As Mary Poppins taught me...

 In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun!


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Dragon Fruit and Banana

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Dragon fruit grows locally, so it's always available to us. It's an intense magenta color inside, and a magenta/pink color outside. The skin is not at all prickly and is quite easy to slice through. The fruit texture is like a kiwi and takes no effort to scoop out. The taste is very pleasant - mild and sweet.  We also get local bananas. They are much smaller than those in America. The taste is just amazing! Yes, they taste like bananas, but with something like a vanilla flavor and tropical fruit flavor, too. The banana flesh is not as soft or slippery, but rather like ripe plantain.  I took the photo using the same cup's saucer and my bamboo spoon to give you a sense of the size.  By the way, our rooms each have two ceramic tea cups/saucers and two spoons. Since we didn't receive any plates in our coconut/bamboo food kit, I used the saucer - which I then washed, of course. 
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Class Notes Day 25 - Sat 3/2/24 - LAST DAY OF CLASS - GOODBYES

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" Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories... Do it as well as you possibly can. You will have created something." Random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty... There were beautiful flowers on the step into the wantilan, then an amazing centerpiece on the floor. I heard some of the students and teaching staff working on it last night.  I cannot begin to guess how many flowers were gathered, then how many petals were plucked from those flowers, in order to have the "paint" for these floral images.  We milled around and took various pictures together saying our final "goodbyes" before we took our last class picture. (I'm in the back center, in front of the orange silk with my hand up.) Then we circled together one final time. Left hand on my own heart, right hand on the back of the person to my right, and so the circle connected. And we sang "All I ask of you is forever to remember me as loving you."  Some students had alr...
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