Celebrity Encounter Update

As I updated last week, when my family and I returned to church after repenting our sinning ways, we encountered a celebrity amongst the flock, Laura Hernandez. After the celebrity sighting, we were left wondering whether her visit was a mistake or a chance encounter. Well it seems that it was neither, since we were successfully able to rally the troops together and head to church, we once again saw Laura show up. She was late again, but not quite as badly as last week, however, still very much on Puerto Rico time. She was again on the arm of a tall friend, who squeezed her tight due to the excessive air conditioning. And it's no wonder she was freezing, since she was wearing a yellow strapped shirt (what I think we used to call a halter top), jeans and sandals.

Since it seems that she has become a regular at our church in our absence, our hunch is that she might be attending church to prepare her and her friend for a future wedding (whether it will be their wedding our a friends is not certain). I didn't get a chance to get close to say hi or anything as they both split before the service had fully ended. Maybe we should sit closer to where they usually sit to get a better chance. Well, we'll see how long this goes on for the both of us.

Celebrity Encounter Weekend - Part 2

Oh yeah, I forgot. I owe you another celebrity encounter. Well last Sunday my family went to church. Unfortunately it has been quite a while since we last attended. It's really pathetic all of the lame excuses we use not to go, but it's so easy to blow it off. The thing is, the church we go to is pretty far from our house. While we originally went there because they have services in English, we've sort of grown accustomed to it. Over the years we've tried some different churches (in Spanish), but we've never found one where we feel as comfortable as this one. The service for English is smack dab in the middle of the day on Sunday. We've tried Saturday and early Sunday but after a week of getting up early, who wants to do that on Sunday too? So it ends up pretty much taking two or two and a half hours in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. For working parents with three kids, well as I said I'm pretty ashamed about the lame excuses, but there doesn't seem to be the time. That's what they all say, right?

So as coincidence would have it, the day we pick to start going again we see someone come in that we've never seen there before. Just to give you a point of reference, we've been going there off and on for about 10 years. So, I bet you're dying for me to get to the point. OK, OK, it was about half way through the service when Laura Hernandez (of Univision, Cocaine Bust, Prison Time, No Te Duermas fame) slides in with a friend. Because the wife used to watch "Tierra de los Passiones" or whatever it was called, I would sometimes catch the end of the novela with her. Afterwards we would sometimes watch some of No Te Duermas. So I've seen her occasionally on NTD, I never really paid her much attention. I also remember seeing the news about her trouble in the DR. Anyway, while not staring (OK, maybe a little) I noticed that she actually looks prettier in person than she does on the show. She had on this olive tank top with a mostly see through back and jeans. All in all, another example of a Puerto Rican beauty.

After the service, the kids wanted to go to the park, so we went out the front of the church (towards the park) and Laura and her friend slid out the back. Hopefully, we'll go more regularly to church this time, so I wonder if we'll see her there again? I was thinking though, why were they at this English service? For him, for her (she was born in Canada), or just out of convenience, you know someplace celebrities go to that our church just happened to be near. Well, let's see if we and she shows up again, and maybe I'll ask. I am prone to do those kind of things, I can't help it. I'm like most people here, presentao.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: Foraggio

Celebrity Encounter Weekend - Part 1

Above my neighborhood sets a stately house. This house is literally on top of a small hill, mountain, bumpy thing, mogote, whatever. The view from the house must be amazing. It was so amazing that about five years ago Chayanne bought the house and moved his parents there from San Lorenzo.

On Saturday I heard a helicopter flying around the neighborhood. I usually go out to look at them to see what kind of helicopter it is and what it is doing. Not that I actually know the make and manufacturer of helicopters, but whether it is a police, U.S. Army, news, or private helicopter. By the time I got outside the helicopter was no longer in the air, but was siting on the property of the house on the hill. Chayanne must be there I said to myself and went racing inside to tell the family. We rushed outside and then the helicopter started to take off. I ran inside to get my binoculars. I got back out just in time to see the helicopter circle around and head towards San Juan. I got a good enough look at the helicopter to identify that it was private.

It appears that indeed it was Chayanne, and that the helicopter was dropping him off at his parents. Later in the weekend we were to discover that he was in Puerto Rico. He was participating in the second annual Celebrity Cancer Golf Classic held at Coco Beach Golf & Country Club. The event was organized by Jorge Diaz and Funky Joe to benefit two Puerto Rican cancer facilities Hospital Auxilio Mutuo Cancer Center and Sociedad America del Cancer. For Chayanne, as well as fellow participants Luis Fonsi and Adamari López, the event holds special significance as all of the celebrities' lives have been touched by cancer. During a press conference after the event, Chayanne commented that for him "siempre es un placer apoyar este tipo de evento" (always a pleasure to support this type of event). "Me siento feliz de ayudar y poder hacer una diferencia" (I feel happy to help and make a difference) he added.

And what a difference he made. Along with the participation of the governor Aníbal Acevedo Vila, Tito Trinidad, Chi Chi Rodríguez, Wilnelia Merced, Iván Rodríguez, and Bárbara Bermudo the event raised approximately $190,000 dollars. To see where the event was held, click here.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor Today: arquera