For most of you, going out to dinner is just a relaxed way to spend time with your family, enjoy a nice outing, and eat a good meal. You know, the typical family dinner eating delicious food catching up on the events of the week.Well..that's definitely not the case for me. Actually it's the complete opposite.
Last weekend, or at least I think it was last weekend, I went out to dinner with my family after my dance show. When I say family, I mean about 40 of my aunts and uncles and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cousins all gathered around one rectangular table stretching for a good 20 feet. Maybe even longer. Who knows? For those of you who don't know me that well, I value my family greatly. I see them every weekend without a doubt. It always starts as a simple 'Hey, let's stop by for a bit" and turns into a full fledged party ending at about 2:30 in the morning. But remember, that's only if everyone feels like going home early. Which..basically has never happened before.
Anyways, getting back to dinner, we shuffle over to our table where I'm sitting at the head of the 'kid's end' of the table. We went to this traditional Mexican restaurant my family has been going to since I can remember. Don Pablos, ever heard of it? If you haven't, definitely go. Leaving the place you'll probably have at least 3 boxes of carryouts in your hands with a massive food baby, to say the least.
As the complimentary chips and salsa arrive, everyone digs in immediately cleaning the bowl in about 5 minutes. After asking for more appetizers about 5 more times, we finally start to order. As I look down the table. All my cousins are making weird faces at each other, remembering old memories, stealing each other's food, and even crying every once in a while because someone took a bite of their food. Yes, that actually happened before :P The adults talk to each other like one stands in Michigan with a megaphone and the other is standing on a far away island on the coast of Australia holding a cup to their ear. It's deafening but freaking hilarious. As the main meals are ordered and served, we discover that maybe, just MAYBE we may have accidentally ordered too much food. What's new? After the food vanishes and everyone has ate as much as they possibly can, everyone sits and talks for at least a good 40 minutes. Every 20 minutes, a guy at the restaurant makes an announcement, "HEY! Can I have everyone's attention?! It's his birthday today!!" As the staff breaks out in song singing Happy Birthday in Spanish, all the people sitting in the room turn around and watch as this man celebrates his birthday.
Well at the time, my birthday was only a week away so my aunt requests to do the same for me. I would normally love this, except the fact of having dessert stuffed down my throat at this point was just sickening. All I wanted to do was lay in the backseat of the van and stare at the sky as it turns into a hazy black on the hour long ride home. So as the staff comes over, they place a huge black sombrero on my head. When I say huge, I mean this thing probably weighs in at atleast 8-10 pounds. Once the song's over, the plate of soapapillas (a Mexican dessert) sit in front of me sopping in oil and powdered with sugar. While they look so good, I feel so sickly stuffed. But of course, as food is set down, everyone digs in. The flashes of cameras blind me as my aunts, uncles, and parents snap pictures of me in the ridiculous sombrero. You would think this is a one time thing, but surprisingly enough, we end up celebrating the same exact way every year. As I take off the sombrero and set it down, it starts getting passed around the table. Yes, everyone has to try it on and get their picture taken. Phones, cameras, and videos all out. It's the real deal. Yes, anyone else at the restaurant watching us must have thought we were completely ridiculous. Do we care? Ha, not at all.
In fact we start getting up and walking around with the sombrero on and start posing and making funny faces. It's quite a sight to see, I must say. After a good hour of sombrero filled fun, we finally insist on returning the Mexican hat back to the waiters. As the bill arrives, everyone argues over who will pay the bill. One of my uncles will offer, but then the card will be snatched out of his hand immediately as someone else's card is shoved into the waiter's face. You know who I feel bad for? The waiter. He stands there with his face turning a deep scarlet color as he nervously laughs trying to have us settle down. When he finally gets a chance to speak, we find out that one of my other uncles has already paid for everything when he said he was "going to the bathroom."
After paying, it's time to leave and go home right? Wrong. Instead we sit at the table for another half an hour and talk. Great way to digest the food I guess? It's getting late and as I look around it's like the restaurant turned into a ghost town, except for out table livelier than ever. More than a circus, more than a parade, more than Disney World. The staff looks so tired as they wait for us to finally leave. As the parents finally convince each other to leave insisting it's getting late and they have long days tomorrow, we sluggishly walk out of the restaurant into the parking lot. Only a mere 3 feet away from our cars, we stop again to talk some more. You'd think we'd all be pretty tired by now but nope. That's just what we do. Every weekend, I'll never get sick of it. You probably think this all sounds pretty obnoxious, but you know what? I wouldn't trade them for the world. I know you can't choose family, and I'm glad I didn't, for I was blessed with such an amazing one. Well I guess it was time to say goodbye to Don Pablo's until next year once it struck midnight. Oh wait, I think we're gonna "stop by for a bit" at my cousins for a while. Sorry, guess I lied. What a perfect day.
As for today, now it's my real birthday. It's a Monday so just a day after another crazy weekend. All the phonecalls and messages wishing me a happy birthday mean a lot to me so muchas gracias. As for now, I'm just looking forward to next weekend to do it all over again. Who wouldn't be, right?
Last weekend, or at least I think it was last weekend, I went out to dinner with my family after my dance show. When I say family, I mean about 40 of my aunts and uncles and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cousins all gathered around one rectangular table stretching for a good 20 feet. Maybe even longer. Who knows? For those of you who don't know me that well, I value my family greatly. I see them every weekend without a doubt. It always starts as a simple 'Hey, let's stop by for a bit" and turns into a full fledged party ending at about 2:30 in the morning. But remember, that's only if everyone feels like going home early. Which..basically has never happened before.
Anyways, getting back to dinner, we shuffle over to our table where I'm sitting at the head of the 'kid's end' of the table. We went to this traditional Mexican restaurant my family has been going to since I can remember. Don Pablos, ever heard of it? If you haven't, definitely go. Leaving the place you'll probably have at least 3 boxes of carryouts in your hands with a massive food baby, to say the least.
As the complimentary chips and salsa arrive, everyone digs in immediately cleaning the bowl in about 5 minutes. After asking for more appetizers about 5 more times, we finally start to order. As I look down the table. All my cousins are making weird faces at each other, remembering old memories, stealing each other's food, and even crying every once in a while because someone took a bite of their food. Yes, that actually happened before :P The adults talk to each other like one stands in Michigan with a megaphone and the other is standing on a far away island on the coast of Australia holding a cup to their ear. It's deafening but freaking hilarious. As the main meals are ordered and served, we discover that maybe, just MAYBE we may have accidentally ordered too much food. What's new? After the food vanishes and everyone has ate as much as they possibly can, everyone sits and talks for at least a good 40 minutes. Every 20 minutes, a guy at the restaurant makes an announcement, "HEY! Can I have everyone's attention?! It's his birthday today!!" As the staff breaks out in song singing Happy Birthday in Spanish, all the people sitting in the room turn around and watch as this man celebrates his birthday.
Well at the time, my birthday was only a week away so my aunt requests to do the same for me. I would normally love this, except the fact of having dessert stuffed down my throat at this point was just sickening. All I wanted to do was lay in the backseat of the van and stare at the sky as it turns into a hazy black on the hour long ride home. So as the staff comes over, they place a huge black sombrero on my head. When I say huge, I mean this thing probably weighs in at atleast 8-10 pounds. Once the song's over, the plate of soapapillas (a Mexican dessert) sit in front of me sopping in oil and powdered with sugar. While they look so good, I feel so sickly stuffed. But of course, as food is set down, everyone digs in. The flashes of cameras blind me as my aunts, uncles, and parents snap pictures of me in the ridiculous sombrero. You would think this is a one time thing, but surprisingly enough, we end up celebrating the same exact way every year. As I take off the sombrero and set it down, it starts getting passed around the table. Yes, everyone has to try it on and get their picture taken. Phones, cameras, and videos all out. It's the real deal. Yes, anyone else at the restaurant watching us must have thought we were completely ridiculous. Do we care? Ha, not at all.
In fact we start getting up and walking around with the sombrero on and start posing and making funny faces. It's quite a sight to see, I must say. After a good hour of sombrero filled fun, we finally insist on returning the Mexican hat back to the waiters. As the bill arrives, everyone argues over who will pay the bill. One of my uncles will offer, but then the card will be snatched out of his hand immediately as someone else's card is shoved into the waiter's face. You know who I feel bad for? The waiter. He stands there with his face turning a deep scarlet color as he nervously laughs trying to have us settle down. When he finally gets a chance to speak, we find out that one of my other uncles has already paid for everything when he said he was "going to the bathroom."
After paying, it's time to leave and go home right? Wrong. Instead we sit at the table for another half an hour and talk. Great way to digest the food I guess? It's getting late and as I look around it's like the restaurant turned into a ghost town, except for out table livelier than ever. More than a circus, more than a parade, more than Disney World. The staff looks so tired as they wait for us to finally leave. As the parents finally convince each other to leave insisting it's getting late and they have long days tomorrow, we sluggishly walk out of the restaurant into the parking lot. Only a mere 3 feet away from our cars, we stop again to talk some more. You'd think we'd all be pretty tired by now but nope. That's just what we do. Every weekend, I'll never get sick of it. You probably think this all sounds pretty obnoxious, but you know what? I wouldn't trade them for the world. I know you can't choose family, and I'm glad I didn't, for I was blessed with such an amazing one. Well I guess it was time to say goodbye to Don Pablo's until next year once it struck midnight. Oh wait, I think we're gonna "stop by for a bit" at my cousins for a while. Sorry, guess I lied. What a perfect day.
As for today, now it's my real birthday. It's a Monday so just a day after another crazy weekend. All the phonecalls and messages wishing me a happy birthday mean a lot to me so muchas gracias. As for now, I'm just looking forward to next weekend to do it all over again. Who wouldn't be, right?
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