A great week to remember....

I celebrated my 53rd birthday last week, and had another memorable one.  New theatres opened near Roger's office, and we heard the VIP section was definitely worth checking out.  We invited Roger's foreman, Miguel Zentano (who is from Chile and worked for Roger in Spain) to join us for a movie and dinner which started several enjoyable hours of communicating in English, Spanish and the ever important language of charades.

We bought tickets for El Juego Perfecto, The Perfect Game, which is an account of the 1957 little league team from Monterrey, Mexico who went on to be the first non-American team to win the Little League World Series.  I cringed when seeing how poorly they were treated, but it was an inspirational movie and had Spanish subtitles so Miguel could also enjoy it.  But as usual in many things we discover, the movie was only part of the experience.

Below:  When we entered the VIP theatres, we were greeted by a waiter who took our order.

We then went into the theatre and our jaws dropped.  Leather lazy boy chairs, and tables with lamps made the room seem more like a private screening room than a regular movie theatre.

A few moments later, the waiter arrived with our drinks (food - including sushi - was also available!).  Each chair had a button that would summon the waiter to return and Roger and Miguel couldn't believe their beer came in frosted glasses.

Salud!

Wondering what it cost?  Tickets for 3 of us, plus two rounds of drinks came to less than $50.  I'm spoiled forever!

My friend Tracey returned to the States for Easter, so I was wondering how I would manage at Ciudad de los Ninos on my own -- especially since the kids were still off school so I knew I would be greatly outnumbered.  Roger suggested I get them to make paper airplanes and it turned out to be a perfect activity.

We had a ball.  Our friends, Carol and Terry, had donated lots of construction paper and other supplies and they all came in handy.  The kids made their airplanes, then decorated them before we started flying them from the gazebo.

I separated the kids in age groups and gave winners Canadian flag pencils which they were thrilled to get.  Everyone got stickers which they had fun choosing and put them on their faces and clothes. 

Although there were moments when I was totally stumped by what they were trying to tell me, overall, my Spanish seemed to kick in and the morning literally "flew" by. I get very excited if I can put more than 5 words together into a sentence, and even more excited when I understand what is said to me.

Above:  Victor is the most gregarious, cute, cuddly 4 year old you'll ever meet.  I told him he has my heart as I totally melt when he's around.  He just has to bat those big beautiful eyes, and smile with his deep dimples....
Below:  Big sister Denise is an incredibly loyal and protective big sister to Diana.  They are relatively new to Ciudad de los Ninos, and I've seen little Diana go from not saying a word, to laughing and kissing me goodbye.

Below:  Miguel made me a beautiful origami bird -- when I thanked him I told him it was a special birthday gift.  He wished me a very happy birthday and hoped I had many more -- then gave me a big hug.  I felt that was a pretty wonderful display of affection for a 12 year old boy.

It is impossible to leave Ciudad de los Ninos without feeling touched by these children.  They are not there by choice but show a resilience and generosity of spirit that continually inspires me and makes me look forward to Mondays.

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

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