Saturday Sunday Monday

Saturday
In anticipation of my mother's first cousin, Ivan Villavicencio, who will be visiting from Ecuador and staying in Los Angeles in mother's house and my house for two weeks, I did some major housecleaning this Saturday. I cleaned the house thoroughly and as I worked I listened to the follwing music:
-Grace Jones
-Stereolab
-Stereo Total
-Basement Jaxx
-Madonna
-Lucha Villa
-Miguel Bose
Well, my house hasn't looked this clean in quite a while. You should all try to come and visit...

Sunday
On Mother's Day, Monica, Victoria and I took Ivan to the Hollywood Farmers Market. We bought flowers for ourselves and for my mother, my aunt, and Karina, who is a brand-new mom. I also bought some produce to use in my meals for the week. We then walked up to Hollywood and Highland so our cousin could do some sightseeing.
Afterwards we went to my mother's, where we all gathered to go have a Mother's Day lunch at La Golondrina in Olvera Street. This is where my sisters and I always take our mom and aunt for Mother's Day, and where we always take out-of-towners out for a nice Mexican meal and good margaritas. We walked around Olvera Street after our meal. And then we went to Karina's house to hang out, chat, and drink some cold beer. All in all, we all had a pleasant day.

Monday
Yesterday, after work, I went to get my cousin Ivan from my mother's house and took him out on a tour of Downtown L.A. We walked the Walt Disney Concert Hall to the Wells Fargo Plaza on Grand Avenue toward the U.S. Bank Building (which is the tallest building in the western United States). We then went inside the Central Library and walked on Flower Street up to 6th. Afterwards, we walked past the Biltmore and through Pershing Square, up to Broadway. We went into Grand Central Market and in the Bradbury Building. Welked past the L.A. Times Building and City Hall. I asked him if he wanted to proceed to Little Tokyo or Chinatown. He opted for Chinatown... We stopped in restaurant and I treated Ivan to a boba drink. He had a papaya boba, I had a coconut one. It was his first time trying boba. And he was quite amused by the little tapioca balls one sucks up through the straw. We walked all the way to that plaza where Chinatown ends and rested for a while.
We then went to the Cathedral, where he was able to enter the structure and appreciate its interior. We walked to the part of the cathedral's courtyard, where one can view the 101 Freeway. I told him about how this feature reminds me of Paris, where one can see the River Seine, from the foot of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Ivan has been to Paris, and agreed with me on this.
Our tour ended at the Music Center courtyard, where we bought a bottle of wine to drink while watching the sunset and sat near the fountain as we chatted and caught up on our latest exploits. I got home after 8 p.m. And boy was I exhausted!