Last Friday night I was invited to…well, I wasn’t quite sure, actually. Sometimes between certain friends’ accents, slang, ambient noise, just plain being distracted, or not focusing all of my energy on understanding folks, I don’t get the whole story. Ask Eric about that. He can give you an example or ten. It’s hard to be on all the time.
Anyway, I knew that my friend Auri had invited me to some event having to do with her daughter’s friend’s parents store and that it must be something fashion-related because she said she knew I was into stuff like that and we had recently been talking about Fashion Week. My brilliant deductive reasoning skills told me that Eric would not be interested in going, and he happily stayed behind.
When I finally found the place, I realized it was the grand opening party for a formalwear store, and it was – in true Panamá fashion – rather over the top. Everyone was dressed up. There was a red carpet, complete with the backdrop thing that said the name of the store where everyone could take pictures. Know what I mean? There was a reporter and camera from a fashion tv channel. A photo booth and an open bar! And I was…in a casual skirt, an untucked shirt, flats, and no makeup. Awesome. Oh, and Sonal…I didn’t have a clutch. It was a normal sized bag with a strap. You would’ve died. You have no idea how many times I’ve said that since I’ve been here…”Sonal would kill me if she saw me here, wearing this, without a clutch!”
Anyway, once I ran into Auri’s daughter and she lead me to Auri, I found out that Auri was somehow involved with the runway show and would not be hanging out with me. Still didn’t have all the details, but at least I understood that part. Boo. And ps, it was only 6:15. Ugh. I put on my best “I’m totally okay with being underdressed and alone” face, grabbed one of those uncomfortable stools at a hightop table that we all pretend we’re okay sitting at in a skirt and (at least for the rest of them) heels, and started my people-watching.
PS, for anyone planning a party, those stools suck. If you want to move the stool, you have to get down off of it and move it, then climb back up. It is neither easy to climb up or down in a skirt and/or heels. Not cute, not ladylike, nothing. Just not a good situation in general. And as an added bonus, this one spun. Oh, and just for fun-sies, the table spun too. Thanks.
I eventually made a Venezuelan friend who turned out to also be a lawyer. Very nice woman. The runway show began just as I was about to give up and head home. This new friend, Marling, and I watched it together and took turns commenting on the suits and the three well-chosen models. Auri ended up being the mistress of ceremonies…although I don’t love that term…sounds impure. She was all dressed up in a crazy J-Lo looking dress and an enormous amount of make-up, but she looked beautiful and did a great job. She really appreciated me being there to support her, and when she told me that, it was all worth it.
I know y’all are getting sick of hearing about capoeira and seeing photos from rodas, so I’ll keep this one quick and only share a few pics. This one was cool because it was at the Canal Administration building which looks like this:
It was supposed to be a big one, with all the capoeiristas in the city invited. Everyone seemed really excited about it on Facebook…but then only about 5 or 6 guys showed up outside of our group. And they came 30-45 min late, when we were starting to get tired. The problem with not having enough people in a roda is that you have to have some people playing instruments. The people left over are the ones who play against each other. You get pretty exhausted after only a minute or so because you’re going so hard, so – with any luck – someone cuts in for you after about that long to play with the person you’re playing with. So that way, everyone usually plays against two different people, then goes back to the outside circle until they cut in again. If there aren’t a lot of people, you have to cut in again pretty quickly…and don’t really get to catch your breath. And meanwhile, you have to have 2-4 people playing berimbau, one playing a big drum, a few playing tambourine, and one playing this thing that looks like a double cowbell.
Anyway, it turned out fine, just not as big as the last time we did something like this.
The thing that didn’t go great though is when Mono got kicked (accidentally) in the kidney/back with someone’s heel. It seemed like he might be okay for a minute. I was actually about to cut in and play with him. But then he left the roda and ended up facedown in the grass for a while. After that, some folks helped him over to lay on the monument for a while. He eventually was mostly carried to his car because he couldn’t walk. Very scary and sad. Horrible timing too with the batizado coming up very soon. He has worked so hard all year for this, so we’re hoping for a quick and full recovery.
He managed to make it to work yesterday, and he’s heading to the Panamá/Costa Rica fútbol game with us tonight, so he’s doing a lot better. Amazing how soccer cures most ills for this man.
I’ll leave you with a few gorgeous photos from our upstairs neighbors, Stella and Elliott.
