Hilda's Quince

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to be part of a very special tradition in Mexico. I went to my first "quincinera." A quincinera is a big party that is thrown when a girl turns 15. At age 15, the girl has moved on to womanhood and of course, this is something to celebrate!

Since the time I arrived here in August, dance practices for Hilda's quince had already begun. A big part of the quincinera is dancing. To make their entrance to the party, the girl and her male escorts perform a dance for the guests; they dance again later during the ceremony. Another part of the quince is gift giving, where each gift given has significance. The girl chooses the gifts she would like to receive, as well as the people she would like to present them to her.

The week of Hilda's quince was crazy busy! Because her party was at the house, we were working hard to make sure that it looked nice. This meant a lot of painting, yardwork, and decorating. My job during the week was to help one of the girls paint the light fixtures and then cover the glass with pink tissue paper (the theme color for Hilda's quince was pink, naturally!). It was a whole house effort to get things ready. As the big day got closer, I couldn't help but think how much a quince is like a wedding. Hilda invited me to go with her to pick up her dress; often, the dress is kept a secret and very few people see it before the day of the party. On Saturday, I barely saw Hilda before the party because she was busy getting her nails, make-up, and hair done. Like a bride, she was supposed to look perfect! When Hilda finally came into the kitchen with her dress on, she was absolutely gorgeous!!! Her escorts were dressed in black suits with pink ties to match her dress. Once everyone was ready, it was time to take pictures, which again felt like wedding party pictures.

In typical Mexican fashion, the party began an hour late. Once the majority of the guests were seated at the tables, the ceremony began. Hilda and her escorts made their grand entrance in Lee and Ruthie's van. Each of the escorts was announced and then Hilda stepped out of the van. The music started and they performed their first dance. After the dance, they went to sit at the head table and the Pastor gave a brief sermon about what it means to be a woman and explained the significance of Hilda's name. Then the gift giving began - Hilda received a Bible, a photo album, a pillow, and make-up. Each of the people who presented her with a gift gave a short speech explaining the meaning behind the gift and offering advice. When all the gifts had been given, Hilda and her escorts performed their second dance, to an instrumental version of the "Titanic Song." We had a short time of worship with the praise band from church. Hilda was given the microphone and had the opportunity to thank all of the people who gave her gifts and who helped get things ready for the party. It was hard not to get choked up when she started tearing up thanking all of the special people in her life (It's times like these when I miss my family...). Once the program concluded, we had dinner and enjoyed a time of fellowship. There was a suprise Mariachi band who performed, as well as a Christian reggaeton singer who performed too. The only not so fun part of the evening was the cold - it was freezing! We had blankets on our laps at the table.

It was a very memorable evening and I'm so glad I finally got to go to a quincinera. The kids always ask me why we don't have quincineras in the United States and after going to one, I wish we did! I think it's great for the girls to have a night to feel like a princess.