The Godfather

Having reached another dead end in my productivity, I thought "why not send another transmission over to the homefront?" In any case, it's better than mulling over grave and unchangeable issues. I don't know, whenever I think very hard about the state of "things" I feel as though it's necessary to start some kind of revolution. Unfortunately, in this day and age, rebellions only start and never end…at least they never end in the way that the rebels had in mind. So I'm holding back on executing the revolution plan 'til it's bulletproof.

Instead, I'll recount a short, sweet story of last night. This past week, my favorite coffee shop here underwent some renovations. And last night they threw a huge reopening bash. There was free wine and cheese and cake, and tequila. There was a mariachi band jammed in and around the tiny shop cranking out the hits. All was festive and loud and awesome.

I walked up just as Arturo, the owner (his son is also named Arturo, as is another guy who works here…it's like the Artur

o Café), and his wife were stringing up a thin ceremonial ribbon. "Ah, Caleb!" they said, "We need a Padrino! Come on and cut the ribbon!" So I joined a teacher lady and, with a little pair of scissors, did so. Thus she and I became the "godparents" of the newly renovated shop.

Earlier in the semester, I learned a bit about the traditional roots of "Padrinazgo" (godfathership?) here in Mexico. When a family invests in something (from a new cow to a new religious icon), they take it to the church to be "baptized" and they scrounge up some folks to be the godparents of the thing. The padrinos are kind of a symbol of someone looking  after the "fuerza" (yeah, the force, like Star Wars) of the investment. I think the godparents are supposed to bring a gift. Oops. Basically, it's like godfatherhood of a kid, just without the kid part

Those who know me might suspect that I was more than a little thrilled to be godfather to a coffee shop, and they'd be

 right. Yes, I'm a very proud padrino. In fact, I'm here in the café right now. You know, gotta make sure the force is strong with this one. And I've got to make sure that the new crepe-maker works alright. Test-crepes on the house? Of course I'm here.