Wednesday, 30 January 2008

Guess Who´s Coming to Dinner

And if I may use another cliché, "Watch what you ask for. You might just get it."

According to the lovely linen letter that arrived today, Don Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Secretary of State for Spain, accepts my kind invitation to visit his namesake town. He can´t come for the fiesta in August, but he asks us to phone his office to set up a mutually agreeable date for him to come over for a roast lamb and a nice sit-down chat with the folks from hereabouts.

To which I reply, (with a flash back to my Pittsburgh roots):

Holy Frickin´ Shit. He said YES.

I don´t have china, I don´t even have a full set of plates or silverware. I don´t have a dining table, or chairs, or a kitchen. My dogs are rude. I don´t know how to roast a lamb the way they do here. I have never played hostess before to an international diplomat. (When I meet high-ranking politicians I instinctively begin lobbing impertinent questions at him/her.)

And I don´t have a thing to wear. (I have a nice apron, though.)

Still, I am most pleased. I´ll talk to Estebanito, the alcalde, about dates, and locations, and about keeping this very, very small, and as informal as possible. (He´s already said he wants to show off his family´s big bodega...and we already know that lambs roast wonderfully well in there!)

I have yet another good reason to pound those Spanish verbs, and get this house into some kind of shape! I will consult with everyone I know who´s shmoozed with these types before. He shouldn´t be too hard to handle, seeing as he IS a diplomat. I wonder if they´ll let us have some random pilgs in for the feast, too?

The Foreign Minister is coming over. Holy moley. I may speak Spanish like a dim child, but I must be able to WRITE it convincingly enough!

2 comments:

Libby said...

Wowee, mamasita! I'm so proud of you. You'll knock his socks off fo' sho'. Good luck, and if you need any help state-side on anything, let me know.

Teri said...

How wonderful and exciting! You'll do great - can't wait to "read all about it".