An interesting last week or so. Well, maybe not for you, but I'm going to write about it anyway.

We went to Tarrafal for IST last week. Tarrafal is on the northern part of Santiago, and it's definitely the best beach on that island. We stayed in a hotel that consists mostly of little huts among some palm trees right along the bay (yeah, sometimes this feels like a really nice vacation). Oh yes, and there were monkeys. If I haven't recently expressed my hatred for monkeys, here it is: I hate monkeys. One morning, they all hung around outside the breakfast room and started stealing food from people as they left. Our training director got mugged for a banana, and another monkey went for Nadia's loaf of bread. I smacked it with my folder. Note: smacking a hungry monkey makes it a hungry, angry monkey. (There was one really cute baby monkey at a bar one night that I actually did like a lot. He was kind of a biter, but really fun to play with.) Where was I? Right, IST. I won't kill you with the details, but I'd have to say that it was more or less what I expected. There were some sessions on administrative policy and whatnot that were boring, but probably necessary. The rest was mostly on project design and management, classroom strategies, etc. Some parts were actually quite useful, and just hanging out and talking with other volunteers puts your own work in good perspective.

But of course, there was partying. Lots of it. All night. Every night. Guess what happens when you put 45 Americans who haven't seen each other in 6 months on a nice beach with access to lots of beer? Madness. On the last night, we had a bonfire on the beach, and a few of us walked up into town at around 10 to get some beer. Well, we ended up clearing two (count 'em, 2) grocery stores out of everything they had in their refridgerators. I also forgot how amazingly entertaining some of the other volunteers are. It was like a non-stop comedy show for 5 days. With booze added. There was also a bit of swimming, of the naked-at-midnight variety. And by a bit, I mean a lot. So the point is that it was awesome, and a really good break from Boa Vista. Although, it's worth pointing out that I started missing this place by day 2, and I was immensely pleased to come back on Friday. I've realized just how much I like it here.

I got a couple days of peace and quiet at home, because Nadia stayed on Santiago for a bit longer. I caught up on some sleep, and had a pretty great night out alone on Saturday. It's amazing what happens when you live in a small town and you just go sit on a bar stool for a night. You see everyone. It's awesome. Now, Nadia is back, and we've got a few visitors. Catalina, Michelle, and Adam are all here right now, and Alli and Natawnee will be arriving later today. The plan is lots of beach relaxation, which so far has worked out well. I've been catching up on a lot of work, too.

One nasty little incident is that Catalina and Michelle got robbed on our beach the other day. They were walking together and two guys stepped out of nowhere and took everything they had. I was floored, because I had never heard of anything like this, but apparently these two guys have gotten like ten people in the last month or so. I don't think of the beaches here as dangerous, but I guess there is a price to be paid for rapid development.

Diva is listening to absolutely horrible music right now. Worse than usual. It might be Celine Dion, if I knew anything she's done other than that Titanic song.

Spela, my Slovenian friend, is leaving today, and I am sad. She had a little going away party last night at the wind club, and it was awesome. Every windsurfer around came for it, and we ended up hanging out there with Tey, Moises, and Yohann until almost 1 am. Damn this place is great.

Oh god, it IS Celine Dion. The fucking Titanic song is on now! I am about to stab myself in the heart with the nearest sharp object.

Ok, enough for now.