This is where I long to be, La Isla Bonita

I didn't listen to a lot of Madonna growing up. I remember being in 7th grade and all the girls in my junior high were trying to be Madonna. There was one assignment in our english class where we had to list our 5 favorite songs. I remember there were 3 other girls at my table. Their song lists included: Like a Virgin, Papa Don't Preach, Material Girl, Holiday and Borderline. I remember my list was something like: Bridge Over Troubled Water, Annie's Song, Hard Habit to Break, Hold Me Now, and Footloose. I didn't get Madonna then. I sure don't get Madonna now.

However, when we were getting ready to go to Belize, I was reading Lonely Planent Belize. One of the bits information I learned is that Madonna was singing about Ambergris Caye in her 1987 hit "La Isla Bonita". I was in high school at the time this song came out, and I knew very few of the lyrics. Yet the tune in its minor key was still in my head. And then on every street corner in San Pedro there is a sign that says "La Isla Bonita." This forced the melody through my head so many times each day that I had to look up the lyrics to go along with the music that kept going through my head.

When I looked up the lyrics, I was stunned to see that Madonna and I acually had TWO things in common. First, we both gave birth on October 14, 1996--I only know this because I was in the hospital watching TV after Jacob was born, and that's what was on every channel. The second thing was that we were both in love with San Pedro, Belize.

The lyrics to La Isla Bonita perfectly describe how anyone feels once he or she has walked its sands, felt its salty breeze and played in its warm water.

"Last night I dreamt of San Pedro

Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song.

A young girl with eyes like the desert.

It all seems like yesterday, not far away.

Tropical the island breeze

All of nature wild and free

This is where I long to be

La isla bonita.

And when the samba played

The sun would set so high

Ring through my ears

and sting my eyes

Your spanish lullaby.

I fell in love with San Pedro.

Warm wind carried on the sea, he called to me

Te dijo te amo.

I prayed that the days would last

They went so fast.

I want to be where the sun warms the sky

When its time for siesta you can watch them go by

Beautiful faces, no cares in this world.

Where a girl loves a boy, and a boy loves a girl.

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro.

It all seems like yesterday, not far away."

My apologies for any of you who now have this song stuck in your head.