Ziplock full of Fanta

I think the weekend would best be expressed in a picture monologue:

On Sunday, Stephanie and I stopped at the corner shop for a Fanta, which they kindly poured into a plastic bag to be sure we wouldn’t leave with the bottle. They even gave us straws. Note:

While we were gone, Ms. Ida baked a birthday cake for her grandson (his 15th birthday- a big deal around here) on the fire-burning stove. She showed me how to build a fire below the pan, cover it, and build a fire on top of the pan to bake the cake, which was a Duncan Hines box mix. A funny combination…

Before the birthday party, I followed the kids to the river to “bathe” and swim.

They bathed. I sunbathed.

Then we walked home

And helped decorate the cake

Sang Happy Birthday to the birthday boy

And played free rounds of pool at the Karaoke bar next door. The owner of the bar is Ms. Ida’s uncle-in-law or something, and he played “Happy Birthday” live, island style, for all of us. (The birthday boy is shooting, Ronnel- Stephanie’s brother who does NOT have malaria, praise God- is in the blue shirt, and the other kid, well, I think he’s a cousin or something.)

The uncle’s band way in the back, singing happy birthday

Stephanie challenged me

And, I lost.

Next, we went to visit the baby next door- Miss Ida’s granddaughter & Stephanie’s cousin

(what can I say? Kids love me.) (not)

I can’t remember what was happening here, but the picture sequence is priceless…

All better.

Just before dinner, the Karaoke Uncle’s daughter, Sabrina, gave me a tour of the plantain farm and river front behind the bar, which is in the Iguana Reserve- as noted by Iguana lounging by the river.

Plantain Trees

And I followed them to a secret spot by the river, where Sabrina’s family had cemented a walking path, and watched the sun set.

Unrelated note: I have a strange rash on my hand where a bug bit me. Antonia told me to put Vic’s vapor rub on it (random?) which I don’t have, but I slathered my whole wrist in tea tree oil instead, and today it looked a little better…