I can't believe I really won tickets!! I'm never this lucky. A few days before I actually walked away from the casino with more cash than less and now I won Gloria Estefan tickets? I would have to say luck seems to be on my side these days. But I had no idea what kind of treat I was really in for!

The started with a half day of work which makes sense since it's about an hour and forty minutes to the city from school. Keith decided that he was going to come along with me as my guest so I drove the 40 mins back to Scranton to get him. My principal stopped me going out the door and what I thought was going to be a 5 min chat turned into an hour chat. I was planning to leave at 11:30 and here I was leaving the building at 12:30...wasn't happy!! We finally entered the city just after 3PM. We parked on 55th street which was just a few blocks from the show. I went to Patelson's music for some sheet music since it is one of the few places you can go in and expect them to have what you need! Then it was off to Columbus Circle!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the concert location was IN the mall! Keith and I spent some time in Borders and just hanging out. We were waiting for GMan and Jeanne to get in. GMan was in the city, but he was meeting Jeanne at Port Authority. We planned to meet up when they came back.

Around 6:10 we headed for the elevator to get ready to go to the show. There I saw tons of Conga, I won't name names as usual since I don't want to leave anyone out. It was nice to see everyone again. Keith was asking how I remember it all and I kept saying well when you go to as many things as we do, you tend to get to know one another which is what makes Conga so great!

It was time to go upstairs. Of course, I ended up on the last elevator to the top. I can't expect luck to stay on my side ALL the time now can I ?? At the top, they were checking us in and giving us way cool tags! Once inside, I have to say the seating wasn't great. There were about 5 rows of seats. By the time Keith and I entered, there were no longer two together which meant we had to sit in separate rows which wasn't too bad, but it was his first Estefan experience and he had to sit by himself. But like I said before, I am lucky to have been there!

Gloria sang I believe 8 songs, all in Spanish-- except for a slip of Oye Mi Canto and then at the end she did Your Picture as an encore in English. I love this album MUCH more now that I saw the songs live, but I loved the album to begin with! I believe deep in my heart that it is a Grammy waiting to happen. It is just so amazing!

A thought ran through my head as I sat awaiting Gloria to come out to perform. You know how you stare at the door you know she'll be emerging from and it seems to take forever? I thought to myself here I sit again staring at a door, just waiting to see her appear, and I wondered if she felt that much anticipation as she walks towards that door to perform each time? I know the feeling for me never seems to change at all. But oh the many doors and stage corners we've stared at over the years waiting for her to appear. It never gets old because GLORIA ROCKS!

Gloria, if you're reading, thank you so much for again making me feel love, respect, and joy through both your life and music. Thank you for extended the opportunity to Conga to attend. I will cherish your performance at XM always!

To the Conga members that were there, it was great seeing everyone again!

~Rich Huffman
Conga Rich