Day: 5 My Birthday

When you turn 21 (humor me guys..) all you want to do is wake up and have an unbelievable day. Well, today I woke up to no hot water. Actually...there was hardly any water at all. We're still working on getting our water tanks full. And it seems as though we had run out of gas too. The past few days have been frustratingly unbearable. It's one thing to take a lukewarm shower...but to be without gas to cook was the breaking point for me. We coldn't take hot showers, do dishes, run the washer. Calgon take me away! Or rather....Fiesta Americana...take ME away.

Instead of dreading the day, we made the best of it and went to lunch at China Grill at the Camino Real. I'll go on record as being "Anti-Chinese food", China Grill manages to do a spectacular job at Asian fusion. With bellies full, we used their free Wi-fi, and secured a room at the Fiesta Americana. At the checkout counter I told them to have pity on our ragged souls and to PLEASE give us a nice room with a view since it's my birthday. The guy at the front desk was kind enough to oblige, and wished me a happy day. 1st stop: piping hot shower. 2nd stop: concierge.

In hopes to do something fun, I thought Luc would enjoy the Ballet Folklorico of Mexico. We ordered 2 tickets through the concierge and 1 hr later they delivered them to our room. In no time (and thanks to our new friend/cabdriver Jesus) we were at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Since it was general admission we sat in the 3rd row and had great seats. I'm sure Luc thought it was going to be a boring ballet, but he was pleasantly surprised when it was done. You see...here is a description of it from Wikipedia:

• Ballet Folklórico de México is a folkloric ballet ensemble in Mexico City. For five decades it has presented dances in costumes that reflect the traditional culture of Mexico. The ensemble has appeared under the name, Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández. The ballet works and musical pieces reflect various regions and folk music genres of Mexico. Many of the ensemble's works reflect thena aaaaaaal traditions of indigenous Mesoamerican culture. Numbers of performers in individual dance numbers range from two to over thirty-five. From the group's founding by Amalia Hernández in 1952, the group grew from eight performers to a fifty piece ensemble by the end of the decade. In 1959 the group officially represented Mexico at the Pan American Games in Chicago, United States. Under Hernández the group was a pioneer of Baile Folklórico in Mexico. Ballet Folklorico is danced in New Mexico, Texas, and other states near to the border of Mexico. It is practiced by many people in America as well as Mexico.

There was a big surprise at the end which made Luc laugh. This was no ballet he's ever seen!

After the Ballet we had cake for room service and went to bed in hopes that the we have miraculously appeased the water gods.