Charity night at the Café Portofina ...

.... was the first Tuesday we all didn't go to the Mellow Mushroom since I can remember (which at my age and the way my mind is going may not say much). It was charity night at the Café Portofina so a portion of the night's take was devoted to charity. There were lots of volunteers helping the regular staff deal with the crowd, including the notorious 'Watauga Cabbage Queens'. They came complete with shamrock green dresses, elbow high white gloves, outrageous red wigs and dripping with bling crafted from exquisitely tacky plastic. One turned out to by Mulan's mother's doctor!

Mulan and her mother were both there, and her friend Maeráed with her mom Máire. It is always fun to see how Mulan and Maeráed interact. Their personalities are so different, and Mulan is almost eight years older. That doesn't stop Maeráed from trying to do everything Mulan does. What is interesting is that now that Maeráed is a little older Mulan seems to enjoy her tagging along. I am not sure little boys would do that.

Anyway, I had a great time, Cabbage Queens and all.

Spanish and the quest for food here in Wilkes ...

.... can get to be interesting and educational. Two days ago I had a hunger for juevos con chorizos for lunch, so I went over to Chile Verde restaurant. When the waiter seated me I politely said "Gracias." He must have been one of the few of their staff who is not more comfortable in English than Spanish because from that point on we carried on our conversation in Spanish. Alas, they did not have any eggs, so I had to change my order to taquitos. But I felt good about being able to handle a lesson one level conversation in Spanish.

The next day I had to walk from David's Car Care back home. It was a gorgeous morning so I walked down the Greenway to the foot bridge, up the slope to the courthouse, uh, I mean the Heritage Museum. Decided to have lunch at Buen Amigo, the Honduran restaurant. The Hispanic there spoke English so no more Spanish practice. But they had juevos con chorizos plus those little Honduran tortillas. It was good stuff. Food is certainly one reason to appreciate the influx of immigrants.