony!), and we made it for the rest.

Some of the instruments it took me ages to figure out--like a piano made of crystal glasses of water that you play with a wet finger around the edge, and another piano made of fireplace fanner thingys over bottles. Pretty dang sweet. There were horns of funnel and tubing, which I wish I'd known about in high school, and there were people playing saws. There were also, of course, lots and lots of drums, and a bad@$$ dude with a mowhawk to play them. WIN.

I also participated in that amazing and wonderful fall tradition of tailgaiting recently. The first FIU home game was occasion enough for me, especially since The Aussie had never been tailgating which is not only unfortunate, but unacceptable. It was fun and there was Caja China, which is amazing always. And beer, let's not forget the beer.

The game itself was exciting for two reasons: 1) Two of our former students were on the team and 2) the marching band.

Love me some tailgating and some marching. :)


Now, onto some more serious matters, once-in-a-lifetime matters. I'm not sure if any of you heard, but St. John Bosco's relic is making its way around the world over the next five years (I think it started a while ago, though) and the relic came to our school. I know it sounds, like, weird and SUPER Catholic and kinda creepy even, but it was an extremely wonderful privilege. In fact, I think ILS was the only high school in America to receive the relic. Now, obviously, this was not an event to be taken lightly, and our campus ministers, religion department, and administration worked so hard over the past year or s just to make everything run smoothly.

The event itself was open to the public--anyone who wanted to could come and venerate the relic. (Venerating is what you do to a relic, apparently.) However, there was a special event for the youth of Miami, which was literally an all-nighter. The opening ceremony/speeches/parade around the track happened at 8 pm, and the closing mass happened at 8 am the next morning. I was there--along with several other teachers--all night. All. Night. I think I laid down for about fifteen minutes in the gym around 5:15 am, but that was it. It was surprisingly a refreshing fifteen minutes, though!

Don Bosco arrived in his sweet D.B. van right on time, and the parade and opening ceremonies went off with lots of help but no hitches. Once the veneration opened up to the public, the events for the youth began as well--a concert, a D.J., a comedian, inflatables, all kids of crazy stuff. It was pretty cool, I must say. Especially the van...


At 6 a.m., the LaSalle family had their own time with the relic. All the exhausted kids got in line and waited to have their moment. It was interesting because some of the kids that were there went for something to do, some because their friends were going, some because Don Bosco really means something to them, but they all, no matter the motivation, really took that moment, or those few moments, to just be still and be with God. It was really beautiful to witness, actually, and I'm not even sure I'm describing it accurately. It was a privilege to see, it really was. Here's a snapshot of that moment:

After I left the cafeteria where the urn was, I headed out to the track for the mass on the football field, I saw the moon over the palm trees, and realized I'm pretty darn lucky.

The mass was a little hard to digest, sitting in the hot sun after being up all night and wanting nothing more than a hot shower and my pillow, but I got through it, went home for a three hour nap, and moved on with life. It was truly a once in a lifetime event, and, although it was exhausting, it was worth witnessing every moment.

Finally, this week is Homecoming Week at school, and it's been a great deal of fun. I love dressing up for Spirit Week. The best day was Marvel Monday, where three of the English Department ladies dressed up as Grammar Girls. The picture is kind of small, but look out for our red pens of doom, which shoot lighting out of them. :)
This is always a crazy week, but definitely a fun one!

As always,
Much love.