Las Fiestas

In a culture that is so family oriented, it comes as no surprise that holidays and birthdays are large celebrations. Just in my short time here I have already attended two such events: a Mother’s Day dinner and the birthday party of Kelly’s 2-year-old host brother.

Mother’s Day (el día de las madres) is a much bigger holiday here than in the States. Children only have a half day of school or don’t attend at all, and most people don’t have to go to work. The celebration in my village began at around 4:30 in the morning with people shooting off fireworks in the streets (this continued all day long) and a truck driving around town blaring an ‘I love my mom’ themed song through a megaphone. (Hmm, I don’t know of a lot of mothers in the US who would appreciate being awoken before 5 am by loud music and fireworks.) In the evening I attended a dinner with my host mom and four of her sisters (she has five sisters all living in this village, but the one she lives with had a separate dinner at our house) at the house of her niece.

Although he is only two and won’t remember any of it, the party for Kelly’s host brother, Daniel, was quite an ordeal. There was cake, tostadas, tamales, and fresca (the word used for all homemade cool beverages). The family rented out an outdoor banquet type area, and there were about 100 guests in attendance.

The funniest occurrence of the evening was an incident that could have had a very bad outcome. After having one piñata for the children, the hosts strung up another one for the adults. Myself and a couple of others had a go at it, and the bluebird was on its last leg when the stick and blindfold were passed on to Michael, another volunteer. After a few swings he sprung a hole. Blindfolded and not really comprehending the directions being shouted at him in Spanish (like “Para! Para!”—“Stop! Stop!”), Michael continued swinging as a hoard of children rushed in around him to pick up the candies. Fortunately someone grabbed the stick from behind before anyone was wounded…I can just imagine the ill feelings that would arise from having your child beaten with a stick by a gringo at a birthday party.