Quinceñera

Last Saturday was my host sister Guadalupe's fifteenth birhday, or Quinceñera, and here, its a HUGE deal. It was nothing like any kind of birthday party that i know of in the states, and it reminded alot of a wedding reception. It was very formal, everyone wearing dresses and suits, and there was over 150 people! It started with her entering the room with her father, everyone stands, and she greets her family standing in the back (including me!). After that, her father made a short speach, and then we started dinner. After dinner, she began dancing with her father, and then all of the men took turns dancing with her for a short time. Once that was finished, they turned on a bit more upbeat dancing music, and everyone began dancing. After everyone had been dancing for a while, they brought out the desserts, and everyone gravitated off the dancefloor, and towards plethora of wonderful sweets they had. It was quite an impressive selecton, i must say. Once everyone had gotten there fill of desserts, they began dancing, again. At about 5 in the morning, the served more food, this time beef, and everyone stopped dancing again and ate, again. Finally, around 6:30am, we got home, and slept for the better part of the next day. All in all it quite the event, and not something i will forget. It was also just really fun meeting all of their extended family, who all live about 10 hours away in another province, Mendoza.

Today is the birthday of Cinco Saltos, which dosn't really mean anything, except i dont have school! Oh ya, and my older host sister, Ana, has the same birthday as Guadalupe, but it was a bit overshadowed this year she is now 19. And yesterday was my host brother Juan and his twin sister Catalina's birthday too, 17 years old. But Catalina is on exchange in france at the moment, so im sure she had a great French birthday!