La Rondalla at the Angela Peralta Sunday Concert.

 Yesterday we attended our first concert of the Camerata Campbell Season at the Angela Peralta and our friend Raphael and his wife Karina were our guests.  Rafael works at the Las Jaibas RV park and that is where we met him and over the years became friends.  He also takes care of our house when we are in Canada.  I might mention that everyone likes Rafael as he is one of the nicest men you will ever meet. Unfortunately we do not speak Spanish and Karina does not speak English so our conversation was limited and that is our fault. She is a lovely lady. Raphael and his wife Karina have never had the opportunity to go to the Angela Peralta and we were delighted to take them with us.  They arrived by Didi and we arrived by bus and met in the Plaza Machado where the Angela Peralta is located.  It is a lovely, old, renovated theatre.  

This photo is from the end of the day but it seemed appropriate to be the one to title the blog!

Below is an explanation of the Rondalla and the Culiacan group.  Today was the 30th anniversary of this very talented 14 member group.  You will note that the Bernal family is highly represented!  These write ups are from the past. 

Lots of our friends attend these Sunday concerts and we ran into Marion while we waited for Raphael and Karina. 

Here they are!

We had seats on the first balcony which gives us a good view and we aren't packed in like sardines!  It was almost a full house yesterday.

Gordon Campbell the creator of the Sunday concerts welcomed us in English and Spanish and gave us an introduction to the concert and the concerts to come. 

The Culiacan Rondalla.  Some of the members are sons of the original members so the group will carry on.  They are a delightful group full of joking and fun as well some of the best music you will ever hear. 

The whole group plays and sings and it is absolutely wonderful. 

The young man second from the right is a son of the lead singer and director.   He was a designated translator which really embarrassed him.  At one point he introduced the next numbers and then said

 " And God knows what else!"  The whole house was laughing at that.  

The young man fourth from the right plays lead guitar and also did a bit of translating.  Lots of fun and kidding around going on. 

Intermission is over and everyone was trying to scramble back to their seats.  I have tickets for three more concerts and they are all on the first balcony. 

The men first and third from the right were really rocking, big smiles and really enjoying themselves.

The concert lasted until 2pm and the group had to play about three extra numbers as the audience wouldn't let them go.  A fabulous group and I hope we get to see them again. 

At this point we were off down the street for lunch to Eric's favorite restaurant Chon's.  It has become very busy the last few years and we were hoping we could get in. 

Seated and waiting for cerveza!  Karina mentioned that she had been here when she was a teenager. The restaurant was opened in 1946 the same year Eric was born.  

Raphael helped explain some of the items on the menu and asked the young, very capable waitress some questions for us.  I then ordered Tuna salad with fresh tuna and it came with rice and salad.  I couldn't finish it all but Eric helped me out!

Eric had grilled tuna.  A bit overcooked for me but he said it was delicious. 

Raphael is intent on his seafood soup which I have had in the past.  It's filled with all sorts of seafood and he and Eric agreed they like the pulpo or octopus the best. 

Karina ordered the shrimp cocktail which comes in a broth.  Very good as well. 

We each had a couple of beers, a delicious lunch and shared some stories which Raphael kindly translated.  I apologized for my lack of Spanish but Karina said she felt the same way about not knowing English. We finished up around 4pm and then we headed back to catch a bus. 

First I got a picture of Raphael and Karina in front of the cathedral.  We are standing in Revolution square and the buses come along Benito Juarez which is the next street over.  Our bus came first and they were waiting for a different bus when we left. 

We had a lovely day with friends and I hope we do this with them again some time.  We arrived home around 5pm and we were exhausted.  A long day but a very good day.