Anna from Chicago

I just love the way you can meet people when you're travelling; people who you might never otherwise stop and talk to. Yesterday my sister and I met Anna from Chicago at a little beachfront restaurant where we had stopped for a drink, enticed by the sound of the Mariachi band that was playing.

This band was playing for a whole table full of North Americans and we sat down to listen to their excellent Mexican music. Mariachis are an honourable group in Mexico. You don't often encounter them like we did as they are usually hired by private groups for a party or a gathering. Occsionally they'll be playing in a big restaurant taking requests from customers who then put money in for the musicians.


In this case we asked the waiter where we could contribute and he told us that they were hired by the group at the table.  Just then Anna walked by and asked if she could join Jan and me at our table. She told us that it is rare to hear them in such an intimate locale. Of course we welcomed her and had a lovely conversation about her life.  Anna appears to be in her late eighties or maybe her nineties. She was bright as a button and we had a great time chatting and listening to the music. Anna lost her husband about a year and a half ago but they have been travelling in Mexico for more than 30 years. He was an amateur archeologist and climbed just about every pyramid in the country. She honoured their times in Mexico at his funeral service in Chicago by hiring a Mariachi band.

Now Anna comes by herself and stays for a couple of months in a simple casita near the beach. She invited us to stop by and visit her and Harry and I will do that for sure.

After the mariachis were finished their gig Anna headed over to talk to them and thank them for their music. Isn't this the cutest photo ever!

The serendipity of meeting people while living temporarily in foreign countries is so very wonderful. How else would we have met Anna from Chicago?


Today we sent Jan off on the plane back to Victoria after a lovely week exploring the beaches on offer. It was a nice break for her from the rain and chill of Victoria.