In October we had the chance last-minute to go to a concert of Julieta Venegas. You may not recognize the name, but you have probably heard the song, “Lento,” (though you gringos may not recognize it by the name).

Of course, in order to get the tickets, Isaac leads me down a dark alley and has me give money (probably about the equivalent of $30) to this really tall, big, bouncer-looking guy who has a wooden crate turned on it’s end that he’s using as a desk. It was hilarious. Totally something out of a movie. He sells me a couple crazy pieces of paper that I would have never taken for a ticket, but Isaac instructs met hat it’s okay.

Someone then leads us further down the alley and through a partial opening in a fence. This was clearly the place as there were artsy-music types now appearing everywhere. It was muddy and dark. Someone with a flashlight checks our tickets and then frisks us. We get a stamp on our wrists and we’re free to go in.

The venue is actually quite interesting. It’s almost like a high school gym. There are bleachers on the sides that are clearly reserved for someone besides those of us buying tickets from Jose Fabio with the wooden box. And there are also two makeshift bars set up selling beer and cigarettes (oh yeah, welcome to Latin America…you can smoke everywhere).

Not long after we arrive, Julieta actually comes out and starts playing. The setting is really intimate. I don’t imagine there were more than 500 people. No opening act. Just Julieta and her band. And they were fantastic. The crowd went crazy!

She started singing all the favorites. And then she whips out the accordion – one of the trademarks which set her apart. She plays, dances and sings with such grace. Her smile can be seen from the back of the room.

But then something really awful and unexpected happened. The power went off! The whole place fell into almost complete darkness, except for a bit of light that was being splashed in from the back of the room. “That’s okay” I tell myself. It’ll come back on soon. But no. It never does. Julieta is so apologetic. We can’t hear a word she says. But we can see from her face, her hand gestures and the way she is carrying herself.

At one point, she even tried to grab a guitar, sit on a stool and play something solo. But the crowd went crazy with cheers and clapping, so it was completely impossible to hear anything. She gave up after about 45 seconds of playing, too realizing that nobody would hear one note of her heart-felt song.

Needless to say, we weren’t about to get our money back. Let’s face it. We’re in a 3rd world country. They just don’t do that kind of thing here. They just figure, “Oh well. Your loss.” And the crazy part is that the people here just go along with it like, “Yeah. I guess we lose out. Too bad for us.” I think it’s the interesting part of having a “peaceful” country. The people here haven’t had an army since 1948 and they just have a pretty non-confrontational attitude about everything. Where I think it hurts them is when they are being taken advantage of. They kind of just lay down and take it. I think there has to be a middle ground somewhere.