We arrived back in Tlaquepaque 2 weeks ago, the beginning of our 5 month stay and it has been a very busy and exciting two weeks.
The first week was spent uying supplies and getting our world in order.Dring the second week, last Saturday and Sunday,we were priviledged to take part in two special events.
The first one was a wedding, not one that we were invited to,but one that Olivia and Juan Carlos were catering to. It was her first time at catering out of her restaurant so she was a bit nervous so Nancy and I were invited along to help.
She cooked all food at her kitchen in the restaurant for 80 people. It included pazole (a soup that Nancy likes but I do not), tacos, salads, salsas, chiles, sopas and enchaladas. Just a whole lot of food.
She also needed to supply all the plates and bowls
We had to load it all in her truck and take it 6 blocks to the Salon de Eventos (a community center), unload it and serve it.
This first photo shows the truck partially loaded
Besides Olivia and Juan Carlos and Nancy and I, two other people were hired to help. They are sisters, Carmen and Josaphina. They work for Olivia, one in the restaurant and the other as a cleaner.
More stuff in the truck. Notice the salad in top middle of the picture.
Here comes the Pazole! It was hot and it was heavy and I am old and it was sort of a scary trip from the restaurant to the truck.
And getting it settled in the back of the truck.
This is the kitchen in Olivia's restaurant. This night it was very busy and efficient as they were making all the tacos, sopas, pazole, and enchaladas. About 200 of each except for the pazole and that was just one huge pot.
Another kitchen photo. This is a mother and daughter who have been working for Olivia for a long time.
We were about 30 minutes late arriving and people were starved. These kids were being very patient.
But as soon as we arrived the line formed, even before we got things set out and Olivia immediately started dishing out Pazole and Carmen got other things out and away we went.
Just a photo of the setup of the Salon de Eventos
This is when we first arrived and the masses that all wanted to eat at once.
It calmed down, people arranged themselves in some order that worked and everyone got fed, quite quickly actually.
They were all very pleased with the food and the catering and I am sure Olivia will do it again. We cleaned up, washed all the dishes in a very small sink, loaded out truck and were home by 11:00PM. \Very late for Nancy and I but we did have a whole lot of fun.
Our second event happened on Sunday afternoon. Our dentist invited us to her birthday party. Nancy and I were a bit reluctant to go as it hard for us when 100% of the language is spanish but we have turned her down a couple of other times she has invited to places so we decided why not?
This Salon de Eventos is a bit more classy than the one we went to the night before as you can tell by the 3 limos parked in front of it.
It was suppose to start at 3:00PM and Nancy and I were there at 3:00PM. We were not the first ones but the second ones to arrive. I think everyone was there by 4:30
This photo shows the Salon de Eventos, a bit classier than the one we were in last night,
The caterers are getting ready, long before the big crowd arrived
And here is the star of the show. Not me but the lady in purple. She is our dentist and really quite beautiful. She is a very good dentist and we like her a lot.
And here are two very beautiful women.
Last year we spent some time with Maria's neices to help them practice their english. And here they are, just as beautiful as their aunt.
These are the other people at the table we sat at. The man is a doctor in Guadalajara and the women beside him is his wife who also happens to be dentist. She spoke pretty good english. The lady beside here is the dental tech for Maria and we are not sure who the other lady is.
The music was real loud so we could only talk between songs and that was good for Nancy and I.
All neices and nephews of Maria.
Maria's brother, his wife, their son and daughter in law joined us at our table.
Here is the loud music. It is called Nortena and is a bit old country and western. We enjoyed it.
And along with the music, people danced. It was easy dancing music and we were pestered a lot to get up and dance but we just don't think our knees would take it anymore so we declined.
Just more dancing and if you make this photo larger you can see some flowers in the background. They were the gift that Nancy and I gave to Maria.
And the one more party that is coming is our annual American Thanksgiving/ Mexican Independence Day party. This is the third year that we have hosted it and it is becoming a tradition and we think is expected. All the people from the apartments will attend plus Olivia and her immediate family and some of her extednded family and who knows who else. We are expecting 25 and will write about it next week sometime. [After we recuperate!!!!!]
