Robyn's Birthlongweekend

It's quite belated but I thought I'd acknowledge and recollect Robyn's birthday, which was officially this past Sunday, August 1, but ended up blending into the two days on either side of the seventh day. I was introduced to this 'triple-birthday' phenomenon when I got to know the Fluxgold clan and have a sneaking suspicion that Robyn's mom Barb gave it's first rise to popularity. Regardless of its roots, it's always fun for everyone around when it's someone's birthday so I embrace Robyn's requests for extended jubilation.

The setting for this year's (28th) bday party was Montezuma, which I have alluded to in earlier posts, but will acknowledge now as a great place to celebrate anything. The list of invitees was smaller than average this year but both invited guests showed up to the event and Scott and Ashlet were almost as excited as Robyn herself. We started the festivities on Saturday with a homemade pasta meal in the common-area-kitchen in our hotel. Fusili and garlic bread was married beautifully with white wine and local beer. Satiated, we moved the evening into the drinking game portion, playing 'British Asshole' (which was the entertainment for the vast majority of our time together). I won't go into the details of the game, but it does provide hours of entertainment.

After a sufficient amount of time playing (and beers finished as funishments) we ventured out of the hotel and took to the streets. The small town has only one real nighttime destination and we trod the well-worn path to Chico's bar with smiles on our faces. Saturdays are he busiest nights in town and the dance floor was packed with both locals (Ticos) and travellers (gringos). We were merry but did not go overboard and the beer and shots flowed but not too the point of excess. As is typical in these areas, the policing method can be described as 'hoping to employ the honour system' which allows for a wide range of otherwise-illegal activities to take place in plain sight. Our entire group was exposed to acid for the first time as a local could be seen cutting up blotting paper at the table beside us and placing it on the tongue of his customers (and/or friends?). No need to worry though - no one felt overly anxious to give it a try. At the strike of midnight Robyn's birthday was ushered in and the party kept on unabated. The majority of the time was spent dancing and the four of us had a great time. Our style of dancing (the self-aware, harmless, drunken, repetitive, half-mocking) was in direct contrast to some of the gyrations and intentions of those around us, but all styles were welcomed on the dance floor.

We returned late to the hotel and loudly dove back into the leftover pasta meal, temporarily forgetting the presence of other hotel guests in adjacent rooms. We wound down eventually and fell asleep at a respectable time, in order to ensure we could still somewhat enjoy the next day, because, after all, it was Robyn's birthday.