I was so excited because we were going to eat tacos at the place called La Ceiba, where the quesadillas are bigger than your head (remember the girls didn't tell me I needed to share with someone). I was careful all day about what I ate (since my 15 tortilla belly pounds were more and more evident, I figured the weeks leading up to my departure were the best time to start being cautious) and was starving by the time I was picked up by Alma.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I realize we're not going to La Ceiba, but instead we're going to Super Salads. Need I remind you that this is the place I ate with Tania the one time I got sick during my stay in Mexico. Hours and hours of vomit. While it had probably been two months or so since "the incident," I still was in no mood to get over it. I protested by ordering a panini instead of a salad. I just couldn't bring myself to munch on that limp lettuce that had caused my all-nighter with the toilet. The discussion about the trip was almost humorous. For one, I hadn't been in on the previous conversation (apparently weeks before) where they decided that Chicago was out and now somewhere within Mexico was in. Well, that pretty much completely sealed the deal that I wouldn't be a part of it. On top of that, they didn't discuss anything trip related! Oh, Mexican planning.
They had asked me to bring my laptop so they could look into flights, etc. That of course didn't happen. Part of the hold up, though, was Alma's unwillingness to commit. She couldn't be certain of her return time to Culiacán from her program at Dartmouth. She was hoping to go to a Coldplay concert, and after that she and Shania had potential plans for travel within Mexico. It was basically just an excuse to go out to eat.
Now, I must admit that my mushroom and cheese panini was divine. The fruit lemonade was good, too. The issue was refills. This was one place that refills were actually free. The service, however, was subpar. It got comical. At one point, I had waited so long, that I just got up and got it off the bar. This was after, of course, I had asked twice for a refill. Of course, when Marco or Iván asked for something, they got it immediately! That sat well with me.
Later, Mayra changed her water to a lemonade. Again, minutes passed as her cup just sat on the bar. I was about to get up and get it when Marco signaled our waitress.
The night ended very oddly as Alma got a phone call, whispered to me that she'd see me at home, and told the rest of the table basically the equivalent of I'll be right back. Mayra and I both realized we wouldn't see her again until much later (as in possibly the next day), but the boys got really worried as we were leaving that we should call her and let her know we were leaving so she wouldn't come back looking for us. It was very strange.
Also at dinner, we had had several conversations of the surprise going away party. In front of me. But it was semi-in code, so I just pretended to not be listening. Yeah right.
Quinantzin, never too quick on the uptake, had to be pulled aside after dinner by Mayra. She explained to her that yes I knew but that I was pretending I didn't, etc. Again, Mayra, what good does it do to tell me something I'm not supposed to know and tell me to pretend I don't know if you're going to tell other people that I know?!
The fact that Alma was being so shady about when she was leaving Culiacán (her flight supposedly left on Saturday, but she was going to Mochis on Friday, but then she told us her flight left on Sunday and that she and Shania were maybe going on Friday still to Mochis, but that she just wasn't sure of her plans), that I was hoping that meant she'd still be in Culiacán for my party on Saturday...
Mayra took me home and Alma was not there yet. I just went to bed. Not that I had big plans for the next day- pack, cry, repeat- but it just made it seem all the weirder that she had left to "be right back" and was still not home.
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