That was one crazy weekend!

We had an interesting week and weekend here in Puerto Rico. This past Thursday was "student's day" and Friday was "Teacher's day". We knew we wouldn't have school on Friday for Teacher's day, a big deal here in PR, but we didn't know we'd be out early on Thursday for the kids! On Wednesday afternoon they told us they had decided to dismiss students at 11:00 on Thursday. We were pretty excited because we had already set up a party here at Casa Benny for that afternoon. We dismissed at 11:00 on Thursday, had a lunch catered by various teachers, had a cocktail hour at 2:00 in the library (complete with wine...you know how our school loves their wine!) and then it was back home to celebrate. We had the most people that have ever come to our parties. We even took out our TV and Brent's Xbox so everyone could join us with our new obsession...the Karaoke game. Courtney made an awesome Sangria and we partied until 12:30. It was a long afternoon! Here's some pics from our party...we have the girls (Katie, Kisha, me, and Lisa); me, Katie, Mr. Reyes, (our Spanish teacher) and his wife; Courtney singing "American Woman" with Mrs. Curet, the elementary PE teacher; and Katie and I being goofy with Mr. Zayas, the computer teacher. I was busy the rest of the time so that's really all the pictures that were taken!

We were supposed to have a fun filled Friday for Teacher's day but we were pretty tired and the patio was a mess so we stayed home. We spent Friday doing dishes, laundry, cleaning, and hanging out. Yesterday we got up early and headed to San Juan to get on the boat, the banana boat (singing the song yet?!). We have an Entertainment Book from the school filled with coupons and one of them was pay for one ride, get the 2nd free. It was us, the Dills, and Mendez. When we got there Courtney decided he didn't want to go so he stayed at a bar so we could park our car there without getting in trouble. The coupon was very deceiving and we ended up only getting one free ride (should have been 2!) but anyway. We hopped on and away we went. It was crazy! If you don't know what I'm talking abut it's an inflated banana that has straps on it. They pull it behind a boat with you holding on for dear life. We were holding on through the salt water getting splashed in our faces and noses running all the while the drivers are trying to throw us off. Katie and I were freaked out about being thrown because last year at this same beach there were lots of sharks...feels safe, huh?! We were going along doing great when Brent and Katie got thrown off together. I ended up in the middle so I wasn't in the water. They got back on and we went for a long while (it's a 20 minute ride that felt like an eternity!) when it happened. I got bucked off. Mendez was the only one who stayed on the whole time. We later found out he was signaling to the drivers which way to go to throw us...how rude! The beach we were at is the same beach where Roberto Clemente's plane went down. We were actually on the beach where the people of Puerto Rico stood for a long time waiting for him to walk up out of the water because they couldn't believe he was gone. Much of that was because they never found his body. The beach is right behind the airport and not far from Roberto's hometown of Carolina. Enough of a history lesson - moving on - here's a picture of us before the ride.

After the ride we went to the bar where Courtney was and had a drink to calm our nerves and then we headed out for lunch. We drove to Loiza which is a town famous for it's masks and festivals involving the mask. If you've been to our house (wink, wink) you probably remember a giant mask hanging on our living room wall. This is much like a mask you would find in Loiza. We ate at a restaurant that we had a coupon for but again the coupon was deceiving. It worked out for Courtney and me but not for the Dills. I had to take a picture of what Mendez ordered. I'm fine with fish - love fish - but only if it doesn't still have eyes and teeth!!! I also took a picture of the Dills and a self portrait of the Marshes...say cheese!

We were so sore this morning from our ride yesterday! You don't realize how much work you put your body through when trying to hold on to an inflated banana! When we got home yesterday we had to get showered and ready for our first Guayama Brujos basketball game. I wrote last week that we wanted to go but the tickets were sold out. At our party Thursday we talked with Manny, the baseball player, about the game on Saturday. He picked Courtney up Friday morning and took him to get tickets. He got us 2nd row seats so we went to the game last night. It was awesome! That's kind of funny because Courtney & I aren't really in to basketball but it was a blast! We didn't get to meet him but we did see the player from Kansas. He's the biggest player on the team at 6 feet 10 inches and possibly their best player! He really did a great job until he got tired. He played the entire first quarter, most of the 2nd, most of the 3rd, and most of the 4th. The game then went in to double overtime! We were ahead for the entire game until the last few seconds, went down in points, tied, and went to overtime. In the first overtime it was back and forth and then with 1 second left we tied it again! The 2nd overtime we ended up winning I believe 107-102. We had a great time! That's the KS boy - number 35, Matt Freije (Free-hee).

Today was spent shopping for grocceries at the Super Wal-Mart in Santa Isabel because they've closed down Pueblo, the groccery store just up the street. We have school all of this week and then Monday through Wednesday the week after...and we get out at 11:00 those days! I can't believe our time is 1/2 over and this school year is basically over! Things are nuts! Hope you all have a great week and we'll see you in 2 months!!