Hail Mary

"Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee

Blessed are you among women

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

Pray for us sinners

Now and at the hour of our death

Amen."

Only moments before we had thought that we would be a little spontaneous and jump on the biggest ferris wheel in San Lucas. But once it started moving we both spontaneousely broke into the "Hail Mary" out of abject terror as we whipped around and around. Apparently in San Lucas, where there are no roller coasters, they use the ferris wheel to attain that feeling of stomaching dropping fun. We were expecting a calm, relaxing ride with a good view of the lake and of town but we were in for a surprise.

It was the feria last week. The closest equivalent we can think of is like a county fair. Lots of cheap games, food, local music and dancing, and of course lots of cheap rides. The celebration of the feria is on the feast day of St. Luke, the patron saint of town. All the towns around the lake are named after saints and they hold their ferias on their saints' feast day.

What we thought would be a ten minute ferris wheel ride actually turned into an hour long adventure. Immediately after we got on, the ferris wheel turned 180 degrees so that we were all the way at the very top. We were stuck there for about 15 minutes while the operators waited for the next people to get on. We must have just been (un)lucky in our timing. We eventually got over our terror and enjoyed an amazing view and had fun looking down at people when knew. We both wonder now if perhaps we were trying to recapture some of the spontaneity of our pre-Clara days. Our Newton House community member Cassie was visiting us during the feria and she was babysitting for "just 15 minutes" while we ran an errand. When we found ourselves sitting 60 feet up in the air we called her to let her know it might be awhile. When our feet finally touched the ground again we agreed that we were ready to leave ferris wheel adventures behind for a different kind of adventure, who is currently napping under our billowing flower print curtains. Maybe someday we can even take her on a ferris wheel - but I think we've both decided it will definitely not be here in San Lucas. More likely, we'll have to grit our teeth as we watch her jump aboard with her friends and remember the days when we did the same.