Guatemala

Saturday 1/4/14 - Paola's Quinceañera

The day of Paola's 15th birthday party dawned with beautiful sunshine. Paola's actual birthday wasn't until the next day, but the family had elected to hold the party on a Saturday night. We had scrambled eggs with refried black beans, and coffee for breakfast.

Craig needs to give himself an injection of multiple sclerosis medication each morning. The kids are intrigued by this process and like to observe, though you can tell that they are a bit squeamish about needles. After watching him inject himself, they stuck around in our room for a while, playing with the computer.

Humberto went out to do some errands and arrived home in a tuk-tuk carrying three "party packs" of XL light rum. He also brought home 12 pineapples, 6 watermelons, and 6 cantaloupes for a home-made rum punch. Humberto, Juan Carlos, and Junior started an assembly line to process the fruit. Humberto cut, Juan Carlos used the blender, and Junior strained the resulting liquid.

Humberto's niece Sandra and some of Paola's friends started constructing a balloon arch of gold and silver balloons embossed with "Recuerdo de mis quince años" (I remember my 15 years). Sandra really is a great party planner, and she handled everything efficiently and professionally.

Paulina and Paola returned to the house from picking up Paola's dress and jewelry. Though we were anxious to see, we would have to wait until the afternoon for the big reveal.

At around 11:45, we went to the market with Paulina, Eddy, and Aracely to buy the two youngest kids some new clothes to wear to the party. As we were already running behind Paulina's schedule, we took a tuk-tuk there. This was probably good for Craig. Tonight's party would last until the wee hours, and we didn't want him to tire himself out too early. Craig's multiple sclerosis has sapped a lot of his strength lately.

After each child picked out an outfit, we stopped at the barber shop to get Eddy a haircut. Despite his intense and rambunctious nature, Eddy always sat stone-still in the old-fashioned barber chair, so much so that the barber could use a straight razor to finish off the edges.

We took a tuk-tuk back home and the frenetic last-minute preparations had commenced. As they finished making the fruit punch, Humberto and Juan Carlos gave us each a fresh glass of watermelon juice. It was quite refreshing in the heat of the day. Paulina's brother Juan was helping to mix the rum with the gallons of fresh fruit juice they had extracted earlier in the day in 5 gallon water bottles. The balloon arch was completed and installed in the doorway to the guest building.

Paulina's sister Olga arrive, and helped Paulina to prepare lunch for the army of helpers who had showed up for party preparations. They set up tables for the adults outside: Olga, Victor, Rosa, Yolanda, Juan Carlos, Humberto, Paulina, Craig, and myself. The dining room table was set up for the kids: Eddy, Aracely, Paola, Yasmin, Junior, Josue, Paola, and Fatima. Pamela, Vanesa, and Yoselin ate in the kitchen. They served everyone a bowl of corned beef and cabbage (with giant carrots) for lunch.

Then, as we took showers and got dressed for the party, everyone disappeared. The house went from a hive of activity to a ghost town. Paulina and Humberto had taken Paola to get her hair done, and the neighboring relatives went to their respective houses to get themselves ready.

We were left holding down the fort, and were the only ones available when Paulina's niece Leti and her daughter Nidia arrived with the cake they had baked and decorated. The cake had three separate tiers, though they were not stacked. They had yellow and green frosting. The two side tiers had fresh yellow roses and baby's breath in the center of them. The center tier was plain, and Leti placed a doll wearing a gold gown on top of it.

It was amazing how the chaotic preparations of the past 24 hours had all come together at the last minute. Three previously empty rooms were now decked out with rented plastic tables. The tables had been transformed with white table linens and sparkly, cheerful, home-made centerpieces. Green pine needles blanketed the floor. The fourth guest room had been transformed into a disco, with a dj's audio equipment and light show. Everything was perfect!

Soon after the cake was delivered, Paola appeared, looking radiant in a floor-length gold gown. She was allowing us a rare glimpse into her girly-girl side, with make up, high heels, fresh flowers, and delicate jewelry. Craig and I each got a tear in our eye at the sight of her. When we had first met Paola, she was only 8 years old. She had grown from a precocious tomboy to a mature young lady. It felt like we were seeing our own little girl, all grown up.

Juan Carlos and Yolanda met us at the house. They were the padrinos (godparents) of the quinceañera. Juan Carlos was wearing a jacket made of traditional Mayan fabric. Their young daughter Fatima was dressed like a little princess in a sparkly purple gown. Humberto set off firecrackers as we walked down the alley toward the road. We took tuk-tuks to the San Francisco de Asis church in time for the 6:30 Mass.

We sat with Aracely, Eddy, Fatima, and Yasmin in the third pew. The first pew was reserved for Paola, Humberto, Paulina, and godparents Juan Carlos and Yolanda. The five of them walked in as part of the opening procession, and Paola's quinceañera was announced from the pulpit. Paola sat in the front pew with her parents and godparents, holding a beautiful bouquet that Sandra had prepared for her.

There were small votive candles balanced on the pews. Eddy managed to upend one and wound up with hot wax on his arm, but luckily he was ok. Maybe it was a little lesson to sit still in church.

At the end of the Mass, we took pictures of Paola and the family in front of the altar. Her dress matched the gold fabric which was swagged from the ceiling. As we exited the church, Junior set off some firecrackers just as the same van that brought us from the airport pulled over in front of the church. People piled in and we were driven the short distance back to the house.

A bunch of Paola's friends were waiting at the end of the alley near Humberto's office. They set off more firecrackers as Paola walked down the alley to her party. The balloon arch welcomed guests. There was a receiving line where Paola greeted guests, and gifts were deposited into a plastic tub. Aracely, Yoselin, and Yasmin handed out favors: small roses made of gold ribbon, on which was printed Paola's name and the date of her quinceañera. The girls pinned these onto everyone.

Paola was introduced to the crowd and a toast was made in her honor. She was absolutely beaming.

Two dj's played traditional Guatemalan music while guests were seated and served the fresh and tasty rum punch. As we entered the room where we were to sit, we noticed Rocio and her mother Juana sitting at a table with Josue, Josue's mother and father, Brittany, and her father Daniel. Brittany got very excited when she saw us and started waving enthusiastically. Her dad and grandparents hadn't seen her interact with us before, so they found it very amusing.

We were seated at a table with Paola's godparents from her christening and their young daughter. Their daughter really loved the decorations, and she collected them throughout the night.

Soon it was announced that it was time for the piñata. When a girl turns 15, it is her last opportunity to hit a piñata, which is seen as leaving behind childish things. Everyone congregated on the stairs (leaning up against the brand new, sturdy iron railings) and in the courtyard below to watch Paola try to bash open the princess piñata. She eventually gave up and let Julisse at it. Soon there was candy falling onto the ground. Little kids with plastic bags scurried to pick up as much as they could. Paola threw handfuls into the adoring crowd.

We went back to our table, and Humberto and Paulina sat down with us. Olga's 5-year-old son Chilo came over and asked to use my second camera. He is usually very shy, and I was happy to let him use it. It got him to come out of his shell a little bit as he took photos of the various guests.

The family served plates of food: chicken in mushroom gravy, julienne beets, and rice with vegetables. Paola came and sat at our table to eat. After folks were finished eating, the dj's played more modern music, and Paola had the first dance with her dad, Humberto. The empty bedroom had been transformed into a disco, and brightly colored lights played on the ceiling, walls, and floor.

We saw Paulina's sister Estela, and her daughters Laisa, Yesmy, Loren, and Michele. Laisa looked all grown up, very pretty in a traditional huipil (blouse) and skirt. Blanca introduced us to her baby Dulce Natalie. Olga's youngest, Alison Margarita, was enthralled by Craig as always. Rosa and Victor had come with all of their kids: Julisse, Alex, Andrik, and Neli.

Paola cut the cake, and good-naturedly let them push her chin into the frosting, as is birthday tradition in Latin America. The cake was vanilla with jelly in between the layers.

The batteries died in my second camera, and Chilo brought it to me. Craig ran down to the room to get more batteries. I replaced the batteries and let Aracely and Loren have a turn to use the camera. Chilo looked crestfallen, and kept asking for the camera in Spanish. It was as if his night had been ruined. When Aracely and Loren were done, I made sure to find Chilo and return the camera to him.

Yoselin asked Craig and me to dance, and we danced with her until we all got tired and needed a rest. Paola danced the night away with her friends. The younger kids also really enjoyed dancing with one another. Eddy ran around like a wild man. Aracely asked me to dance with her and when we went into the disco room, Rocio joined us.

We sat at the tables chatting with the family. By now everyone was munchy again after expending energy on the dance floor. It was the perfect time to break out the tin of flavored popcorn we had brought from home. Everyone commented on how cute the tin itself was (it had puppies on the outside, and the kids would eventually fight over who got to keep the empty tin), and they all absolutely loved the popcorn which came in three flavors: butter, caramel, and cheese.

Eddy, Josue, and Neli had a pine needle fight, scooping up pine needles from the floor and then throwing them at one another. Fatima was not impressed by this, not wanting to get pine needles on her beautiful purple sparkly dress. Humberto eventually saw what was going on and made them stop.

Everyone had a great time and the party ran until 1:30 a.m. At that point, the music stopped and everyone except the teenagers went to bed. We were in bed at around 2 o'clock. Craig found it hard to settle down to sleep. He was feeling very hyperactive. He thought back to the bags of sugar that he had seen them pour into the gallons of rum punch, and thought that might explain it. Zing!