Feliz Cumpleaños Anna Carlos

Today we had a fun new experience. We went to our first Guatemalan birthday party. Earlier this week, we received an invitation for a birthday party for Anna Carlos who is turning 2. Anna Carlos' parents work at Eagle's Nest. Her mom Thelmy runs the kitchen and apartments for retreats and teams. We frequently see Anna Carlos running around campus with her mommy. As you can see from the picture below, she is the cutest thing since fuzzy Easter chicks.

We were so excited to attend a Guatemalan birthday party for the first time. The invitation said the party started at 9:30 AM. When Lee called to RSVP, which is not required in Guatemalan culture, Thelmy told him not to come at 9:30. We have already learned that lesson the hard way. SO we politely showed up at 10:10. It is customary to show up a minimum of 30-45 minutes "late."

When we arrived, the EN campus was decorated with lots of pink and purple balloons as well as big Dora balloons. They had Dora and Boots hats for all the kids. The big hit of the party was the clown (payoso) named Fruty. He was very entertaining to everyone except Anna Carlos. He led the kids in several games and then the essential element of every Guatemalan birthday - the Piñata!! The girls smashed a Dora piñata and the  boys smashed a Boots piñata. It was really fun, but I cringed so many times as I watched that big stick come dangerously close to little heads!

After the piñatas, we sang Happy Birthday and had cake. I have never been to a party where you get a burrito on the side of your cake. Ice cream - yes. Burritos - no. That was a first!!! It was yummy!

You know what my favorite part of the party was - out of 75-80 people - we were the only gringos. The clown did his whole gig in español. We were able to understand him and participate. We had a few conversations and enjoyed being included in such a celebration. We are so grateful that God continually gives us opportunity to build relationships. ¡Gracias a Dios!