Feliz Cumpleaños

Happy Birthday Jeancarlo!

Today was our first birthday party of the year! And I must say, I was impressed. Normally, in a public school in the United States, if it was someone's birthday, they might get a crown or a sticker and they might be able to bring in treats for the class. But that's about it! It is usually pretty short and sweet. Today, the "birthday party" was our day. His mom contacted us in advance, and told us she would like to have the party at school. She sent out invitations and everything! Jeancarlo was literally counting down to this day for weeks! I really had no idea what to expect. 

We got to school early this morning to decorate with balloons and streamers. First, we played musical chairs at the school. It was so cute, Jeancarlo actually won! What are the odds of that? No cheating, I promise! After musical chairs, we danced a little while his dad was setting up the piñata outside! This piñata was HUGE, bigger than most of the children by far. We went outside and spent a good 45 minutes with the piñata, because it was so huge, it took awhile to get it open! I thought it was a little interesting that we didn't cover or blindfold the children's eyes. But then, when it was my turn...of course they made me wear the blindfold! (much harder!!) The thing that shocked me the most today was after the piñata, almost every single child came up to me and offered or gave me some of their candy. That would rarely happen in the United States. All of these children were concerned about me, and how I didn't get any candy. They truly wanted to share. The joy on the children's faces today was absolutely irreplaceable. I could not believe how happy and excited they were!

After the piñata, we got the children into pairs. And each pair had a balloon. It was like a relay race, they had to put the balloon between each other by their chest and run to a bench. At the bench, one of them had to sit on the balloon and pop it! When it was popped, the next pair was able to go. ONLY ONE PROBLEM, the children are SO small that none of them were able to sit on the balloon and actually pop it. Diane, Jackeline and I ended up bouncing the children up and down on these balloons to finally get them to pop. Quite comical! 

On the outdoor patio area, where we played the other games, we had scooter races. Using the Razor scooters that they have, the children had relay races with the scooters. And finally, we returned back to the school for lunch. For lunch, his mom brought all the children food and cake. The cake was huge, and quite delicious if I must say so myself! When we were singing to Jeancarlo, he blew out the candles and then immediately stuffed his face in the cake!!!! No joke, look at the picture below! I couldn't believe it! I was so caught of guard and confused! I guess its kind of a tradition here? Rather strange!!

It was a very eventful day! Jackeline and I both took a 2 hour nap after all of this! But I am glad I got to experience a Guatemala birthday party. I guess piñata's are very common and popular for birthday parties. It had been years and years since I have hit a piñata...but it sure was fun to relive my childhood for a day!

Cake Face

Balloon popping game! 

Patiently waiting for the games to begin. Aren't they precious? :-)

Of course they made me cover my eyes!

Double her size!