Jan 10 2010

Sundays are pretty easy days here at Amistad. We woke up around 8:45 and went to Mass at the nearby church at 9. It was cute to see all of the children dressed up again but unfortunately no one wanted to sit by us in our pew. You would have thought we had some kind of maliciously contagious disease. But after about 20 minutes 2 girls cautiously sat down beside us. The church service is much like that of CCC except the sermon was about 3 minutes. I was amazed! After church we stayed in our dresses because we had 3 birthday fiestas to attend. The first was Johnny in Kantuta who was turning 12. Mama Maria did not have much money so all he had was a bottle of Pepsi. But it was a big deal because if there was a prize on the inside of the plastic wrapping of the bottle, he got to keep it. Before our next two parties we were to eat at Esperanza. As we walked into the house we noticed that it was empty. After calling the children’s names for a while we found them all outside around a fire. After closer inspection we saw that we were going to be served 3 large fish for lunch. Mary and I were a bit hesitant, especially when Mama Jheanny picked off a piece of meat from the FACE of the fish and handed it to me to try. I thought I might throw up. But I, being the tough cookie that I am, I downed that sucker and sang many praises of the facial meat. After lunch Mary and I were accompanied by a 9 year old girl to the nearby market to try and find Nutella and alcohol. Now before your get your undies in a wad I’ll just go ahead and tell you that we were not searching for cervesas or champagne but for rubbing alcohol needed to clean our newly pierced ears. You should have seen the look on the cashiers face when she saw a 9 year old asking for alcohol. Priceless. Now I have a feeling you are all wondering about the piercings. Don’t worry, Mama Jheanny sterilized everything and we didn’t pierce anything but our ears. When we returned from our walk to the store we took a much needed siesta and headed down to the court where two of the mamas were skipping rope for a bunch of children. I was encouraged to try and once I did, received a massive amount of laughs from everyone, including the mamas. Finally it was time for our 2nd party. As we walked to Casa San Francisco we heard some loud music coming from inside. We entered and found a classic party scene. The tables and chairs were moved to the side to create a spacious dance floor. There were cups of red and orange jello set out, a massive pink and white cake, and 2 bottles of soda. After the singing and the face in the cake, we chowed on some jello and commenced the dancing. Chris King sure does have some moves. Finally Mary, Chris, and I got some of the children to dance with us and even taught some of the older boys, who felt extremely awkward when asked to put their hands on Mary and I’s backs. But with my amazing guidance, they were all ready for Dancing with the Stars. Since the parties theme was Hannah Montana it was only fitting for Mary and I to put on a little performance to the theme song of the popular Disney show. We received cute goody bags and, exhausted from our latest party endeavors, headed to dinner. We were surprised at how sweet and delicious our meal was. We had a form of oatmeal and fried bread with cane molasses. After spending some time with the kids in that house we attended our third and last party. It was for Pedro, a now 12 year old boy from San Martin. We didn’t stay long because it was a smaller affair but we gave him our cards and wished him a happy birthday. We spent the rest of the night at San Miguel where we watched some weird movie in Spanish while the girls plucked our eyebrows and styled our hair. Mary left with cornrows while I have multiple random braids pulled into a tight ponytail. Quite ghetto-fabulous if I do say so myself. And the best part is they made us promise to keep it in till after reflections tomorrow morning. GREAT. So today was a pretty good day. I think the kids are thinking of us more and more as sisters which is comforting. We’re all just one big family. Receiving kisses on the cheek is becoming more normal and is absolutely adorable. It is one part of this culture I will miss when I return home. Time for bed! Good night.