You say hello, I say adios

Today marks a special occasion. We reached Belize, the first day in a month we've been in an English speaking country. Being around your native tongue, you drop your guard, release a tension you didn't know you were holding. You see and understand things clearly, instead of half translating/ half guessing. The automated Spanish you pick up in your travels, which gets you around with no real expression, gives way to something real. Even with the simplest of replies, the inflection gives a range of meaning beyond my comprehension of Spanish. That must be what fluency is about-- more than the vocabulary or conjugations, its the ability to manipulate your sentence to transcend the meaning of its individual words.

Speaking of transcendence, we celebrated (or mourned?) Michael Jackson's passing at a nice restaurant on the beach tonight. Lobster in a succulent habanero garlic butter, caught fresh that day. Actually they were pulling one out of the water when we walked by the restaurant. They played only the King of Pop, and served free jello shots made from overproof Belizean rum. Kids danced outside, while we slipped home for an early bedtime.