¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Naphtali!

Your mom took care of French. We are assuming Aidan will take care of Mandarin. Your multitude of loving, caring friends will take care of English. Welcome to the Spanish version of your birthday wishes.

The perfect party house

It could be worse...

... is my main mantra for dealing with the inconvenience of a broken wrist and the cast. "This is only temporary" is another. Plus I do have a few blessings to count. My number one blessing is the help that is available from the Central House staff. From re-hooking my bra to doing my laundry, they have been wonderful. This morning, Doña Lupita, the cook, prepared this fabulous eggplant dish. She also keep me stocked with chopped/cut fruits and vegetables. Yes, it could be worse.

An unexpected 26th way to use a scarf

I slipped while walking from the pool to the dressing room at my gym last week. My wrist is cracked in two places. The breaks were/are clean, and it was my left wrist...thank goodness. I have to wear the cast for three weeks and then something else for another three weeks. Based on Donna's experience of the bad, bad breaks she suffered with her RIGHT wrist, I know it could have been much worse. I tried wearing the traditional sling for the first day, but it drove me crazy. Thank goodness for my favorite, most versatile jersey scarf/wrap/sling.

The best scarf tying video ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LYAEz777AU&feature=player_embedded

It was a dark and stormy night....

....and I did not care. This was the weekend of my favorite summer field trip to the beaches of Tulum. I was thrilled to be caught in the rain, high winds and stormy sea. Such a break from the unbearable heat of the past couple of weeks.

I sought refuge from the storm in a nearby spa and indulged in two fabulous massages/body treatments during the course of the weekend. I came home feeling like a new woman.

A First

For the first time ever, I went to a Mexican party Saturday night where there was NO dancing. The purpose of the party was to celebrate the graduation of Euardo Bargas, the young man pictured above. Eduardo was the first Yucatecan I selected to spend a year at Central College as a language assistant. He was in Pella for the academic year of 2008-2009 and was, without a doubt, an outstanding assistant. Since that time, I have sent 9 other assistants to Pella, but Eduardo remains a superstar. He graduated with a degree in psychology and will be starting a master's program in accounting in the fall. We are pictured here with several of Eduardo's professors. The evening was a great success, and there was music. There was just no dancing. Amazing.