Despedidas

Three weeks between one vacation and another went by in a flurry of writing reports, drafting bi-laws, making lots of pumpkin pies for people, lots of bickering between my friends, workshops on homophobia that someone had to give and who knows what other details. I ate crabs from the shell and kept up with my jogging. The time to go to the states was forever getting closer but I didn't ever really have time to get excited about it until I was on the plane to Panama.

To say good bye a couple friends of mine I went to sing karaoke. It was one of those plans you have always pending until someone Yeah. This is the night we go. The place turned out to be a little disappointing. It was smokey and full of big groups of men without dates and no one would take our song requests for a really long time. Everyone, especially the men, were singing the most sentimental ballads ever thought possible. The microphone got passed around tables and people sang from their seat, an arrangement I only can describe as merciful. I chose Brian Adams' Heaven (sentimentality and all) and was a conscious of the expectant rustle when a song in English came up on the screen. I have had some bad moments singing with a microphone in front of people. Once in college, I sang in front of A LOT of people, and once in a karaoke bar and it was scarring. So I don't want to sounds too arrogant but this was different. And I could hear my little voice coming out of the speakers and knew I had them, my audience, my fans in my pocket. When I finished there lots of cheers and some kid came over to congratulate us. I finished my set with Mama Mia, following the wise cues of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.