Iguanas Attack!

In July, my husband-to-be told me to save August 5th through 10th for a special trip. He wouldn't give me any details, and, even when I said I was supposed to be back for professional development in New Orleans on the 9th, said sorry, we'll be back late on the 10th, and you should be excited.

And so, on August 5th, I flew out to meet him where he was finishing his KIPP convention in Las Vegas (Evidently that seemed the perfect place to gather innovative teachers to collaborate and really get some work done). My flights were delayed, so I rolled into the neon Rio at 11:45pm, just in time to use Stefin's VIP passes to get in free to the absurdly wannaberichandfamous club on the top floor. I thought my sexy black dress and dangly rhinestones might get me into it, but on the whole it was just really overwhelming: crowded dancing on the roof to bad music and myriad drinks spilled on my flip-flops. We danced a little and I was introduced to some colleagues, before returning to the room to catch some Zs. Apparently, Stefin informed me, we had to get up at 3:45 the next morning.

And so we did, and at the airport ticket counter I learned that we were headed to Mexico! S had cleverly stashed my passport in his belongings before his slew of summer traveling began, so all the paperwork was in order. I tell you, that guy thinks of everything.

We arrived to Cancun and via rented plastic-buggy, made our way to Telum, about an hour and a half south, where there are underground rivers/underwater caves and some real-life Mayan ruins.

We pulled up, down a dark and quiet road, where large light-blue crabs skirted across the asphalt like characters in a Frogger game. It was dark, so I couldn't appreciate the full beauty of the path to our room (above), but I could hear the sounds of the waves. I hadn't even realized we were that close to the shore! The next day, I got the full view. This was where we were staying:

We spent most of our time lounging, swimming, reading, eating delicious meals and drinking amazing "aguas-" concoctions of blended fruit that will almost kill you they're so good. We did make it to the ruins, which were pretty incredible, although the beach they sat upon, filled with tourists, made it feel a bit like Disneyland.

And then there were these guys.

They lived on the cliffs below our deck. We were so excited to see them at first... and I was all grins and raised eyebrows when we saw the first that morning and it let me get pretty close before it moved away. My attitude changed toward them a mere hours later.

We had ordered room service- via a system that was kind of like throwing your order in a bottle into the ocean and hoping you'll get fed. You put up a flag, eventually someone comes, you tell them what you want, an hour later it might be delivered. It was rustic if not efficient.

So by the time our food arrived, we were ravenously hungry and Very Excited to Eat. We sat ourselves down on the deck: eggs, juice, Nescafe, yogurt... it was one second before bon appetit.

When suddenly, a giant iguana, nearly twice the size of the one we had encountered earlier, with a grotesquely warrior-esque half-a-tail, leaped out of the bushes and scrambled up onto the half-log table where our food was set. S and I each made loud noises. Stefin pushed his foot toward the beast, but it barely paused. It was going for those eggs. There was stark determination in those dark and beady eyes. Stefin make an aggressive poking motion with his fork, stopping just millimeters from the scaly skin, but again, the thing remained undaunted. It stopped its forward movement for a moment, but quickly started in again.

"Honey, take the food inside," Stefin advised. I started to pile up plates on my arms as Stefin fought to keep the big guy at bay, wielding his fork as a sword and candle lantern as a shield. I had one load inside on the table as a second- and then third- giant lizard made its way onto the deck.

Needless to say, we wound up eating inside.

Adventure it was! And, with freckles and a dash of Montezuma's revenge, I made it back to work before students, and even got my classroom together enough that day one was not only not-a-disaster, but markedly better than year one and year dos.

So far, so good. It's a lot of work, and we're up to here in it- but still enthused enough to be doing a pretty good job. At least at work there aren't any iguanas.