where'd all the good people go?

A few days late (and prompted by an anxious Ana), comes the Taxco reunion recap. Though it may seem like neglect, this post had been started -- and saved as a draft -- before I postponed it in order to allow for full and proper marination so as to best capture the night and all its wonderful delicacies. Okay, that's a lie (I did start it though). I had finals. And that's only sort of a lie.

The title, some of you may recognize the song, refers to my feeling about my fellow Carolina-Taxcañians (no idea if that's the word). As a misanthrope -- and one who rarely takes the time to actually get to know people or let them get to know me on any real level -- I generally have a, shall we say distaste?, for most of my fellow humans. If you're reading this, chances are you've read my life thoughts before and you know I'm not lying. However, I don't know if I just got lucky with y'all or if I'd find the same if I ever gave anyone else the chance, but I do feel blessed to have shared/and to still be sharing experiences with all of you. You aren't just good people -- you are great people.

Ok, way too much sappy shit. So the night began with my masterfully crafted plan of dis- and mis information clouding the possibility of my arrival, but somehow I think most people knew it was just a thinly-veiled attempt to fuck with them. After some small talk, we roped in the last stragglers, and then we Cosmicked.

The talk was wide and random. Of course there was the heartmelting, if laboriously prompted, tale of Matt's engagement, which of course has to be the single biggest piece of news to come to Team Walrus since our return to the land of stars and stripes and expensive shitty food. As well was revealed Elvis (aka Latin Heat), Ashley's self-proclaimed "somewhat sketchy" (and I mean this in a "I kid, I kid" from SNL sort of way) Guatemalan lover (I see this coming to pass). Shoot, and that was my one chance to use guatemalteco in real life. Other updates saw that V-rock has got UNC d-skool on lockdown; Ana, felicitaciones a ti, made it into the MAT (I hope that's right, all I remember is that you said it once to me in Spanish class and I thought you said MIT) program here and will be around for a bit still; the one and only Martin is off for the journey of a lifetime (what, Taxco wasn't enough?) to SE Asia and the world proper; and of course the kicker, applicable to today -- Rebecca is on her way to Taxco right now to visit the all-too-well-known Jose Luis, aka coach of the Aztecas/Pelones.

And of course somehow I ended up telling the 38-year-old hottie/Mrs. M.I.L.F. story to the entire table. At which point everyone unanimously decided that, eerily familiar to Taxco nights, ice cream was desired, and Cold Stone was the answer. So we did that. I got a cone (and for once was able to verbally express a bloggable rant to another person: Gena and Ashley). At first I thought I won AGAIN. Martin even said so. But then I lost. By like 50 cents or so, probably.

Alas, as the merriment, as it always does, had to come to an end. And here we once again reencounter the title of this post. Because as the group diminished in size one-by-one (starting with noble Matt and his departure from this, the likely LAST EVER, Taxco reunion in whole) in true, tearjerking Real World fashion -- with only a brief reprieve for some building climbing and action-running pho-to-graph-ing -- I was left wondering sadly, "where'd all the good people go?"