A Mexican Party!

Can you imagine being a member of this Miriachi band and playing in the middle of the day in 34 degree heat with a humidex of 40 degrees? For Mexican birthday, YES!!

On Friday, August 21st, Alfredo celebrated his birthday. We went, along with his son, to a restaurant. On Saturday, Alfredo threw a birthday party for his family and friends. In Mexico, it is traditional, for the person who is celebrating to make all the preparations for the party, except the cake which is provided by a family member. What is a Mexican party without a Mariachi band. Alfredo hired the band to play for an hour. Traditionally, the band plays some songs and then asks the audience for requests. Since 30 family and friends were at the party, the songs continued and continued. After the hours, the applause brought the band back for two more songs!

I include this picture because here Alfredo and his son sit and wait for the guests to arrive. When I took this picture, we had just arrived. It was 2:30 and the party was to begin at 2! For those of you reading this blog and know me and my need for being punctual, you will understand a little more into the Mexican style of life. A couple of hours later all 30 guests were there. Here is a brief timeline on how Alfredo prepared for his party - Saturday afternoon 2-9 PM.

1. Thursday - sent out invitations

2. Friday night, 6:30PM went to restaurant to make reservations and pre order drinks and appetizers

3. Friday night, 9PM phoned various Mariachi bands to find best price, then booked

4. Saturday morning at 11 AM went to order 10 BBQ chicken, rice and tortillas to take to the restaurant. It is always amazing for me to see how smoothly this party came together and over the past six years other events I have seen planned with 24 hours. Alfredo continues to tease me about me not believing he just went into the shower at 2PM the day of his party that was scheduled to begin at 2! He said, ¨Trust me. No one will be there until at least 3.¨Of course he was right. The party was perfect!

Here is my photo of a palapa for this post. This is an apartment complex with several buildings. The smaller palapa is the security palapa for vehicles entering and leaving. The one behind is a place for people to meet for parties and eating. This complex is about two blocks from the apartment here.

On Sunday (after the Friday and Saturday birthday weekend), we went to the beach around noon. On the way back to the apartment around 5PM, we stopped at this little bar for a drink (pop only) and a hamburger. As we walked by we saw a special, a beer and hamburger for 5o pesos ($5.00). When I asked about the Canada connection, the waitress told me the owner was Canadian!