Rachel’s Birthday Party.
Today Rachel is focused on preparing for her party tonight. So far, a slow morning for me, after I did a little morning shopping with Rachel. That’s fine, though.
Living here is not for slouches. You have to be at least somewhat fit. Getting anywhere means walking, unless you have one of those small engine motorcycles or scooters that are pervasive everywhere. And walking means cobblestones, steps, and hills. Not for the frail or handicapped, although there are plenty of handicapped and impoverished local people living here.
We spent the day preparing for the party tonight, and Marisa, with whom we had dinner the other night, came over and very skillfully began making meat and vegetarian empanadas from scratch, with Jane joining us.
Rachel’s friend Alberto, who is her Spanish teacher, and also a great dance partner, came by, after picking up the two cakes Rachel ordered for the party.
All was going well… until Rachel’s hip and leg, which had been bothering her for a few days, possibly due to the gym, really, really started acting up, becoming extremely painful, and at times buckling.
So, here we are at Rachel’s doctor, me in the waiting room while Rachel has just gone into the doctor’s office. Here, you can see a doctor that very same day. Amazing. Now we wait for a positive outcome. Fingers crossed, and especially as this is Rachel’s birthday party.
The doctor seemed to do a really good job, and spent about 45 minutes with Rachel. She gave Rachel some Cortisone shots along her leg, massaged her, and diagnosed it as essentially a muscle and nerve spasm. And all this, with a follow up appointment on Monday, for $75 (and the doc texted Rachel the following day to see how Rachel was doing).
Rachel was feeling much better by the time she left. So much so, in fact, that she virtually completely disregarded the doctors instructions, as I was there when the doctor was giving those instructions, and instead just had a plain good time at the party. Although Rachel was afraid it was going to rain, as this was a rooftop party (as it did last year), as well as being in pain all evening, neither of those things happened, and Rachel happily had a really good time. In fact, Rachel was pain free for the remainder of the evening, danced a lot, and had a really good time.
She has a very nice group of friends, both ex-pats and local Mexicans, and the party was I think enjoyed by all, with good food, and two pretty damn good local cakes. It was a 100% success.
I’m not a party person, as you know, and not somebody who likes to talk to a bunch of people I don’t know (although I do a good job of it), or even crowds of more than a few people, I nevertheless always enjoy myself at parties, and enjoyed meeting Rachel’s friends. It was a beautiful night on the roof.
The party ended downstairs in Rachel’s apartment, with Rachel dancing with three of her local friends, Alberto, Emmanuel, and Eric (a not particularly Mexican name), who are each, it appears, expert dancers, and each of whom teach dance. Eric is a tall, indigenous guy with long hair, and quite striking. He could certainly be a model or an extra, at least, in a movie. Very striking guy, and also quiet and with a really nice disposition.
Rachel was having a great time, and really in her element, and loving the dancing, and I think is pretty damn good. Alberto and others, on more than one occasion, tried to convince me to dance, but I of course declined. Jane and Carla danced also, and it was really a lovely time, and fun to watch. Even as Alberto later left, he tried to get me to do a few dance steps, but I, being me, declined.
As the evening came to a close, I was watching and listening to Alberto, Eric, Emmanuel, and Rachel talk in Spanish. I was trying hard to follow the conversation, and actually could in general figure out what was going on. Give me another couple of months and I’ll be talking the language flawlessly (I’m kidding).
It was a good evening. I enjoyed myself, and, especially important, Rachel had a wonderful time. I hope she doesn’t pay the price for her disregard of the doctor’s instructions tomorrow morning. But, hey, even if she does, I think she’ll say it was worth it. 😊