Quinciñera

Yesterday I was invited to my very first Quinciñera. ¨Quinces¨ as they are sometimes called, are coming out parties for Latina girls when they turn 15. Here they are somewhat popular, but you usually have to have money for them. I kept thinking of My Sweet 16 the whole time...but this was really nothing like that.

I asked around and found out I needed to a) dress-up b) wear high heels (grr) and c) get a gift. So I did all of that, had my English lesson with this guy who works in the Municipio. He is ¨dating¨ this Ukranian woman online, and needs help with his english so that when he goes out to the Ukraine this spring, he can communicate with the translator (she doesn´t even speak english...). Weird, but he´s a really nice guy and the lessons I feel are actually productive.

Anyway, after the lesson I headed over the party. I asked Enith, the mom of the quinciñera, what time I should really come, because they always say 7 but no one shows up until 10 pm. She said they´d actually be punctual, so I had to be there by 8 since they were serving the dinner then. I got there at 7:45.....and things didn´t start until 10 pm. Oh Ecuas...

I actually only know the mother, the daughter I had never met. I guess it was some sort of big deal, this dinner. Because three of the nuns showed up, the director of the radio in town, and yours truly. All important representatives of the greater Yantzaza area. Ha.

The dad, I got to meet, which was really interesting. He has been living in the US for the past nine years and came back a month ago. He told me that he had made a promise to the family he´d be back for his daughter´s quince and sure enough he made it. However, the family was definitely not used to dad being back. The parents are getting divorced and the daughter didn´t seem too thrilled papi was back in town. I mean she doesn´t even really know him after being away for so long, and it was very obvious too.

They had a microphone and major speaker system set up in this empty apartment they have in their building. It was weird because there were about a total of 25 people, so I don´t know why they needed a microphone. But it was done in very Ecua style, where appearance and show is everything. The dad got up and said a few words, then presented his daughter with her present. She didn´t want to open it in front of everyone, but he insisted. She unwrapped it and it was a laptop. She kinda flopped it around, showing it to people...didn´t seem too thrilled. Again, I´m not sure if this is the girl or the dad...but I think it was a combination of both. Not your typical gift of a BMW SUV or what they show on tv. But it was still kind of a big deal.

We had a toast and then a nice dinner. I tried to sneak away, but got to sharing some cervezas with one of the cousins outside, dancing on the patio. It turned out to be a lot of fun. It definitely demonstrated to me that teenagers are awkward no matter what part of the world you are in, the dance floor and dinner etiquette definitely showed that. She looked beautiful, though, and it was really cool to be a part of this experience.