Nico

When Nico smiles, the missing front teeth make him look like a boy, happy to be playing in the sandbox.  Although a bit older than most of our fellow Danzoneros, he is taller, trimmer, and quick to  smile.  He moves smoothly on the dance floor, guiding Irma, his younger, but not so tall nor trim wife, in elegant dance combinations.   A couple of weeks after the National Danzon convention, he gifted us a DVD of the event, in which Adi and I, alongside Nico and Irma, were featured on the title sequence.  He must have taken pity on our dismal performance, because, very delicately, he offered to make us better dancers.

We accepted his invitation of comida (midday meal), "Irma is a great cook", and a Danzon class.  The four of us sat in the small living room of their rented house in the outskirts of Oaxaca, had a mezcal, and waited for the chicken to be ready.  We chatted about our grandchildren (an icebreaker in any society), the water supply (a crucial topic in Oaxaca), and eventually age (the first topic in a  Korean conversation).  Adi started gently, by asking for the age difference between Niko and Irma.  Thirty six years seemed larger than their apparent age difference, but was still plausible.  We gasped when we learned that Irma is fifty, because that made Niko eighty six.  To us, Nico looked and behaved like a man in his early seventies.  

"A miracle" Adi cried.

The couple laughed.  Nico  enjoyed our compliments, but it was clear he was aware of his gift.  After the excitement subsided, I asked him for the secrets of such a well-maintained life.  He was ready with the answer.

1.  Work.  He worked a truck driver until five years ago.  Till this day, he misses his work.

2.  Exercise.  He used to jog until a couple of years ago.  He stopped after the installation of a heart pacemaker.

3.  Drink.  During his years as a truck driver he would consume a liter of mezcal per day.  He does not drink it now because of the medicines he is taking.

He stopped there.

"What about the young wife?"  I asked.

"Oh yes,"  he agreed, "as we say here in Mexico, You should give an old cat a young mouse."

There is not the slightest hint of a heart condition in his demeanor, and according to him, the secret to drinking without damaging the liver is taking it with plenty of food.

The chile-spiced chicken, wrapped in minty Yerba Santa leaves, was wonderful.  After the comida we acquired several new and elegant Danzon steps.  I also acquired a new role model in addition to Bob Teichner, my ninety-four year 'young' friend.