Morrito isn’t all work. During my 3 months on site—where has the time gone?—I have been getting to know how Morritians party. I’ve had the privilege of seeing how both ends of the spectrum celebrate being alive. One popular celebration is the quinceañero. Some people have big celebrations complete with a whole procession through town to the church, a mass, and a procession to wherever the party is being held; and then they dance all night. Here’s a photo of Dainella, the 5 year old daughter of the women (Areyles) who I stayed with my first 6 weeks, all ready to be part of one of the processions.
Other quinceañeros, generally the evangelical, are centered around a mass and dinner, generally held in the home. I had attended, helped set up, and took photos at Geysel’s celebration. Geysel is the daughter of Marisol, one of the most welcoming women in town and my neighbor. Hardly a day goes by without me visiting her house. Geysel’s dinner, not a party because of religious restrictions, started with a mass and ended with everyone sitting around waiting to be served dinner of chop suey in their seats. Man do evangelicals like to sing! The mass was filled with very high spirited energy, with one of the most charismatic preachers I’ve ever seen. There is nothing passive about an evangelical service. The service ended with everyone congratulating Geysel and handing over their presents, to be opened later.
The kids also have piñatas. They have to dance while hitting it. It is very cute
The other type of party I have experienced in Morrito was a bit more dangerous. On July 19th all of Nicaragua celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. In my town, they pulled out all the stops to celebrate a long weekend. A 2 day bull riding tournament was the highlight of the party. There is usually a big bull riding event in May for Morrito’s fiestas patronales (Patron Saint Day party), but this year the party in May was cancelled due to threats of spreading the swine flu. So my fellow towns folk were more than ready for a party this weekend. A big circular pen was set up on the coast of the lake and bulls from farms all around the town were gathered. Only about 4 or 5 men actually road on Sunday, more time was spent taunting one bull at a time to run wild through the pen. Men—most likely inebriated—took turns waving black and red FSLN, the Sandinista party, flags in front of the bulls’ faces and quickly running away. Unfortunately a few people were injured, but nothing fatal. It was interesting to see one bull riding event, but I’m not sure it is for me. The party ended with dancing til midnight in one of the local bars. Untrue to form, I passed on the dancing in order to rest up after a long day of hitch-hiking and rodeo watching.
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