A Special Day for Dear José

Dear One and all,

While I could talk of the sun going up and then going down, of us downing another cerveza, margarita or tequila shooter, today I am focusing on our celebration of the birthday (cumpliaño de José) of our waiter friend, José, the life of the place at La Fuente del Puente.

He was 48 yesterday (also Ash Wednesday). Polley and I planned a little celebration. Why we chose to do the blowout for 48, I can't explain. I think we just came up with an idea and executed it. We had t-shirts made, saying "I "heart" José. They were a real hit. From the moment Polley and I walked in wearing our, to the surprise of having them for the whole staff

Here you see José with the kitchen staff, all donning their camisitas. We also got the other head waiter, Alex and the restaurant manager, Aurora, to pose, although Aurora had yet to slip the shirt over her head

I had invited Esparanza, his wife to come along as well. They have been together 28 years

Esparanza also brought along two of her sisters, Betty and Sonja, who seemed to enjoy the party, despite a limited amount of English

You may notice my brother sitting there as well, Dave and Katie Joined us and Dave really got into the celebratory aspects of the day, having not one, but two Cadillac margaritas, which José personally made right at the table

We finished up with a lunch of calamari and ceviche and, of course, a lovely little cake, divided about 12 ways. It was great fun and sseemed to be something embraced by the whole staff. José is that kind of guy. He loves his job, loves his family and, I think, trulyu loves his friends and customers. Polley and I talked about the money we spent on the shirts and the food and the music. Mexicans have so little, would a gift of money have been better? Perhaps. But I think we gave José a day he will remember for a very long time. Priceless!

Other than that event, after the big day with Dave and Kaitie's arrival,, we had a very quiet Monday and Tuesday. Polley caught my cold, of course, so she is suffering through the effects of that. We did make it to the Malécon for a couple of sunsets

This one was actually Wednesday night. It was a sunset that was quite lovely as the sun went down

But, after that, Nada! The clouds seemed to just take over and rob us of any afterglow (except that which we both just naturally possess!) We were, in fact, supposed to join by brother and his wife for some dinner and music, but Polley's cold insisted on being a priority. So it was just up the hill for a light supper and then, I tucked the Polley into bed, supplied with a large supply of Kleenex and we turned out the light. Too much fun, time to recharge!

 

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