The Big 15th (11/12)

The quinceañera celebration in the Latin American tradition marks the transition from childhood to womanhood for all young females on their fifteenth birthday.  The actual celebration varies from country to country but it is considered by many to be the most important day of a woman’s life and is celebrated in a spectacular manner.  Every young girl growing up in the Latin community dreams about her quinceañera.  In Mexico, the giant party usually begins with a mass during which a special blessing on the girl is given and certain symbolic presents received.  This is then followed by a huge party for family and friends very much like typical wedding receptions in the states.  The entire event in fact, closely resembles a wedding in its elements and traditions.  Instead of celebrating two people, however, the spotlight is intensely focused on one.  There is even a dance, usually a waltz, featuring the birthday girl as the star of the show.

For the house here, it is impossible to give each girl the normal quinceañera treatment, however the big day is still celebrated in style.  Every November, the house throws a huge party for all the girls who have turned or will turn fifteen in that year.  In 2011, around twenty girls celebrated their 15^th birthday and therefore took part in the huge party.  They are pampered as much as possible: the group is taken to buy their own pair of shoes for the day, hairdressers and make-up artists are hired to get them ready the day of, and all are able to pick their own ball gown from the large store of donated dresses  the house keeps on hand specifically for this day.  The quinceañera is also one of the few expectations to visitor’s day when family of the girls may visit to participate in the celebration.

Decorating the sports courts of the school for the big waltz performance later that day.  Our morning was spent helping to decorate everywhere: the school for the waltz, the chapel for the mass, the patio for the dinner, and the comedor for the dance.  Lots of balloons!

The centerpieces on the tables.  If you look closely you can see the little birthday girl in her ball gown.

Five of my girls were part of the celebration.  Don't they look gorgeous!

The too cool escorts.  The girls had to pick an escort from guys of the same year.  Don't you just love the suits!

Group photo of some of the girls with Father Phil outside the chapel before mass.

Getting ready to process in to start the celebration.

The girls receiving their quinceañera gifts.

The parade to the school for the traditional waltz.

The waltz began with each couple picking up a little girl as they walked in.  Apparently this was supposed to symbolize their future family one day.

All of the little girls in the house were included.  How adorable!

Their waltz was done to the High School Musical 3 song "Can I Have This Dance?" which is really cute and highly appropriate.  They practiced for weeks and I think we were all excited to finally see what went with the music we'd heard blasting from the school for all that time.

The waltz was rather long.  They replayed the song three times.

Their exit song was Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway."  Another appropriate choice I thought.  I was so proud!

A group photo of all the participants.  I especially love the Cinderella dress on the little girl in front.

The patio all set up for dinner.

Each birthday girl got her own table for family and friends.

The rest of my girls helped serve.

What Mexican party is complete without mariachi?

A photo to prove I was there!

For dessert, the house bought several giant cakes.  Somehow this evolved into a cake fight with some of the kids.  All in good fun.

The dance began not long after dinner in the comedor.

They went all out for the dance.  A special team came in to set up the neon lights and sound system.  We even had a professional DJ hired and a fog machine.

It was a full day of decorating and celebrating.  Congratulations girls!  I'm so proud.

Sun, Fun, and Frogs (11/3-11)

Thursday the 3rd, signaled the beginning of things semi-back to normal around the house.  The kids were back in school and I was looking forward to another descanso the next day.  To celebrate, the volunteers enjoyed some dessert and wine that night and all the girls had some bonding time to classic Britney Spears.

Friday after sweep team, Moni, Wes, and I spent some time lying in the sun in the patio.  The weather had been a lot cooler lately, two blankets instead of just one was now required at night, and the sun felt really nice.  After a short nap, we made pancakes in honor of Teresa's birthday and all enjoyed them before I prepared for Cuernavaca.  I took the bus by myself and ended up spending the night alone just hanging out in our apartment as Moni and Wes missed the last bus to Cuernavaca.  The rest of descanso was very relaxing.  I slept late and then went to Startbucks, Wal-Mart, and the mall with Wes and Moni once they arrived.  It was a very American day!  Wes and I soaked up some more sun on Sunday and then headed back to Miacatlan.

Monday was uneventful (besides accidentally oversleeping through desayuno and sweep team).  Tuesday drama ensued in the section when new boyfriend rules were announced to the girls.  Romantic relationships are "illegal" in the house, but with so many it is very hard to enforce.  The new regulations were supposed to help cut down on the recent rise of couples.  They were met with a lot of tears and anger.  Later that night, I spoke to the girls a little more explicitly about why the rules exist and the need for them to take care of themselves and their future.  It was an awkward conversation, but one that needed to happen.  I hope I got through to at least a few!

Wednesday was a nice break from routine when we headed to Cuernavaca again for our volunteer convivencia.  Once a month we are supposed to be gathering with the Cuernavaca volunteers either here or there to share a meal and some time together.  This time is important to us because otherwise we would never all be together.  November was our turn to go there.  We had an excellent meal at the apartment.  Mariney, our volunteer coordinator and a native of Cuernavaca, brought food from her favorite taco place in town and it was amazing.  Dinner was followed by silly games and then bed.  We headed back to Miacatlan very early the next morning.

Moni was over the moon to discover one of her favorite German beers at the local grocery store.  We each got one to have with dinner.

The roommates chilling in the Cuernavaca volunteers' sala.

Thursday five of my girls were not to be found in the house all day.  They were the only five in our section about to celebrate their quinceanera and had left with one of the directors to go shopping.  Once they were back, everyone gathered around to see their new acquisitions: shoes.  One of our new girls had never worn heels before so we spent time helping her practice.  It was so cute and she was having such a hard time that I was worried for her, but she pulled it together for the day flawlessly.

Friday the weekend planning meeting was centered on the quinceanera celebration the next day: getting the house ready, the program, and the after-party.  My girls therefore spent the afternoon scrubbing down part of the house.  Dinner that night was a surreal experience.  It started when I found one of my girls holding a frog in one hand and trying to serve food with the other (it was our month to serve food in the comedor to the rest of the house).  I took the frog so she could do her job and ended up carrying it around with me for the rest of the night as I helped the rest of my girls carrying various pots, dishes, and milk with only one hand.  The night really hit its peak when my bad toe was stepped on not once but twice resulting in a pool of blood in my flip flop that I was too busy to notice until it was overflowing my shoe.  And I still had the frog.  :-D  Like I said, a surreal experience.  I was finally able to pass the frog back and walked to volunteers as quickly as I could to clean up the toe.  That night the only activity was general hanging out in the patio so I was able to slip out a little early and go to bed much to the relief of my injured dedo.

Dia de los Muertos (11/2)

Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead is a celebration particular to Mexico.  On this day, families and friends gather in their homes and at the graves of loved ones to celebrate those that have already died.  The preparation for this day usually begins several days or even weeks in advance with the collection of certain symbolic items to represent the person who had passed and to cook various favorite foods of the deceased as well as food specific to the day.  An ofrenda or offering is set up in the home or at the grave with candles and the items above.  The food prepared is then consumed by the participants and it is a day of celebration, not mourning.  The Day of the Dead is a national holiday in Mexico and the entire country stops to honor it.  I was ridiculously excited to finally be a part of it as many of my art history classes spoke extensively of the Day of Dead art and culture.

Again, because of the unique nature of the home, we celebrate it a little differently here.  The day started with a kind of mass in the chapel with all the kids.  The chapel had been elaborately decorated beforehand by the art therapist and her kids. 

The Catrina, a now common Day of the Dead figure who originated as a satire of Mexican noble women, can be seen on the right.

Me and Luz at mass.

Our girls.

A large offering in the middle of the chapel was covered in calabazas or skulls made of sugar, candy, fresh fruit, and other goodies that were partitioned out to the kids once the mass was over.  Each section was called up randomly, one by one, to take a part.  Even volunteers were included.

The rest of the day was spent preparing our own ofrendas in each section.  Everyone enthusiastically participated as later in the day each ofrenda would be judged and the winners awarded prizes.  The section got pretty messy and crazy trying to get it all ready in time.

Painting our skeletons we had started that weekend.

Being somewhat productive.

Two of our girls were painted and dressed up to play the skeleton couple of our ofrenda.  I helped here the most, finding the paint and using my art skills.  They looked pretty freaky when we were done and were the most talked about part of our ofrenda.

Each ofrenda is dedicated to someone or some group.  Ours was for Father Wasson.

Our Mr. Skeleton with our papier-mâché set next to her.

Before we knew it, time was up and the judging had started.  Again, the kids were allowed to roam free in and out of the different dorms for one of the few times in the year.  I jumped on the judging train a little late, but was able to get some good photos of the different ofrendas.  Here's a selection:

Each ofrenda has several common elements: marigolds (the flowers of the dead), the skeleton couple, a chosen person for dedication, and smaller elements such as earth, water, and pan de muerto.

A part of the competition was explaining these elements and their symbolism in the Mexican tradition.

I was glad to not actually be judging.  The directors and a few other select people took care of that.  They were all so impressive to me; I wouldn't have been able to choose!

Volunteers had their own personal ofrenda that we set up gradually throughout the day.  It wasn't meant to be a part of the competition, merely a memorial for us, but apparently it was a part of the tour.  Three of us had lost a grandparent within the last year, me, Moni, and Teresa, so our offerings were the main features.

Our offering in candlelight.

For Gramma, I put a bottle of wine, a cup of soup, and several photos I have of her here with me.  It was a special and unique way to honor her memory.

Dinner was a little later than normal due to the judging and I came back to the dorm to find the girls crowded around the ofrenda trying to resist the urge to dig in.  Finally everything was distributed and cleaned up and they were off to bed.  School began again the next day so thankfully it was an early night.