Midnight Parties...

Mom's Story

When in Rome...  We didn't come to Argentina to have an American experience, so I had to take a crowbar to my brain and allow Carmela to attend the midnight birthday party on Saturday.  This was WAY out of my comfort zone especially since it was my first time driving at night, and the party was on the outskirts of town.  The drive consisted of several dirt roads and unmarked detours.  It was also the first time I would be meeting the parents and students in her class.  

Mariana - she is an angel - assured me repeatedly that the family hosting the party was fabulous, and she was right.  The whole event was absolutely lovely.  We pulled up and 40 kids were playing soccer, mingling, eating snacks and drinking soda, all enjoying each other's company.  The parents and grandparents were welcoming and warm, and we were greeted with sweet kisses and huge smiles.  The kids were enchanting and immediately grabbed Carmela into the group.  

My fears were laid to rest, and I took in the gift of the moment.  What a dream that our daughter gets to experience and appreciate this amazing culture.  She told me last week, "Mom, you know what sucks about being in Argentina?  We are going to have to say goodbye to everyone when we leave."  That was at week 2.5 - Yup.  She gets it.  Love that girl!

Carmela's Story

Carmela here. Now that you have heard Mom’s stories about the sewer, the car, and the hairball ravioli, I'll tell you that the ravioli was delicious!  That’s called sarcasum.  See?  You learn something new everyday.  I do too. 

I recently learned that the parties for sixth graders start at nine o’clock and end at midnight. The people rent these big party areas for a few hours and have the party there instead of having both classes (25 kids per class) over to their house. Go figure.

So the parties here start late. Yay!!!!! THE END!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait repeat that again Mom.

Just a little louder so that the people in the U.S. can here you, so I don’t have to type it.

JUST TYPE IT!!!!!!

Well they probably heard that.

Fine. 

The parties here are awesome! The one that I went to had a play structure made out of wood with swings and a see-saw and a soccer field.  They also had a really low wooden bar on two wooden poles.  They were just high enough so that I could slip under them when I did a flip.  I could also stand on top of them and jump off like I was flying.

I had just finished jumping off when a ball from the soccer field came over and hit my friend.  Then it headed toward me in the air, and I kicked it.  It flew over the net to the soccer field higher, higher, higher!  Right into orbit, so if you see a soccer ball flying through the sky, it’s the one I kicked from Argentina.  Only kidding.  It actually flew over the net and bouncing off the heal of my other friend Julieta and into the game.  So if you see a ball in orbit, it's probably a UFO baby or something from another galaxy. Like Kylo Ren to invade the world. In that case you should probably call the cops, not that they could do anything. Dad suggested intergalactic monsters.

The next time the ball came at me, I kicked it into the goal.  Not as exciting as UFO babies, but it's something - especially since I have never played on a soccer team in my life!  Everyone was all over it, and it got sort of annoying being the hero.  The awesome soccer players in our JSIS class should get the credit for rubbing off some of their amazing skills on me.  Thanks friends!!