Catching Up Is Hard To Do

We waked into town last night and as we went there was something different about the night. The crowds of the past few days were noticeably gone and the city streets had lost a bit of their hustle. The holiday season is Melaque was winding down.

All the restaurants we had planned to eat at were closed and so we went to Restaurant “7 Star” located across from the Plaza on the opposite side of the church. The young girl that waited on us was very cute in the way she explained the dishes we questioned. Her English was limited, but she really tried hard, so hard that she scampered to a back table and asked her brother how to say steak in English.

We did the usual plaza stop and picked up some bread items. Walking back to our place we passed many families gathered out in front of their houses, on their front porches, in their courtyards, or on the street. They sit and talk no lights on, some with music most without. It is a nightly ritual that brings families and neighbors together. Beth mentioned this when she was here and we noted that this does not happen any longer up in the states. People don’t gather in their neighborhoods and talk any more. There are few front porches, any longer, but then again we have too many diversions that keep us from sitting out front of our home enjoying the art of conversation.

The next morning Rolly and I woke up early and went fishing. Won’t talk much about fishing this day, other then we got skunked. Went out 28 miles and did not get a hit. Our average for the two days was still above six per day so I didn’t feel to bad.

That evening we were sitting in El Buen Gusto and in walks Ivan, Sylve with Mateo their new son. They had flown in from Switzerland via a stop in LA. We haven’t seen them in four years, but I recognized Sylve immediately. Ivan was much thinner, so it took me a moment to make sure I wasn’t approaching a stranger and shaking his hand.

We had dinner that night at Los Molcajetes and then walked to the plaza and then home. It was good to see them; Mateo is a cute little bugger.

On Tuesday Linda and I went over to Larry’s place and played three games of volleyball in the pool. All games were very close and Linda’s team ended up winning the series.
When we were finished we came back and Ivan and Sylve were sunning out by the pool. We created a smorgasbord of leftovers for lunch and everyone ate and talked. Ivan’s family had to go back to their place to meet his father who was coming in from Guadalajara. They were less then excited for the visit but had to go meet the family and go to dinner.

Later in the evening we met Ivan’s family on the street while we walked to dinner, they seemed very nice and talked for a moment and continued our search for food. The search was much harder then expected due to many of our usual establishment being closed. As I said earlier, the holidays were coming to a close and our little Melaque was getting back to normal.