delayed flights and all that jazz.

the upside to delayed flights is that there is an extended opportunity to meet some (hopefully) interesting people who share at least 2 things in common with you: a.) they´re going to the same destination; b.) they, too, are going to be late. sure, i´m no stranger to the occasional late flights, but for some reason waiting for this flight was an especially entertaining one. just imagine little kids corralling together and rioting the flight attendants. ok, but instead of little kids, think about grown adults rioting, in spanish...yeah, it was all fun and games until they brought out a police force and started to escort people out. but by the midnight, we were finally on board and were on our way to mexico!


although joe and i bonded early on, sometime after hour 3 of our wait, it wasn´t until we were in line waiting to report our lost baggage that elio, a fellow new yorker finally started up a conversation with me. although i couldn´t tell if he was hitting on me, all i knew is that we had one thing in common: it was 5:30 in the morning and american airlines had officially lost our bags. anyways, he was a nice cuban guy with dreds who happened to be in mexico teaching at a music conference and to perform at this club. did i mention that he´s a jazz musician? brie would have been impressed.


well, long story, hopefully short(er)...


he called to see if i ever got my lost luggage, yes, our original connection. and asked if i was coming to the show, which i did, with my uncle and his girlfriend. i felt like a chaperon but it was fun and cultural and yes, a little smokey too. but in the end, we all had a fun and i even got a little shout-out from the stage.


so my new friend, he has a website, and you feel like some good jazz, check it out at http://eliovillafranca.net/ or go see him play live sometime. then again, he lives in nyc, so maybe you already have.