The party started about 2 o'clock and went until 6. It was probably one of the most fun birthdays I have been to in awhile. They had three clowns, which are nothing like American clowns, so it was much less traumatizing. They sang and danced, and basically deejayed the whole party, which was fun because it was a very parent-involved party.
A lot of the games involved parents and their kids, so they told the kids to run and grab and adult... naturally, I was a very popular choice. The only problem in this is that I did not ever know what the rules were or how to play because everything was said in spanish. Everyone at the party (a good 100+) could tell I had no idea what was going on, so they would all laugh and smile at the silly gringa who was completely clueless.
I played a game, where I had to run and grab clothespins and run back to pin them on my kid. I definitely plowed head-to-chest into some of the other moms, and we screamed and laugh the entire time. I am most grateful that smiles and laughter are things that are not bound by language.
The only adult-only game that was played involved everyone standing in a circle and passing a hat. We played it to celebrate the other Luis' birthday, who had just turned 21. So, the game gets down to two players, Luis and one of the moms. The game can't play with only two people, so they had a dance contest to determine the winner... guess who got chosen as Luis' partner? yep, me. Everyone gasped when the clown chose me and whispered "la gringa." And to eb perfectly honest, I think they all thought I was going to do terrible and fail. but let's face it... there are about 7 things in this world that I am naturally good at, and dancing is one of them.
So, the music starts up and it's merengue. Lucky for me, the motley crew and I back home had just been intensely studying and perfecting the art of merengue, so I knew how to lead while looking like I was following. Also, it just so happens to be a merengue song that we had practiced to "Suavement Besame" Michael's favorite, so I knew what was coming in the song and what moves would look best.
The music comes on and Luis is just standing there, laughing and refusing the look at me, while the other couple starts dancing. So... it looks like he will fail his latino people by not knowing how to dance. I grab his hands, determined to not look like a fool, so I throw a couple of the moves I know and the crowd goes wild! It was so awesome. The other couple was just kind of dirty dancing, without actually touching each other, so naturally, we won. Did you expect anything less though?
I won a sweet little High School Musical Notebook, which I desperately needed, along with the respect of the parents.
Go Girl! Make us proud!!
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