A MARVELOUS MONDAY IN SUNNY SAN JUAN

It promises to be a marvelous Monday in sunny San Juan. The weekend went by in a blur. Jennifer and I cooked for the better part of two days. Birthday parties here aren't like in the States. Children's birthday parties are also adult parties because the adults love to get together for any celebration and have fun and converse in rapid-fire Spanish. There's alway good food--and lots of it. We served party meatballs. Shrimp, dip, and crackers. Pita chips and humus. Finger sandwiches. Cocktail weiners. PB&J finger sandwiches for the kids. Spinach dip and pumpernickel bread. Homemade brownies. And of course, a deelish chocolate cake with strawberry filling and chocolate buttercream frosting.

We transported all the food from Jennifer's 13th floor condo to her's s-i-l's 12th floor condo a few blocks away on the beautiful Caribbean, and we partied from 3 until 8:30 or so, Spanish music videos blaring on the big screen and the kids playing in a room that I declare was a Toys R Us. I say 8:30. That's when Jennifer and I left and some of the women and children. Others stayed until after midnight, partying and watching a boxing match.

Near the end of the birthday party, we all gathered around the deelish cake and sang Happy Birthday to baby Lorenzo. Then they sang some song in Spanish that Jennifer said was a Spanish birthday song. Then he had a go at a miniature cake which was no go at all. He barely touched it, good little boy that he is. :)

Sunday, Jennifer and I and the children went to her church, and we enjoyed a liturgical and meaningful service. We were loading the children into the car when 2-year-old Claudia started fussing, saying she'd left her new pink princess purse in the nursery. So I offered to get it. On my way back to the car via the covered tiled piazza that links all the rooms and buildings of the church, I literally ran into a huge green iguana, and I had to squelch the scream rolling up my throat. But he remained pretty calm. I guess he--and the other iguanas that inhabit the area--are used to people walking up on them. Very interesting.

That afternoon, we went to a two-year-old's birthday party in a $2 million dollar condo on the Caribbean. Some swam in the swimming pool right outside the large marble-floored great room, and some swam in the ocean, and we all ate sumptuously.

It was a great weekend.

My time here is almost over...

I won't think about it right now.