Mexico 4 – San Cristobal – Pinatas and Pizza

It’s Gabriel’s birthday today. Although Janet’s house is less than perfect, I am getting used to it, It helps knowing that we can move to somewhere better in a few weeks time.

Anyway in the meantime, we are making full use of her fabulous garden. Combining forces with our Michigan friends, who are here also learning Spanish, from the US, we celebrate Emma and Gabriel’ s shared eighth birthday in our garden. This involves pizza, silly games, a cake and of course a piñata for which no Mexican birthday would be complete without.

We are joined by Georgina, my Mexican friend, who is here from Mexico City in San Cristobal to Learn Tzotl and whose daughter Lula is at school with Millie, along with Alice and her two children. At last a boy Eunice for Gabriel to play with. We also now have two neighbours, who have moved into Janet’s other little, (also inadequate) house at the end of the garden, Anshu and Ramadatta.

So we are a small, rather motley crew. Gabriel isn’t bothered by any of this.  A party is a party, he got his beloved lego for his birthday (picked up in Quito on the morning of our departure) and a few other things thrown in, so he wasn’t as disappointed as he was expecting! As Gabriel has said on numerous occasions on this trip ” Mummy there are so many more things to buy here ( here being Ethiopia, Nepal, India, Laos, Cambodia etc etc… ) for girls than there are for boys!” SO TRUE. the markets are full of kick-knacks, beautiful embroidery, purses, tops, shawls scarves trinkets, all of which WE LOVE, but none of which appeal to boys!

Preparing for the party is fun. The shops really know how to cater for parties in all their elements. Piñatas are strewn from the ceiling in all sizes. We opt for a one-eyed yellow and blue-clad minion (Despicable Me), with glasses, or is it a glass?  A moderate size. Now we need to fill it. As  sweets are sold here in packs by the kilo, 80p a bag, this doesn’t take long. There’s tamarind and chamoy, the chilli and lemon  sachets, then there’s obleas, cajeta flattened between rice paper, and tamarind and chilli leaves, cajeta lolli pops, almond halva compacted into little cakes, and of course just sweets wrapped in tinsel, as well as some plastic tat to fill it out. The mind boggles. No wonder everyone here has mouths filled with silver and gold!  The Piñata business its quite an industry here. They make it so easy for you. This is going to be fun.

Mark takes Gabriel off after school for some boy time and a hamburger treat. Jemima, Millie and I head home to get the garden ready for the party. Luis (Marta’s 19 year old son) ,helps us to tie our papel piccado through the trees and the minion piñata to the tree. Then dangly jelly snakes are suspended on a washing line for another silly game and we make the pizzas.

Piñatas here are empty clay pots which you fill with sweets, not the less hazardous papier mâché ones which we have back home, so when you bash the piñata, chards of the clay pot actually splinter down on the unsuspecting mite below, who quickly needs to assess whether it’s worth diving into the pile of edibles on the grass, or risk the pot crashing down on your head! No health and safety here for kids. Our kids don’t notice this, they just dive; however, we adults are cowering in anticipation of the tears to come.  Phew! Fortunately everyone seems to get a fair share and it all ends happily. Next it’s the cake, which Elizabeth purchases. It’s white and sweet (perhaps it’s a wedding cake), and sticky oozing meringuey icing, so we sing Las Mañanitas. The tradition here is the birthday boy or girls takes a bite directly out of the cake…and yes I can’t resist the temptation of that little extra shove of the head (Gabriel’s not Emma’s) into the cake! When in Mexico…….

At six o’clock on the dot, like Cinderella, the silent gong goes and everyone quietly disappears and goes home. Phew, it worked, The invitation from 3-6 was a success! Not your ordinary Mexican party, which lasts for 12 hours.

And the boy is happy, my lovely boisterous handsome boy. Happy birthday Gabriel!