Recent Festivities

VIVA MEXICO!

September 16th was Mexican Independence Day. We had Thursday and Friday off of school and were all quite excited for the four day weekend. Independence Day here is of course a big deal, like the 4th of July in the States. On the night before Independence Day, there was a big party at the church to celebrate. We arrived late and missed most of the sermon. The sermon was followed with songs (one of them being the national anthem), games (like musical chairs), tons of delicious food, and a costume contest for the kids and for the adults. Above are pictures of some of the Ninos kids who participated in the costume contest. On the left is Benjamin, who is a fairly recent arrival here. On the right, are Kevin and Carlos, with their house mom Guadalupe. The picture on the left is of Wendy, Erin, and I and our attempt to recreate the Mexican Flag. It was fun to be here for a national holiday. The streets were filled with people wearing green, red, and white. There was music playing, Mexican flags waving, and more fireworks going off than usual.

Another recent celebration we had here was for one of the substitute house mom's birthdays. Birthdays here are a BIG DEAL. There are a few specific traditions...

1) You get the person whose birthday it is all wet.

2) You sing a birthday song significantly longer than "Happy Birthday."

3) You eat cake and the person has to take a bite of the cake without using his or her hands.

4) Once the person goes to bite the cake, someone pushes his or her face into it.

5) The birthday person then proceeds to serve cake to everyone present.

The cake in these pictures is called "Pastel Imposible" - it's a combination of flan and chocolate cake and it's super delicious! The girls taught me how to make it.

Life here is all about celebrating with food, fellowship, and fun.