After four weeks of marimba lessons, Lois was captivated. We visited the recommended Nandayapa family marimba factory in Chiapa de Corzo, ordered a four-octave marimba, and returned on Saturday February 23 to pick it up. The factory has several workshops within the family house overlooking the Grijalva River (which flows into the Sumidero Canyon a mile or two downstream). We met Carlos and Alejandro Nandayapa, who graciously showed us the workshops. They are of the 3rd generation of Nandayapas making marimbas here. We watched carefully (and documented with photos) as they packed the instrument in its wooden case. Then we brought it back to San Cristobal, unpacked and assembled it, and VOILA! Lois played tunes!! What fun!!

Lois's marimba at the Nandayapas	Workshop	Worker making tecomate (resonator)	Workshop/showroom
Alejandro tuning a key	Carlos demonstrating Lois's marimba	Packing the marimba	Lois holding it together as we assemble it
First tunes	Sounding great	Is this terrific, or what?

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