Daily “Happenings” and a Romantic Evening

The telephones ringing brought me out of a semi-conscious state of sleep at 8:00AM. Grabbing the receiver I passed it to my groggy wife with the comment "one of your early bird friends who can't tell time." After a quick "hola, ok, gracias," she returned the receiver to me with the info that our admin had just informed us that the gas people would be arriving in minutes to fill our tank, located in the condo gas-tank-farm, just as I had requested the previous day. Grumbling, I arose, found my shorts and ball cap, and wandered down to the pool deck to await their arrival minutes later. Such is life in retirement.

For Valentine’s Day Eve, we had purchased tickets to an International Friendship Clubs dinner and dance at the Hotel Playa Los Arcos, just a short walk from our condo. We were joined by friends from Montreal who are long-term renters in our complex. Being a little late in our preparation they had preceded us by several minutes to secure good seats. When we arrived the expressions on their faces was a harbinger of the evening to come. Seems they had found a nice table; however, after twenty minutes they were informed that the table was reserved even though there was no indication to that fact. Additionally, many other tables had been so marked and the only seats left were at tables for 10 that had at least 12 persons crammed together - shoulder to shoulder. We later found out that the Hotel had reserved a significant number of tables for paying guests. Also the IFC had sold over 200 tickets and space was available only around the perimeter of the facility, very crowded, but doable. We immediately ordered drinks (after a major search for our waiter) and were still waiting 45 minutes later. Becoming hungry we joined the queue for food then returned to our table. The sun had set and it was dark (no lights in our seating area) so you had to rely on memory as to where the food was located on your plate - I kept getting papaya where I thought the watermelon was located, the same between fish and pork! After an hour our initial drink order arrived and since a glass of wine was included with the meal we ordered that immediately. It took 4 reorders for the wine (even though we had finished eating) and when Dolores noted the waiter appearing with a tray of wine we clapped, thinking the evening had been saved. However, he swept past us to the next table to deliver their third refill. Maybe we were blessed because one of the red wine glasses managed to tip over and spill on one of the ladies at that table. Leaving at that point we returned to our condo, grabbed some wines and snacks, and held our own party on the pool deck. We were joined by other returning condo friends and a perfect ending offset a somewhat confused beginning to Valentine’s Day Eve! I wonder how the dance and entertainment was - or whether the waiter is still searching for us to deliver the wine?

The next evening was spent at the River Cafe enjoying a fine dinner and listening to "Willie and Lobo" entertain us with their special brand of music (classic guitar and violin/ fiddle). What a contrast to the previous evening. And so goes retirement in paradise!

The Condo BBQ is located in a corner of the pool that is unobtrusive and should provide a private place to entertain friends and family. However, its internal configuration is designed for use of the Mexican bulk charcoal which consists of actual chunks of mesquite wood in its original shape. While this “works”, it takes considerable effort to start a good bed of burning charcoal and is difficult to maintain a reliable heat. Because of this the BBQ has fallen into disuse. After several weeks of discussion it was decided that a simple upgrade of the BBQ could be accomplished through adding a gas burner, control valve, and a commercial rentable gas tank. The unit would look the same but now function as a gas BBQ, something most gringo’s are familiar with. Our friend’s in the condo below us knew of a local craftsman who had done this at a previous condo and they invited him over to give us a bid on the expected cost of the conversion. Since he spoke no English, we asked a neighbor who speaks excellent English and Spanish to interpret for us. A good and fair price was arrived at and the following day our friends informed us they had given the contractor pesos to start the conversion with the assurance that it would be completed in the next two days. We gave them the remaining pesos required on the bid and started laying off bets on whether the job would really be completed in two days. On the third day, with no contractor in sight, Dolores got his telephone number and called. As we expected, he was still purchasing the parts and locating the tools necessary to do the job; however, since he was aware that our friends spoke no Spanish, he didn’t call to tell them of the delay. In Mexico, this makes sense.