La Escuela Fiesta de Familia

On Sunday evening, we went to Luana's school party, which she and Sonia had invited us to a couple weeks before. It's the end of the school year, and every year they hold this party to commemorate another successful school year. Groups of students, organized by age or grade, have practiced dances for this event. This year's theme was "Music from Around the World," so each group danced to a different style of music.

When the doors to the school opened, Sonia and Luana rushed in to the center outdoor courtyard and snagged all of us front row seats. By the start of the event, not only were the seats all taken, but people were sitting along the ledges that open into the courtyard, and many children and later, adults, were sitting on the ground in front of us.

At the start of the program, the principal (who came over to meet Scott and I before the program began) welcomed everyone and introduced this year's program. She then called up the school's English teacher, who, on the microphone, formally welcomed Scott and I to their school, said that they were very happy we were here, and that we have helped "marry Uruguay and the United States." Who knew we were on a diplomatic mission while we're here?

It was an odd thing to be formally welcomed, and even stranger when the hundreds of people in the audience gave us an applause. I've never had that kind of reaction just for showing up. :) Throughout the night, we had instructors and sometimes older students come by to say hi to us and see how we liked the program. Even when Scott went to find a hot dog, three or four different instructors checked in on him, escorted him through the building, and checked in on him later to make sure everything was okay. We really didn't anticipate the attention we had received.

The program began with the smaller children. One of the first events was from a group of 2-year olds in penguin suits, walking around to a song from the March of the Penguins. They were really adorable. Costumes were lopsided, multiple kids had pacifiers, and stood in place and had a tantrum in the middle of it.

Another dance was the traditional Uruguayan Carnival. The music is just drums, which was really cool. The girls were dressed and danced like typical Carnival dancers. We learned that night that Uruguayan social standards are different than in the states - you would never see so many bare midrifs or short shorts at a school event in the states, but in Uruguay the parents made these costumes, and the children were very excited about their dances.

Another surprise was how popular Barney is here. One of the early programs involved some small children in bathing suits singing to some song about the sun and the beach. Then Barney came out. Everyone started singing along with him, and everyone seemed to love it. Only Scott and I were a little shocked by watching Barney and a bunch of 5 year-olds dance around in bikinis.

During the night, we also went to Austria, and watched as students danced a waltz. This little girl was very proud of her costume, and had been wearing it the whole night. Her dress was complete with lace, ribbons, and a hoop at the bottom for an authentic ballroom gown.

We also went to Scotland, and some older girls danced in Scottish-style skirts and blouses. They were very good, and very energetic. A lot of the older students danced in multiple programs, and it was impressive how much energy they had for all of the dances.

"Music from Around the World" would not be complete without a visit to the United States. To represent the US, there was a dance to a rap song, a traditional Hawaiian luau dance, and, of course, a country dance complete with line dancing. The students were very good, and seemed to have a lot of fun dressing up and playing the part of cowboys and cowgirls. At the end of the song, they all threw their hats in the air, and gave a big "Yeehaw!"

Luana's dance was near the end of the program. Her group performed a traditional African dance, where the girls were dressed in saris and the boys looked like tribal hunters. I doubt this would be PC in the US, but it was entertaining here.

And here's Luana during the performance, in the costume that Sonia made. I think she really enjoyed dressing up, and seemed very happy after her performance. It turned out it was a good thing we were there that night because none of the pictures Quique took during Luana's performance turned out. Yesterday Sonia asked me if I could give her some of mine, so we loaded up a thumb drive with a bunch of pictures from the event.

It was a very long night, but a lot of fun. The program didn't even start until almost 8 o'clock, and we didn't leave until almost midnight. Even then, the program had just ended, but a live band was setting up for anyone that wanted to stay awhile and dance. We still marvel at the schedule of Uruguayans, and it's a hard adjustment, but we wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It's not everyday that you are welcomed into the lives of a local family, and even more rare is the chance to feel like a diplomat!