A Typical Week in Bocas (well for me anyways)

I am yet to give any detailed accounts of how the pre-school is going here in Bahia Honda.  One of these days, the post will cover nothing more than the adorable little children I am working with, but not this one (But, yes, the kids are maybe the cutest things I have ever seen in my entire life).  I thought I would let you all in on the typical “work” week I have here in Panama.  I have to pinch myself when I think about it, cause I am honestly not sure how, exactly, I got to this place.  Every moment here has been an absolute joy and is the perfect icing to top the cake (the cake being the past year in South America of course).

Sunday:  Due to my obsession with sports, I have developed a routine which allows me to spend this splendid day in the main town of Bocas del Toro.  Margaret and Henry recently began renting a small apartment, with A/C and internet, which they use more or less as an office for when they are in town.  It’s the perfect place for me to crash when in town and allows me the opportunity to go out for a drink or two on Saturday nights and then watch some football on Sunday.

Monday: The past two weeks I have spent both Saturday and Sunday night in town.  I would prefer to head back to the lodge Sunday nights, but it is close to a $20 boat ride so I wait until Monday when Henry, Margaret and Lucho come to town for their weekly errands.  We spend the day in town and in the early evening, around five, we had back to the lodge where we have a small meal and a calm night (some may call it the calm before the storm).

Tuesday: Typical arrival day for guests of the lodge.  La Loma Jungle Lodge is only open from Tuesday until Saturday (when all guests must depart), and as a result most guests arrive on Tuesday and stay four nights.  Henry, Lucho and I go into town in the morning where Lucho is dropped off at his pre-school, Tangerine, until the afternoon.  Henry and I head back to the apartment to shoot out emails or take care of various other tasks that need to be done.  At one, Henry picks up Lucho and brings him to me at the apartment, he is my responsibility from that point until we head back to the Lodge.  Last week I took him to the park for most of the day and this past Tuesday I took him to a swim lesson for most of the day.  I couldn’t help but laugh as all the mothers walked in with their kids and I was there, the 23 year old “Manny”, changing Lucho into his swim shirt while the other mothers lectured/prepared their kids.  Once all the guests arrive, it’s back to the lodge for what is almost always an absolutely mouth-watering dinner. 

***I have to touch on the food briefly.  If you recall, when I first got this gig, I was told I could eat dinner with the guests and then, more or less, fend for myself on the other nights.  If only I had known what that truly meant.  The Lodge was featured in a 2008 edition of Food and Wine and has received only the best reviews from previous visitors of the Lodge.  Needless to say, the food is amazing and allows my taste buds to continue to expand their palate of savory flavors.***

Wednesday: Pre-School!!! Every Wednesday we have class from about 8-11am.  For the past few classes I have been kayaking to school, about a 10-15minute ride, with a few materials at the front and listening to my ipod (in a plastic bag, of course).  Class Routine….

Due to a variety of circumstances, we end up starting class around 8:30 every morning with Quien Esta?(Role Call) and the Buenos Dias Song (Good Morning Song).  We then follow up with about 30-45 minutes of some sort of theme for the day, whether it be numbers, animals, alphabet or colors; we try to incorporate singing, reading and drawing somewhere throughout.  Next comes hand-washing and bathroom time, followed by a glass of water for everyone.  Then we head to the park at the top of the school grounds and play for around 20 minutes.  Upon our return, and after another b-room/hand washing run, it is snack time! We generally provide a muffin or some sort of healthy treat for the kids, made fresh the night before by the staff at La Loma Lodge.  Lastly, we end the day with story time and reading.  I try to read at least one story to the kids and then allow them to read (look at pictures) on their own.

After class I hang around and do some cleaning up, then kayak back to the Lodge.  Once I get settled in it is normally close to lunch time (1pm) and I join the guests, if they aren’t out on an excursion, for another splendid meal.  Though I have no other obligations on Wednesdays, I generally end up helping out quite a bit around the lodge.  Again, a marvelous dinner served at 7pm, some lovely conversation – generally getting to know the guests better – and it’s off to bed.

Thursday: I mentioned above that I only eat lunch with the guests if they are not out on an excursion, well Thursday is one of two days when I have enough time to potentially join the guests on whatever excursion they may be embarking on.  Last Thursday I joined two couples as they headed out to the Zapatillas Islands.  It is about a 45 minute boat ride from the Lodge and along the way there are a variety of snorkeling spots.  The islands are exactly what you think of when you imagine the islands the couple is seated on in the Corona commercials, sipping their beers: Long, golden sand beaches; beautiful clear water with a very small shore break and, literally, a jungle directly behind you.  We were only missing the beers, unfortunately, though I will not make that mistake again (because, yes, I will have the opportunity to return at least once more!).  There is only one small issue with me joining for these excursions, and that is my Thursday night English class which I am teaching to the local Ngobe adults.  Every Thursday and Friday night I have been giving classes, free of charge, to anyone in the Bahia Honda community.  My most recent class I had eleven students.  Class is from 4:30ish until 6pm or sun down when I kayak back to the Lodge (classes are right next door to the school at the local restaurant).  Per usual, 7pm dinner, and an early bed-time on a school night!                                              

Friday: Double Day.  Pre-School in the morning, English at night.  My busiest day of the week, but gives me a reason to celebrate the weekend! Also, Friday’s are usually the last night for guests since the Lodge shuts down from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday afternoon.

Saturday:  Departure day, back to Bocas.  Since guests are leaving on Saturday, it means a boat is head into town and I am always on it.  Depending on the flight times of the guests we will leave early morning or late afternoon.  I was actually lucky enough to join a group two weekends back for an early morning cave excursion prior to heading into town! Besides the entrance to the caves, where thousands of bats are hanging from the ceiling, it was incredible.  Not to say the bats weren’t neat to see, but considering I was bare foot , walking in guano (bat shit) wasn’t the most appealing thought.  Anyways, that is not the normal routine.  So I usually get into town by around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and settle down in Henry and Margaret’s apartment for the night.  Occasionally I’ll go out for a drink or two, but generally just catch up on some emails, blogging, fantasy football, etc…and hit the sack.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Role Call -- Day One

Day One: Class Shot!

Day One: Class Shot! (2)

Dania

Fredi

Paint Time!!!

Story Time

Jenifer

Joel

Josef

Mayeli

The Very Hungry Caterpillar...read this one as a kid myself!

Rubiela

There were 13 kids on day one and 17 on day two...only doing classes on Wednesday and Friday mornings for now.  The kids are wonderful! I will hopefully write a better post tomorrow!!!

Fifty-One Weeks…90 years

I know that my blogs tend to get long sometimes, so for those of you more interested in the goings-on’s at the Lodge and the development of the school (and not my spiel about my upcoming trip to San Diego), feel free to skip the first paragraph.

It has been fifty-one weeks since I last set foot on American soil and 90 years since my grandmother was born.  I only wish her birthday were next week, as I would have then completed exactly one full year in Latin America without ever returning home; but then again, coming up short by a week isn’t so bad either (probably better than most of you expected! Ha!).  In fact, her birthday is the sole reason I am returning back to the States’ and I couldn’t be more excited! Nearly my entire family on my mom’s side (about 25 people, ages ranging from one to, well, ninety) will be flying in either today (Thursday) or Friday and staying for the weekend to celebrate the life of our incredible mother, grandmother, and friend.  I can’t express how lucky I feel to have the opportunity to return home for this wonderful event.  If I had to rank the things I missed most from home, family would undoubtedly take the cake, and I will be fortunate enough to be surrounded by nearly all my family in this brief vacation home.  (While on the topic, friends (a close second), food (Mexican, In-n-Out, Sushi), and football, would probably have to round out the top four; but I will return to that in a minute.)  I am not sure about all that is planned for this upcoming Fentin Family Reunion, (and for those wondering, yes, we are absolutely the kind of family who normally has shirts made for these events--I’ve found my collection over the years to be great for any kind of manual labor) but I do know that Saturday night my dad is cooking dinner for the entire family, which will probably be the best meal I’ve eaten in months, while we celebrate the life of my wonderful Grammy.  As for those other things I mentioned...I’m hoping to go out Thursday night with some friends and a few of the age appropriate cousins! And since there is “always room for one more at the Fentin’s” (a t-shirt slogan we once used…) I expect my friends to be coming and going (and possibly sleeping…Mac) from the house to join in any games (corn-hole, ping-pong, cards) or activities we will undoubtedly decide to take part in.  Besides the delicious meal I am sure I will be helping to prepare on Saturday night for the birthday celebration, there are a few other delicacies that must be had on this trip home. (1) In-N-Out; for those of you yet to try it (or hear about it, living under a rock?), you don’t know what you’re missing, and I, in fact, had a 3x3 (three meat patties, three slices of cheese), animal style (topped with grilled onions, lettuce, cheese, pickles n tomato) with a chocolate shake on my way home from the airport last night. Many trips will be made to Roberto’s for their California Burritos and potentially some taquitos as well, at least one sandwich from Board-n-Brew, and if I am lucky (you’re reading this mom, right?) a going away dinner at Nobu!  Last, but definitely not least, FOOTBALL.  For those unaware, my 49ers are currently 2-1 (should be 3-0) and in first place in the NFC West.  Since I am still unsure of when I will be returning to the States’ this coming weekend may possibly be the only 49ers game I get to see all year and thanks to my sister and her boyfriend ordering NFL Sunday Ticket, that is currently the only other plans I have set in stone for my time back home.  I will be planted firmly on the couch, laptop next to me checking my fantasy teams, looking for my friends Isaac and Amy on TV watching the Niners’ destroy the Eagles on Sunday morning! (Hey, gotta be optimistic right?) That just about covers San Diego, now an update about the Lodge!

I realized I failed to discuss the people I am living and working with at the lodge in my last post, so I thought I would start there:

Henry, Margaret and Lucho – Henry and Margaret built and run the lodge and have been doing so in Bocas for six years (they have been in Bocas for eight, but it took two years to build the lodge). Henry is from Peru originally, but moved to Pasadena, California when he was five and grew up there.  Though he is not exactly the most knowledgeable person about sports (my favorite topic of conversation), we get along quite well.  Margaret is from England and the two of them met at a very small school in California (I don’t recall the name).  Lucho is their three year old son who I will be watching on occasion throughout my stay.  When he chooses to use his words, he has quite a thorough vocabulary, but he often chooses to whine instead.  He will definitely be a handful on his “bad days”, but is a good kid at heart and hopefully won’t give me too many problems.

Hilda, Bolivia, Fidelina – three women who often hang around the lodge, Henry and Margaret give them as much work as they can find to help support their families.  Hilda is probably in her early thirties and has nine kids, not sure about Fidelina, and Bolivia has more than I can count or remember.  They are a bit shy around us gringos, but you can tell they mean well in all they do.  

Mr. Kelly, Roger and Tio – The three workhorses on the farm/lodge. Mr. Kelly is the foreman and lives in his own house he built on the property.  He comes from West Indian heritage and was brought up speaking their own dialect of English, quite entertaining to talk to.  Roger is a bit younger, maybe around my age, and is a good work and also an athlete.  He plays baseball for the Bahia Honda team and I’ve already gone to practice with them once and plan on attending many more over the next two months! Tio is, in the simplest form, a freakin worker.  If I had to guess, he is the oldest of the bunch, but you wouldn’t guess it based on their work ethic as he is constantly on the go from chore to chore.

There are a bunch of others who come and go on occasion and I am sure I will get to know many more as the community feels more comfortable having me around.  As for my schedule at La Loma…I mentioned in my last post I was going to be meeting with the community to discuss the pre-school and other potential opportunities to help.  My first day of pre-school is officially on October 5^th, the day after I return from the States’, and is from 8am-10:30am.  For now, I will be giving classes every Wednesday and Friday morning, if all goes well we will hopefully add a Monday as well.  Not only will I be giving classes to the 3-5 year olds in the community, I have also arranged to teach English to the indigenous adults every Thursday and Friday night from 4:30pm-6pm.  There seemed to be a lot of interest in both the pre-school and English classes at the meeting, so I can’t wait to get the ball rolling and see how things go.

Above/Below are a few pictures of the pre-school.  It is far from comparable to any school I ever attended in the States’ and prior to spending two and a half hours sweeping, killing spiders, washing the tables and clearing out the trash; it wasn’t anywhere near fit for the children to enjoy.  Hopefully the bit of cleaning I did will help, and after a few days of decorating and sprucing up the walls, it will be a much more kid friendly environment. 

 

 

Thanks for checking out the photos and I’ll get back to you after my first week of classes!!!

Welcome to the Jungle!

I apologize, as usual, for the loooooong gap in entries.  According to my records, I have quite a bit of catching up to do, including the following topics:

Casey and Jmac visit

Leaving Peru

Medellin, Colombia – Including my dad’s visit

My cousin Danielle and her friend, Justine, joining me in Panama

 …but for now I am going to skip all that and jump to present day.

As of last Monday, I have finally made it to my last destination on this crazy journey throughout Latin America; Isla Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro, Panama.  For those who do not recall (or simply never read), this last stop has a chance at being the most rewarding and life changing experience yet to date.  As a brief reminder (or maybe not so brief), prior to arriving in Panama I had very little knowledge of what I would be taking part in down here.  There were possibilities of developing a pre-school, or helping coach a children’s baseball team, or constructing new water treatment basins, all of which would take place in the nearby indigenous community of Bahia Honda.  What I did know for sure (or so I thought) was the condition of housing and food that would be provided me.  I would be living at La Loma Lodge, a lodge run by a gringo (a perfectly acceptable and non-offensive term in Panamanian) couple named Henry and Margaret, with no electricity (meaning no internet…ahhh!!) in the middle of a rain forest.  I would be welcome to eat alongside the guests of the lodge on the days there were guests (usually Tuesday to Saturday) and scrounge for myself/eat with Margaret and Henry on the other days.  Beyond this, I had next to no information regarding how my stay would go, who else I would meet and what else might take place.  To put it simply, I was taking a true “leap of faith,” “shot in the dark,” or whatever else you may call it.  Needless to say, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I was more than ecstatic to be taking part!

A couple of friends joined me for my first shower at the lodge...

To be perfectly honest, I still have next to zero idea what I have gotten myself into…but I do have a few more details.  To my surprise and relief, the lodge is equipped with a few solar panels (four new ones were just installed this week) which provides enough electricity to use light fixtures in the evening and even charge electronics such as a laptop or camera on particularly clear, sunny days (which happen to be quite common here).  Now, I can only imagine what some of you negative Nancy’s must be thinking, “What about the bathroom/shower situation!?? Gross!”  Well, you couldn’t be more WRONG!  Due to the fact that this is a lodge, where people pay to come on vacation, the four cabins, and the main lodge are all equipped with a full bathroom, toilets that flush and showers that provide warm water (though I can’t imagine one truly desiring a hot shower with all the humidity). There is, however, one caveat.  For my first two weeks here at the lodge there will be no guests and therefore I am staying in Cabin #1.  After those first two weeks, and once guests start trickling in more and more weekly, I will be moving to the Rancho (or so it is called).  While this will also be equipped with running water, a hot stove, hammock and bed, I will NOT have direct access to a bathroom/shower and will have to walk about 500 feet to gain access to such accommodations.

As for what I will be doing here in the Bahia Honda community, the exact details are still a bit vague.  On Wednesday, Margaret and I have scheduled a meeting with the community for those parents interested in having their kids attend some sort of pre-school/activity club.  We are hoping to run the club two or three times a week and will be looking for parent volunteers (since without them, I will be the only one coordinating and running all the activities).  As mentioned before, I am also hoping to start a youth baseball team with another member of the community and employee at the lodge, Roger.  He plays on the adult team here as well, which I am hoping to join! Lastly, for a small fee, I will occasionally be watching Lucho, Margaret and Henry’s three year old son, during the week when guests are here and the two of them are too busy to tend to all of his needs.  To go along with these activities within the community and lodge, I have also set a few of my own goals. (1) With the assistance of a book and my past experiences, I am hoping to develop a daily yoga routine (2) Henry recently purchased kayaks (which are yet to arrive) and I hope to take one out every morning (or most) along the bay for a morning workout/swim/wake-up (3) lastly, finish the eight books I have collected along my journey and hopefully more that have accumulated here in the lodge (I have already finished one: A Civil Action).

That’s all for now.  I know say this after every post, but with the lack of internet at the lodge, I expect to have plenty of time at night to update my blog and will hopefully be able to post a new one once a week when I come into town and access the internet. 

Before I go, I want to wish my mom a happy belated birthday AND want to inform any of my San Diegan readers that I will be back in the 858 for a long weekend from September 28^th until October 2^nd for my grandmothers 90^th birthday! I hope to see as many of you as possible during my brief vacation back home!

Bring On the Tourists!

Over the past two weeks I was lucky enough to have a few visitors from the US.  First to arrive, with no more than a week and a half notice, was my good friend from Villanova, Steve Gentoso.  For those of you unaware of who this young man is, he is the brave soul who ventured with me on BOTH of my journeys driving across the country last year.  Both routes, to and from SD to Philly; oh, and he also happened to play on my rugby team with me.  Upon his arrival, I immediately sent him on a solo journey to the North of Peru to visit Mancora.  Due to the short notice of his arrival, I had work all week in Lima, so I sent him up to the beach towns where I knew he would enjoy himself more (he did).  He made it back to Lima by Friday in time to meet up with another friend of mine from ‘Nova who had arrived in Peru to volunteer in hospitals, Kaela.   

We had a few drinks Friday night, but since I had a rugby game Saturday, we didn’t go too crazy.  Saturday, Steve and Kaela came and watched my game, we won!  The two of them had arrived on the perfect weekend as a buddy on the rugby team was celebrating his birthday at his aunt’s Peña.  A Peña is a traditional Peruvian music club filled with folkloric music/shows, dancing, drinking and eating.  Needless to say, we had a blast, and they got to know a bunch of guys from the team.  The following week, Kaela and Steve made their way back up to Mancora for another sun-soaked week.  I, unfortunately, could not accompany them due to work and the fact that I will be going in two weeks with Casey and J-Mac.

After another week up North, Friday night, Steve made his way back to Jersey (for Father’s Day) and Kaela made her way back to Lima.  Once again, I had a rugby game Saturday (my LAST one down here!), so we took it easy that night.  Another convincing win and a delicious BBQ at the field kicked off the Saturday festivities.  Following the game, we all made our way to check out a new bar in Miraflores which may soon become our official team bar.  We spent the night drinking, enjoying a bit of food and possibly a little too much laughter.  It was a treat to spend such a memorable last game/night with my team, Old Markham, and I look forward to my next chance to play with them in the future (Possibly this Halloween)!

A quick note…I have failed.  It is difficult to admit, but it is true.  My attempt to spend 500+ days basking in the sun, tanning and enjoying the smiles that a beautiful, sun drenched day puts on each and every individuals face has ended at almost EXACTLY one year.  If you include the last month or two of my senior year at Villanova (April and May), I was able to arrive, be it by plane, train, bus or automobile, to a land of sunshine and smiles during my journey around the Americas during the last year.  Be it the beautiful beaches of San Diego, the gorgeous mountains of Vermont, the sun-stretched Andes in Argentina, or the beautiful sunsets in Peru, the sun has been there to join me through it all.  Until now; thus, I have failed.  But fear not, as I am back to chasing the sun North as I head to Colombia and then on to Panama in the coming months!  Bring me back my sun!

My next round of tourists will be arriving tomorrow and early Thursday morning.  We quickly head to Cusco this weekend for the Inti Raymi festival (one of the largest in Peru all year) and a stop off at Machu Picchu.  Like I mentioned before, we will then head up North to Mancora for six days, and then they are back to the States.

Since I don’t see myself posting while the two of them are here, Happy Fourth to everyone who follows! Have a wonderful long weekend when it arrives and be proud to wear the Red, White and Blue…we are lucky to be so privileged!

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.” - JFK

Riding in Comvi's with (Peruvian) Boys

For those unaware…the title is a play on the title of the movie Riding in Cars with Boys.  Though I have never personally seen the movie, it fit too perfectly for me to pass up the opportunity!  Just a couple of funny/heart-warming stories to relay to ya’ll!

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I often forget exactly where I am in the world while I get caught up in that little thing called LIFE down here in Lima.  Anyways, the other day brought me back a few years.  While taking a comvi home from rugby practice, a young couple (I am talking 13-ish), took a step on the crowded bus, looked around and immediately got off.  Most inexperienced traveler’s here in Lima would assume they were just waiting for a less crowded bus.  While they would be factually correct, there intuition would be failing them; as the true reason for the couples’ quick turn-around on the bus is that no seats were available for them to make out on!  This immediately got me thinking about the little nuances similar to this in the US.  Where as in the States’ you often find young couples going to the movies or staying late after school to hang out, here in Lima the common make-out spots are open parks and comvi’s.  Don’t get me wrong, it seems movies are a popular hang-out spot for teenagers here as well, but with the addition of the comvi, those Peruvian girls have one more spot to meet “the One” while riding in Comvi’s with Peruvian boys.

Last week was quite an eventful week when it comes to storytelling.  Let’s start with the more embarrassing/frustrating of the bunch.  After proctoring an end-of-the-unit test for my students Friday morning, I was on my way home to celebrate the start of the weekend.  As you know by now, this isn’t my first time riding through the city, and at times the drivers in Lima can be a little over-aggressive.  Knowing this, I am always very alert and aware of my surroundings while on the road.  One particular spot always seems to be a bit of an issue for the Limenos trying to make their way to work.  There is a tricky intersection where cars have the option to veer right or stay straight which inevitably causes massive issues for the drivers here.  Since drivers here will do ANYTHING to gain just one spot in front of another car, it is not uncommon to find a driver, from the FAR left lane, attempting to cut through three lanes of traffic and make a quick right turn.  Well, clearly this isn’t anything of news to me, and if it isn’t news to me, then by no means is it news to anyone driving a car here in Lima.  So last Friday, while trying to weave my way cautiously through this intersection, all hell breaks loose (most definitely an exaggeration).  As I am passing through the intersection, I notice another car making its way through as well.  Seeing as how I am a big person on a small bike, I decide to use the car as a shield and pass through the intersection trailing this car.  Well before I knew it…SMASH!!! I had run directly into the back of this idiot who had decided, after passing half-way through the intersection, to slam on his breaks and allow a fellow idiot to cut over from the far left lane and pass by.  I smacked into the back of his car pretty good, but landed on my feet while allowing my bike to fall to the pavement.  The driver, either unaffected or unaware, continued on through the intersection.  I stopped for a brief moment, realized that out of the 20-or-so cars in the intersection not ONE was about to stop and ask what happened, and moved off to the side of the road.  Once again, escaping relatively unscathed, I was able to catch a glimpse of the car I had hit driving away, and HAPPILY noticed two decent sized dents on his trunk left by my handle-bars.  Once again, it was my left thumb that took the brunt of the damage, as I am pretty sure it was the only thing between the handlebars and the trunk of the car.  I continued on my way home, and couldn’t help but find myself laughing cheerfully along the way.  I don’t know exactly what led to the laughter, but I imagine it was a combination of the absolutely HORRIBLE drivers here in Lima, combined with yet another crash on my bike and, of course, the fact that I had once again emerged relatively unscathed.  Just another bump in the road!

Some tear-jerking stories from the past week…

Last Wednesday I broke the news to two of my favorite students that the following two weeks will be my last two weeks of teaching here in Lima.  We quickly discussed how we would go about transitioning to a new teacher and class was underway.  About 20 minutes later, while the students were in the middle of an exercise, I left the room briefly to grab a glass of water.  Upon my return, Ursula immediately proceeded to tell me that, “We felt a lot of sorry,” that you are leaving us as our teacher.  Though I didn’t show it, I was extremely honored and had a brief moment of sadness pass through me (Before you say anything, I swear they have improved their English under my instruction, but when it comes to portraying emotions in a foreign language it is very difficult – trust me).  I don’t expect all my students will react this way, but it is nice to know that my hard-work has been appreciated by some!

Lastly, again on Friday, I was lucky enough to receive a package in the mail from my loving uncle, Tom.  My mom had told me many weeks prior that he had sent something, and I had given up hope on it actually arriving to its intended destination.  I figured somewhere along the way (it’s a long way from Detroit) it had gotten lost in the mail, snagged by some corrupt policemen, or just misplaced.  Either way, it is and always will be the thought that counts and I was touched at his attempt to reach out to me.  So you can imagine my shock when last Friday I receive a phone call asking me to come downstairs and sign for a package! I threw some clothes on and flew downstairs eager to see what had arrived.  I couldn’t have asked for a better assortment of things…between a few fun-sized packs of Snickers, a few different books (in Spanish and English), and a hand-written note (the best part by far) from my uncle, I knew this was shaping up to be one heck of a weekend.  What made it even better, was the conversation that proceeded on my Facebook account after offering a few mini-snickers to my rugby buddies.  The love I felt from both my family and my rugby teammates on that day cannot be explained in words.  All I can say is my heart was filled with more than its fair share of love last Friday.

Hope you enjoyed a little story time…I wanted to get a blog in before tonight because my good friend from Villanova, Steve, will be arriving from New Jersey tonight.  A shout out to our good friend Ean Mulligan who was supposed to be joining Steve on the trip; unfortunately his grandfather passed away and he was unable to make the trip.  You will be in our thoughts this week Ean, I hope all is well and everyone in your family can remember all the special memories that man brought you.  It may be a while before I blog again, but I will try and sneak one in somewhere between Steve’s visit and Casey and J-Mac coming to town!

“If we couldn’t laugh we would ALL go insane!” – Jimmy Buffett