Yenni, Enrique y Emiliano

Two Sundays ago, the day after tennis, I spent the day with the sister and brother in law of my friend Yesena from Azusa. In this picture here they are--Yenisel, Enrique, and their son Emiliano. I was so excited to just meet them and spend time with them that I thought it would be the biggest treat in the world to just go to their house and hang out. But after we were in the car for about ten minutes, it turned out they were taked us to Tonalá, a town outside of Guadalajara, known for their artisan markets.

Yennisel is a hair stylist, but hasn`t worked recently because of the baby. She looks very much like my friend, her sister, just a little older. Enrique is a chauffer for the De La Rosa family (the owner of a popular peanut candy here called De La Rosa). I`m not sure how long they`ve been married, but they just had Emiliano three and a half months ago--who by the way was the calmest, happiest baby ever. He didn`t cry or anything the whole time we were in the crowded loud markets of Tonalá. Yenni said he was showing off for the pretty girls. :)

Yenni has lived in the same neighborhood, the same house for her whole life. I really wanted to go to her house, but I was too shy to ask...I should`ve though because on the way back we stopped at Enrique`s father`s house which was in the same neighborhood. It was really nice to see a different side of town. Their neighborhood was so bright and colorful, every house a different color. It was much more cramped than our neighboorhood, with narrower streets and not as much shade. Yet it had a cozy feeling...somewhere I`d like to go back but it is on the completely other side of town from me.

As they drove me and my friend back to my house they told us about the haunted cemetary (Panteon) near the center of town as well as some of the ledgends that go along with it. We agreed that they would call again sometime to take us out....perhaps to a Mariachi place (Yennisel said she had never been!!)

I couldn`t get over how kind they were to us. I don`t think they have much money to spend on foreigners, yet they treated us to a lot of cultural experiences like "jugo de raiz" (a juice drink), lunch, and a plate of sweets. I kind of feel guilty! But it was definitely a highlight of my time here so far.