The Peruvian evening organised for the Spanish Circle on Friday 22nd March was a great success. Aquiles and his Arequipan friend Dennis arrived early Thursday evening. I collected them from Bath station and then we popped back to Colin's house to drop off their things and meet Colin, before we set off to visit my friends Debbie and David in Bristol. All of us would be staying the whole weekend at Colin's house.
We had a lovely evening at Debbie and David's. They had decided to cook a typically English meal for the Peruvian visitors and we all enjoyed roast lamb and mint sauce, roast potatoes and several different vegetables, followed by raspberry pavlovas for dessert. We enjoyed a few bottles of wine with the meal and afterwards with the coffee had some Jack Daniels. We didn't say our goodbyes to them until gone 11 pm and then had to drive back via Timsbury in order to collect a few things I had forgotten earlier so it was gone midnight before we got back to Colin's and all of us were ready for bed.
Next morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast as we were awaiting Claire's arrival that morning. At 10.30 I took Aquiles into town to meet Claire as they would be playing there and Dennis stayed at home as he had volunteered to help me with all the food preparation. I was really glad of his assistance because I may not have got everything done in time without his help. We had the music going all day whilst preparing and cooking. The Rocoto Relleno took the longest as there are so many stages of preparation and with so many of them - 115 large bright red ones - just getting them ready for filling them was a job and a half. And with no utensils big enough, I had to make the filling in relays - in other words make it six times in the largest pan we had.
Eventually they were all ready and could be cooked two batches at a time. Whilst cooking them we got on and made the chicken with rice, then a cous-cous dish, some salad dishes, and although I was going to make a Peruvian potato dish, I ended up doing stacks of roast potatoes instead as that was easier. While all this was going on, Colin completed getting everything else ready and we managed to get some of my alpaca hangings up on the wall. Even having a shower and getting ready, we managed to get everything done by 7 pm, with the first guests expected at 7.30. Dennis and I had had a laugh during the cooking and preparation so that the whole process was a lot of fun. Aquiles had brought his ceremonial hat with him (at my request) and I decided to wear it for the evening. (Later on I managed to persuade him to sell it to me which he agreed readily enough as he can get another one on his next visit home).
Then the guests started arriving and from there on we had the most fantastic evening which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. About 40 people came, several of them from Peru and some from Argentina, Spain etc, along with their partners, or simply English people like me who are learning Spanish. My sister Kathryn came along with Ceri's Mum Debbie, and later in the evening other friends including Oswaldo and Benjamin also arrived. The whole evening was magic - it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves so much. They liked the food and when Aquiles and Claire started playing, a whole crowd got up en masse and we danced through their whole performance. I introduced the band before they played and suggested we all sing Happy Birthday to Aquiles, and afterwards the organisers of the Spanish circle presented him with a birthday card and enclosed in it the money they had collected in memberships from some of the people that evening. I thought that was a fantastic gesture on their part and he was very touched by it as well.
People adored their music and they sold several CDs which was an added bonus for them. Some members told me later it was the best ever evening organised by anyone in the circle, which we were pleased about as it made all the hard work and organising worthwhile.
There were a couple of downside moments. One husband who was flirting too heavily with one of the ladies upset his wife and she disappeared out of the house and some friends had to find her and smooth things over. Then later on Kathryn's husband arrived to collect her but she wasn't ready to go yet and wanted to stay a bit longer. I wasn't aware of it until later but she was really enjoying herself with Dennis and John caught them kissing in the conservatory and was not very amused. (We were teasing Dennis about it ever since but we know it wasn't really his fault, as Kathryn flung her arms around his neck while they were dancing. It was all harmless fun. As per usual, Aquiles and I have teased each other the whole weekend and we hardly stopped laughing. Teasing Dennis as well was equally as much fun!!!!). One gentleman had fallen asleep in one of the armchairs so we had to wake him up and Colin drove him home. He said when he got back we had all gone to bed and were asleep and the Andean music was still playing…
Next morning Aquiles was up bright and early and woke us up too. We got ready and after a quick breakfast loaded up the car as we had decided to go to Newport for the day. We were on the road by 10.15 and it took about an hour down the motorway to reach Newport. Dennis was really impressed when we went over the bridge into Wales, the bridge being about three miles long. He is over in England on his first visit, doing a bit of studying in London. He comes from Arequipa and goes back towards the end of next month. He is really nice and I will definitely see him again when I go to Ilo next year.
At Newport I dropped them and the equipment off near the centre of the town; Dennis was going off to see another bridge we had crossed on the way into Newport and I went to park the car and then do a tour of the shops. I went into Marks and Spencers first and spent my mothers day vouchers and then all the shops both sides of the main high street and in the process bought some new curtains for my bedroom. They did not have them in the size I wanted at the Newport branch but they phoned the Bath branch on my behalf and arranged for them to put them aside for me to collect early next week. I rejoined Aquiles and Claire about 2 pm and I went to get some food and then watched over their equipment while they went to get theirs. After that they just played for another hour and we packed up the equipment ready to go home.
On arrival back at Bath I knew Colin wouldn't be back from rugby yet so we drove to my house for an hour to check everything was okay with the boys. Adam arrived home from work about the same time as us and we all watched a very funny film on the television before saying goodbye to Adam and setting off back to Colin's. Once back there I got busy in the kitchen again as I was cooking Brazilian chicken and prawn stew, knowing when I saw it in my cookery book that Aquiles would love it. Everyone enjoyed it and we had rice and salad with it and followed up with the chocolate cake that Claire had bought as Aquiles birthday cake. We enjoyed wine and music with the meal and afterwards relaxed in front of the television until bedtime.
I started writing this on Sunday morning - I was up and awake ages before everyone else who had all decided to have a lie-in as it was Sunday! I had to get up early to drive home and fetch Adam and take him to work, returning to Colin’s afterwards for a shower and to get ready. The plan was for Claire and Aquiles to play their music in Bath and for Dennis to go sightseeing around the town. Colin and I were going out to lunch at Chew Magna and I would rejoin them in Bath during the afternoon until they got on the bus for the return trip to London. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing them go as I had so enjoyed their visit with us which was non-stop teasing and laughing as usual, with Colin enjoying their company as much as I do. Staying in Colin’s house was lovely - Aquiles said staying there in those lovely comfortable rooms was like staying at the Hilton compared to my house (where they have to sleep on settees with the dog jumping all over them!)
Colin and I were on our way to Chew Magna when my mobile phone went and it was Claire to say that they had left their bus tickets behind! (They always forget something!) so I said I would rejoin them as close to 3 pm as possible.
Colin and I had a nice lunch at Richard and Kerry's pub in Chew Magna. Unfortunately Mary couldn't join us - she missed Friday's party as well - because of illness. It was a beautiful warm sunny day so I knew Aquiles and Claire would be okay in Bath and that Dennis would enjoy walking around Bath.
Back at Colin's afterwards, I phoned and asked if it was worth parking the car for a while and they said yes and I found them soon afterwards and they played one more set once I rejoined them, including one song especially learned for me which they had played for the first time on Friday night. I've already forgotten what it is called. I will ask them! Aquiles didn't want to go back yet but unfortunately there is nothing to do in Bath on a Sunday afternoon - even the pubs are closed after 3 pm until 7, so we made our way to the bus station to find out about a possible bus. We ended up staying there an hour because the bus due to leave at 4.30 didn't arrive and by the time the 5.30 bus came, all those booked on the 4.30 got priority in the queue, and that last bus ended up fully booked. So I phoned Colin to say we were on our way back!
All of us spent another night there making four in total and it was a nice relaxing evening. We drove to a nearby Chinese take-away and got a meal for all of us and relaxed watching a film on television until time for bed. I phoned Adam to ask if he could go to work on the bus next morning, to save me having to get up even earlier to drive back for him. At least on weekdays there is a bus service!
I felt quite sorry to see them all leave when I dropped them off at the bus station on my way to work, but we had already decided when my next visit to London would be. I would be going there two weeks later on 6 April as there is some Latin festival on that weekend with a Cuban concert at the Royal Festival Hall (one of the members of Buena Vista Social Club) and Apu playing in the festival hall foyer as well. I'll travel up on the train on the Saturday morning and catch up with them at Portabello market and return home sometime during Sunday evening. Hopefully there will be time to visit Rekah and Labu at nearby Whitechapel if I get up early on the Sunday morning - and maybe even have a quick look around Brick Lane market as well. I will travel really light that weekend so that I can catch up with them at Covent Garden later that morning.
We are not sure if Dennis will still be there but I hope so as I really liked him. He was such good fun, always cheerful with a big beaming smile. He really fell in love with Bath and there is a slight chance he may come back once he has finished the course of English lessons he is doing in London. He may come and stay a couple of weeks which would be good for his English learning and also for me to practice my Spanish with him. He returns to Peru at the end of April. We have already all made tentative plans for things to do together on my next visit to Peru. If only we can persuade Colin to stay the five weeks as well, we are going to hire some transport and go travelling there. We are thinking of visiting Puno (possibly for the Candelaria festival) and Dennis said the best place to go in Bolivia is Oruro, so we might fit that in as well. I told him I would love to visit the Canyons de Colca (which are a few hours from Arequipa where he lives) so we might include that on the agenda also. It could be a great five week adventure all travelling together and would be really brilliant.
Claire and Aquiles are going to Edinburgh for the festival this year and want us to join them there even if only for one week. I am working on trying to persuade Colin and he hasn't said no outright so there is a chance. We wouldn't take the car because it is so far to drive. It would be great to travel up by train and then stay somewhere in the city. One doesn't need a car if staying in the city because the bus service is excellent. In fact a car is a liability there as it costs a fortune to park it!!! Also from there we can take trips to see the lochs and mountains in the highlands, so it could be a really interesting week in addition to all the festival going on. I really hope he will want to go but if by any chance he doesn't I will definitely go and join up with them for that week. After easter I will start thinking about accommodation and see what I can find via the internet. I have been allowed to carry over one week of my holiday from 2001-2 to this coming year so will save it for that week in Scotland.
Today I brought in the last of the rocoto relleno to warm up in the microwave next door for lunch. I told my colleagues there they are welcome to have some if they wish and they definitely want to try it. I think Aquiles has had enough of it for quite some time. He was having it for breakfast, snacks before evening meals etc. There was an email today from Benjamin who said how much he enjoyed them too. He managed to pop into the party with Oswaldo later on in the evening. He brought his charango and guitar but couldn't stay long enough to play them. Because I had forgotten to remind him about the party and he had forgotten, he didn't get home until gone 9 pm to get the message from Aquiles left with his mum. When he arrived Claire and Aquiles had started playing. It really was a brilliant party and we will definitely hold another one next year. I remembered the camera later in the evening and a few photos were taken. I borrowed some negatives and photos from Ann taken at the 7 December Kausary concert and will send one or two in email attachments soon.
I'm away next weekend over Easter for a four day break in North Devon and three weeks after that we are going to see Simple Minds live in concert at Cardiff International arena. A couple of weeks after that we have been invited to a birthday party in Cornwall, complete with live South American music, where we will stay overnight. With the weekend on 6/7 April in London with Aquiles and Claire to look forward to as well the future looks bright!
