We sat down to a delicious lunch which was followed by the notorious piñata. The piñata was of Mario from Super Mario Brothers which I found a bit odd since the little boy was also Mario. So guests were required to beat the crap out of this Mario with a stick which I had to wonder if the parents had chosen this piñata subliminally...
Anyway, the children at the party were very young and most were babies and so the piñata took a very long time to bust open. Once everyone got tired of watching the tiny kids poke the Mario with the stick, they let the older kids get up and take a few swings. I learned that piñatas here are quite different than in the states in that these piñatas fight back... They attach a rope to each side of the piñata and one person stands off to each side with an end of the rope which they use to pull the piñata in various directions. In this way, the piñata can avoid the stick and also throw some punches itself which can be observed in the attached video.
Once the Piñata is busted open and the candy falls to the floor EVERYONE dives to the ground to get as much candy as possible. This includes children, parents, grandparents, and maybe stray dogs... I thought I was pretty quick but I reached down and only got about 2 pieces of candy because everyone else was in hyena attack mode.
After that they brought out 2 large cakes and we sang happy birthday (in English) followed by another song in Spanish saying "we want cake, we want cake, let's hurry this along because we want cake." This was pretty funny to me because it's pretty much what everyone is thinking at a birthday party but would never say. After the little boy blew out the candles, he leaned over the cake and took a big bite out the side and got frosting all over his face. Everyone thought it was funny and adorable and so did I, but I also secretly hoped I would not be served that piece of cake that his face had just smooshed into.
On Sunday Doña Rosa brought me as a guest to a baby shower she was invited to. Another volunteer also came with her Doña and we all sat together. There were mostly all women in attendance and we all sat around in a circle underneath a tin roof outside. There were probably 50 or more people there in all. They started off by telling us that anytime we heard this one women say "Bebé" (baby) we had to stand up and scream and cry like a baby and win a prize. Then they played all kinds of games like musical chairs, pin the bottle on the baby, bingo, and hot potato. Everyone was really into it and it was really great fun. The hot potato game was especially exciting because everyone had to participate and if the "potato" (which was actually a little package layered in newsprint) landed on you, you had to unwrap one layer and read what task you were given. These included anything from dancing like a chicken, singing a song, telling a joke, or reciting a riddle. It was really a great idea and a good way to get everyone at the party involved. Just before they served us dinner the rain started and it was the most torrential rain I had ever seen in all my life. It seemed like the roof was going to come down with all the weight of the rain. The sound was deafening on the tin roof and the ground beneath our feet became like a shallow creek. This pretty much concluded the party and most people began to leave once the rain let up a little.
This is more or less the commencement of the rainy season here in Guatemala. I find it quite nice because the morning and early afternoon are hot and sunny and then the rain comes to cool things down in the late afternoon and it tapers off in the evening. It's really a warm, refreshing rain and keeps everything lush and green here. Sometimes its nice in the late afternoon just to relax and listen to the rain drops on the tin roof and let the mind wander...
Today we took a much anticipated trip to "Guate" (Guatemala City) to see where the American Embassy is as well as the hospital. Our language teacher, Mirsa came with us but we were responsible for making all decisions, riding the bus, calling a taxi etc. This was to be help prepare us for how to do these things when we are on our own. We go off the bus at Tikal Futura which is a mall/hotel in the city and the only place in Guate Peace Corps will allow us to go by bus. Once there, we have to catch a taxi anywhere else we may want to go, for safety reasons. After the embassy and hospital visit we headed back to the mall to have lunch and window shop. This mall was very modern and felt just like a mall in the US. It was a stark contrast to the quite communities we are living in now and I became keenly aware of the vast inequality of people in this country.
After spending some time at the mall, and chatting a bit with some of the other volunteers, we hopped on a bus back to San Bartolomé. I can proudly tell you all that no one from our group was pick pocketed on this trip because we were all exercising caution and practicing the tactics taught to us by Peace Corps. On top of this, the uncle of one of the volunteers here has a gym that we are able to use and he has offered to teach us some Tae Bo, Karate and self defense. Of course this is PEACE corps, and being such, if we are robbed, we are told to relinquish our valuables and not fight back. But... If I do become a black-belt in the next few weeks I may switch from Peace Corps to Marine Corps... We'll see.
trying on some Columbian hats...
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