Erika and Mayra. The Torres sisters are often called the Ecuadorian Hannah and Elsie. And we are commonly called the American Torres girls. Could be the height. Both girls are tall, similar in age, etc... Which one would I be of the two...It was a lot of fun. (even though I was still suffering from the loss of my purse, which was stolen on the bus about an hour before) The party was at a family's house down the street from us. As soon as a few families arrived around 7:00 pm, the music came on and the dancing began. As the house is quite small, with only the main living room at our disposal, EVERYBODY had to dance, or get trampled on. The music and dancing literally didn't stop until 10:00, when we finally paused long enough to eat the food that had been sitting on the counter for 3 hours. After that, back to dancing.
Everyone loves to dance here, and they play the songs in a way that each song runs into the next, leaving no time to cool down or switch partners. Great excercise, I can tell you that. I do wish we had a bit more opportunity to converse at parties here, that would be nice. I guess they figure that's what the meetings are for.
Anyway, we danced salsa, merengue and a few spanish line dances, that are quite fun. We tried to get them into the Electric Slide (Josue brought some American music) but they didn't really get into that. So back to Merengue. They played a few 70's American songs, and insisted that we show them how to dance to it. Like I know!!! Well, since they insisted, I pulled out all the 70's moves I knew, and they loved it and even the Elders were trying to follow my ridiculous moves.
This is Vanessa. She left this week to go serve in Ibarra in the sign language field.
Omar and Maria Eulalia, 2 of my best friends here :)
The three on the left are the other new family in our hall that the party was for.
The whole weekend after that was quite busy actually.
Saturday after meeting, Hannah and I went our separate ways after meeting, me enjoying delicious mexican food at a trendy restaurant in Cumbaya with friends, and Hannah enjoying a little less swanky of a time with friends at McDonalds. Sometimes after meeting, we go out with friends for pizza or something. It's pretty sweet.
Then Sunday, we went to Josue and Jania's house for a card party. I taught everyone a card game called Presidents, which is really fun and interactive and can be played with as many as 20 people. It's a game of hierarchy, everyone starting in a certain position and trying to move up each round. The "President" of each round (which title is earned during the previous round) enjoys the best seat, the best cards in his hand (given to him by the "Runt"), the chance to make a new rule, whatever he chooses, and can also ask the "Runt" to do little errands for him during the game (ie: get me a soda!) The "Runt" on the other hand, has to sit on the floor, wearing something ridiculous, such as a mexican sombrero, a girl's shawl, etc... they start with the worst hand of cards and have to deal the cards, clear the table when needed, etc... It's not fun being the runt. The challenge of the game is getting out of the runt position, moving up as much as you can, and also, collectively working together to dethrone the president.
Learning how to play. Explaining card games in spanish requires a whole new set of vocaulary. Times like these I realize how much I have to learn. Anyway, with a little translation help, we were good.
The game is really fun, especially if you have creative people making up good rules each round. One of our rules was every time the runt clears the table (which is done by throwing down a 2) they have to moo like a cow, or as it was changed later, neigh like a horse. It was hilarious. Anyway, if you need a good party game, check out the official rules here. http://card-games.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_play_president_card_game
What makes it more fun is that everyone is a really good sport. No one refused to embarrass themselves or opted to sit out. We played that single game all night long and couldn't stop laughing. It was great.
We've been having a lot of fun lately with our friends, not doing anything special, just getting more and more comfortable with our life here. It's been "fun" from the start, but leaving your home and family and friends to serve where the need is great requires beginning from the start, building friendships and trust and reputations. It takes a while. Just now, at almost 9 months, we feel like we're really getting somewhere, so that is encouraging. We'll always have our old friends from home, and now we've just added another set. This is a huge blessing that we've got to experience since being here. I can't imagine how great it will be in the new system when that process never stops!
1 comment:
That really does sound like a fun game.It would only work if everyone was a good sport.
You lost your purse??? Didn't you just lose your cell phone? How frustrating. Glad you didn't let it ruin the party.
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