Hola,
Well, we managed to not go up the volcano again last Saturday...for the second time the bus just didn't show up. Its nothing personal - our new friends Karen and John from Miami had arranged to go the following morning, at 6am, and they got stood up as well. We're speculating that maybe there is no volcano, just a lot of fraudulent travel agents and gullible tourists....

In fact we seem to be jinxed on activities lately. Last Thursday our hill walk was rained off. On Friday we just arrived at the 5-a-side football match when the heavens opened and we all got soaked to the bone. Ironically, there was a river running down our street when we got home, but no water in our apartment for most of the weekend. This level of rainfall is unusual for Antigua, something to do with deforestation.

We have had some interesting cultural experiences, though. Every Saturday afternoon a Charismatic Catholic group hold a 2-hour service in our building - there's a lot of singing, laying on of hands, public confessions, that sort of thing. We were also invited to a Baptism 'fiesta' last weekend (it would be rude not to after they installed a sound system loud enough to shake the whole building outside our bedroom door). These family parties are big (40 or more friends and relatives) and loud but not in any way wild. There's no alcohol for a start, and everyone over 18 has at least one 'nino' (small child) in tow. It is not unusual for girls to get married at 15 or even younger, and they start breeding immedietely. One local couple have 18 children! Needless to say, the fact that Richard and I are practically middle aged and childless is a topic of much incredulous discussion.

Anyway, back to our verb conjugations, until next week,
Jakki