Fuego en la Sangre (Fire in the Blood)

I reconnected with a friend that works for Verizon Wireless. He was casually talking with Carlos about work and how Verizon was sponsoring a special VIP only event with the actors for one of Mexico's top rated novela (soap opera) --Fuego En La Sangre (www.esmas.com/fuegoenlasangre/).

Carlos and I were familiar with the novela, while vacationing in Mexico the novela was concluding -- so everyone and their mother was glued to the TV trying to figure out what was going to happen with the "hermanos Reyes" (Reyes brothers). The 3 primary male actors are:
Juan Reyes (Eduardo Yanez) - www.esmas.com/fuegoenlasangre/perfiles/694900.html
Oscar Reyes (Jorge Salinas) - www.esmas.com/fuegoenlasangre/perfiles/694893.html
Franco Reyes (Pablo Montero) - www.esmas.com/fuegoenlasangre/perfiles/694889.html

So we tell our friend -- you know it sounds like a neat thing to do but we're not fans. After some thought and deliberation, I decided to accept his generous offer and take the Abuelita to see the motley crew. Verizon had scheduled various in-store appearances but we got tickets to their only live concert. Granted Pablo Montero is the only singer, the other two are just actors but in Mexico all that act apparently can sing too -- a very skewed perception.

So that piqued our curiosity, we weren't sure how good or bad it was going to be???? Our friend provided us with 6 tickets (Carlos, Myself, my Abuelita, Abel, Norma, and her mom). Traffic in LA goes without mentioning -- it was bad so we arrived at the venue a little later than anticipated but I get a call from my friend and he tells me that I can get there in the next 5-10 minutes, we (my Abue & I) might get the chance to meet the actors in person. At the time, I was driving so at a stop light, Abel suggested we do a chinese fire drill (www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chinese+fire+drill) to switch out drivers.

After doing so, we continue to inch closer and closer but there is still too much traffic :S
So Carlos pulls up to the curb and my Abue & I jump out, and we book it (you can only imagine, me pulling my 77 yr old Abue on an incline -- no worries I took it slow). As we approach the venue, my Abue turns to me and says (in spanish) - "I'm tired, I can't run anymore". Thankfully, we had arrived, my friend spots us and rushes us into the venue (in the meantime, Carlos & Abel are parking the truck). A wrist band is placed on our left wrist and we are escorted to this secret enterance by the stage. We wait and wait (about 15 minutes) and finally get word -- Juan Reyes (Eduardo Yanez) isn't coming, he's nervous about the live performance (remember, he's an actor not a singer).

So instead we get to meet Pablo Montero & Jorge Salinas. Pablo was nice and very respectful. Jorge was an octopus. No woman or man was left standing -- he would hug and kiss anything in sight. If you were to his liking, he'd kiss you on your lips (YIKES). As he approached I made sure to position my Abue on her side, to avoid this attack.


We got a couple of minutes with them and posed for a picture. Notice, I put my Abuelita in the center figuring she'd fair better than me. As she stood there -- Jorge Salinas tells her -- you need to hug me but hug me nice and tight (in spanish). I almost lost it, my Abue got all red :D
After this excursion we headed back upstairs and finally got Carlos & Abel there tickets (to come in). Norma had saved us seats in the VIP area and we sat back to enjoy the show. We had a fantastic time!