I was so tired when I arrived in San Jose today with 6 colleagues that I could barely strip off my clothes and put on my bikini to lie with them by the pool for 90 minutes. But somehow, I did it.
After a shower, I was still fatigued but looking forward to an evening at our colleague’s estate. We all previously met and worked with Mariella, the physician who runs the addiction treatment foundation here, for 3 weeks when she and her key team came to Virginia to study our methods for treating addiction. She lives on a compound on the airport side of the city outskirts that was incredibly beautiful and welcoming. When we drove through the guarded stone gate, we entered another world, where homes are sprawling ranches with artistic pools, waterfalls, and landscaping, with an entertainment complex sited on the other side of the pool that had a shuttered open air round bar room at one end, a ballroom/dining room in the middle, and an entertainment/media complex on the other. White jacketed waiters offered us drinks to order and amazing appetizers while we re-met our friends and their colleagues and mingled before dinner.
The dinner buffet was arranged on tables poolside, and included the best cream of corn soup I have ever tasted, an amazing avocado, tomato, hearts of palm, and artichoke salad, individually glassed ceviche with fried plantains, and an array of rice, chicken, and beef dishes. I could survive forever on the soup, salad, and ceviche (along with waiters fetching me refills of custom made drinks!)
Dinner convened at large round tables in the ball room with a soaring ceiling with art and tapestries hung high, while breezes wafted through shuttered, open doors allowing a view of the San Jose valley. Dinner conversation was focused on our upcoming historic conference, which will be the first of its kind in Central America, its potential benefits for our colleagues’ organization and for advancing treatment in general, and the possibilities of pursuing unique research opportunities with Latino populations. Of course, such tasks would require that I and my friends spend weeks at a time here….perhaps always in the heart of North American winters…..
Mariella’s husband Javier Quiero joined our table late and we enjoyed stories of his past as a professional racer for the BMW team….he now owns the car dealerships here and like my boss, has a bad Ferrari habit….he offered to drive us all back to the hotel and while I hated to leave the resort atmosphere of his lovely home, we enjoyed a smooth and fast trek home with 2 blondes and 2 brunettes in the back and 2 happy men in the front……
On to the conference tomorrow. I will relish memories of this evening for a long time.
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