A Night at The Opera

Even though my mom strongly suggested the event, I decided to take her to see an opera this past Sunday. What I envisioned of the evening was to leave our house at 4 PM in order to have a nice dinner and drive into down town Los Angeles with time to spare to take in the view, take a few pictures, possibly have a drink before entering the Dorthy Chandler Pavilion to see a performance of "Luisa Fernanda". This is how the evening actually went.

At 4:01 PM, I rushed out of my room, camera in hand, shouting to my mom that we were leaving.

At 4:11 PM, I'm fighting with a PC because it will not print out my confirmation e-mail for the tickets.

At 4:17 PM, I'm fighting with a Mac because it will not print out my confirmation e-mail for the tickets.

At 4:19 PM, I give up and write down my confirmation number on the back of one of my business cards.

At 4:23 PM, I'm tearing apart my room and every other room I was in while trying to print my confirmation e-mail because I can not find my camera.

At 4:27 PM, I leave my house with my mom and without my camera and realize that I have no idea where we are going for dinner.

At 5:03 PM, we are entering Las Golondrinas Restaurant at Olvera Street because that is where I thought we should have dinner.

At 5:18 PM, after eating stale chips, my mom orders a bowl of Menudo for dinner but they were out. She ordered Birria de Chivo but that is only served on Saturdays. She ordered Barbacoa de Borrego but they were also out. She ordered Baby Ribs with Chipotle Sauce but the waitress did not recommend it. She ordered Cerdo con Noplaes, a good choice the waitress commented.

At 6:21 PM, we walked out to the plaza where we see a man dressed as a Mariachi serenading the gathered crowd. He is accompanied by his friend on a synthesizer who is providing the music.

At 6:28 PM, a young Asian couple, recently married, join the festivities at the plaza. The bride is in a simple cream-colored dress and the groom is in a grey suit with white sneakers. They requested a song in honor of the nuptials and the singer favored them with a little ditty. Not knowing Spanish or the song, they attempted to dance. The gatherd crowd slowly joined in on the dancing to help show the couple how it is done. They were not such bad dancers, but the smiles on their faces were big and that's what mattered.

At 6:49 PM, I'm driving past the Music Center to the nearest CVS to buy a disposable digital camera.

At 7:05 PM, we pick up the tickets from will call and take some quick pictures in the plaza of the Music Center.

At 7:30 PM, we make our way to our seats. On the way there, one of the fringes of my mom's very lovely shawl got tangled with a woman's hair clip. I try to get her loose for a few minutes with out yanking the woman's head around. I gave up and ripped the fringe out. This would happen once again with the same woman, coming down the same aisle returning from intermission.

At 7:35 PM, the lights drop and the opera begins. Even though it is in Spanish, I still read the subtitles located on monitors at either end of the stage in order to follow along.

In the end though, my mom really enjoyed herself. She dressed up lovely for a night at the opera, she laughed and smiled through out the night and she posed happily for every picture. And as always, we spent time together. Would I do this again - yes, in a heart beat. Maybe with less bumps, but yes.