Random festival and visitors

Last Saturday night I said there was a stage being set up in the center; I actually wound up going. A band started playing around 9:30 PM, with a small crowd. The crowd kept growing, and the band's pyrotechnic guys kept lighting off fireworks. At one point, they introduced these paper-mache bulls with racks of fireworks strung on top...and invited people from the crowd to run around with them!!! So these two guys (one after the other), put the bulls onto their shoulders, lit the fuse, and ran into the crowd. I kid you not. I got some videos from my hiding spot behind the speakers (yes, the speakers are stacked about 3 meters high):



Also, this last week I got to meet some of the new trainees in Group 9! They have been down here for two weeks, and as part of their training, they came down to visit my office. I gave a couple of talks, we got some tours, and we signed the official memo of agreement for my center to accept volunteers. The new group seems really sharp and has some great experience / backgrounds, and I look forward to getting to hang out with them.