Summer is flying by, and all I can think about are a couple things: next week's camp that will be a (better) repeat of last year's camp in our campo, and my vacation for the first time home to the US the next week after that. My goal is to see lots of people, stick my face to the tap to drink the water straight from the faucet, and eat mountains of shaved ice. It's always good to set goals before a trip, right?

Our half marathon was a couple Saturdays ago, and only four of us volunteers ran in it along with the many many other runners from here and other countries, and with a total of one cheerleader/fan for us (who was my friend Erin visiting us, so it was a forced situation... but thanks, Erin!). Tri finished faster than any of us, and then I came in at 2 hours and 3 minutes. It seems slow when you figure out the minutes per mile, but I sure felt like I was going as fast as I could, especially in the last three kilometers! At the finish line they hand you a bag with water, a couple little cakes, and an open beer: mine ended up being a gift to an unsuspecting bystander who enjoyed a lot more than I was about to. There were also fireworks after the race that were shot off from dangerously close by, which only increased the sense of excitement. All in all a very good hot humid rainy fun afternoon race.

Erin visited for about 2 weeks, and aside from her getting sick for about 5 days with fever, body aches, and diarrhea, we had a fun time. Exploring a new beach in the South that was beautiful and sort of Jurrasic Park movie-ish complete with buckets of mangos and plenty of my favorite fruit -- guanábana. We stayed in an inexpensive house on the top of a hill on a cliff looking over the ocean (pictures to be updated soon!) and spent our days at the rocky beach where the river empties into the sea. We had a few adventures while Erin was at my home as well, teaching her merengue and bachata (which she found boring) at a teacher party, going to a funeral prayer hour, and being whisked off to a river by my friends driving by. Now it's time for me to get back to reality and have a productive two weeks before vacation home! The biggest question facing me right now: do we invite my clown friend on stilts from the capital to the camp, or is he too expensive?