Feliz Navidad - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMtuVP8Mj4o
Funny Christmas. I feel oddly disconnected. This morning, first thing, I turned on the computer, to find that I had the dreaded "Little or No Connectivity", which always, always means "No Connectivity At All". Kristin reported the same problem. It was too early to call Cesar, the contact person, so I turned the computer off and checked back every fifteen minutes or so until 9:15, when suddenly I had some connectivity, but not a lot. In the course of the day, I've used Skype to call several people, and so has Robin. His call was better than any of mine, which is to say that Matt could hear some of what he said, sometimes. I had to leave a couple of machine messages, which probably sounded like dead air. To all those who know I will have been calling them today: please accept that blank message you got as my heartfelt "Merry Christmas!"

Robin had himself a proper sunstroke yesterday, so he decided to take a break from the sun today. So did I (hmmm. Not the sunstroke part - just the taking a break part!). I didn't get to sleep until 1:00 a.m., and we were up just after 7:00, so I've spent part of the day reading, part napping. We did, though, cycle up to the top of the beach, looking unsuccessfully for TJ and Kris, who saw us leave. They had been snorkeling one bay over from where we were looking. While we were there, we had our usual coffee and fruit at the Restaurant Whose Name Nobody Can Ever Remember. (Mr. Something) We were going to check out the Starbucks-like place a little farther up - Loony Bean, I think it's called - but it was closed for the holiday.

Now, Robin's good intentions seem to have evaporated. He disappeared to the beach about an hour ago. It's late enough in the day, though, that the sun isn't too strong. In half an hour or so, I'll follow him, so that we can watch the sunset together.

We did invite TJ and Kris to join us for Christmas dinner, but they had made other plans, so we'll just have to think of something else to celebrate with them some other night - not New Year's Eve. They have a lot of old friends here, and something tells me they already have a party in the works. Our movie night was fun. A River Runs Through It was slow but (and?) comforting. Robin surprised me by staying awake. I figured his sunstroke would have him nodding off during the first half hour. Maybe the cool evening breeze helped.

So once again, Merry Christmas to all those dear to us but not nearly near enough. We miss you.