Ringing in the new year

Last night there was a quinceañera for a cousin of Yasser’s friend. This is a celebration for a girl’s 15th birthday. It is very elaborate, including a mass before the big party. I have been to a few of these in the States, but not yet in Nicaragua. Yasser had told me about the party before and said the mass began at 6pm then there would be a party after. So, a little after 5pm he decided we should leave his grandma’s house to get ready, oh and he still needed to buy a present and take a shower. Hmmm… So, we raced home and he told me to hurry up. I told him that I was fast and he said he was faster than me. We’ll see about that. Yasser is known for taking really long showers. I had taken a shower earlier so I was still fresh :) I got ready quickly—changed into a dress, did my hair, got my things together, etc. I sat on the couch as Yasser raced around trying to find things and going back and forth between his bedroom and the mirror checking if everything looked all right. He heard music outside so had to check that out. I definitely gave him a hard time about getting distracted and not going fast enough after he told me to hurry up. I also told him that he would need to carry my phone and keys in his pockets because I didn’t have a purse, besides my big, colorful shoulder bag. He didn’t want to do this apparently so he got one of his mom’s purses for me to use, even one that matched my dress. Then he made me carry his money and camera.


After he was finally dressed and ready (he considered changing but I convinced he looked fine), he told me that we needed to go to the shop next door to pick out a present. Well, the shop was closed. I suggested another little shop down the road, which meant we would have to walk down the wet, cobble stone street with rain lingering above, and me in my heels and long black dress. Whatever. We walked down the street and it appeared that the other shop was closed too, but fortunately it wasn’t. Yasser told me to help him pick something out. I had never met the girl, but I pointed out that lotion or perfume would be a good choice. He asked the guy at the counter and he suggested perfume or lotion. I guess he didn’t trust either of us so he asked the lady there. She took him over to a shelf with picture frames and diaries. He picked out a diary and bought it. Then, he chatted with the lady as the clock ticked to 6pm. I hate being late so of course this bothered me that he was taking his sweet time. But, I tried to relax because I know Nicas are usually late.

If there’s one thing that Nicas aren’t late to, it’s mass. We showed up to a jammed pack church and stood in the back. I looked around and noticed that no one else was dressed up and I was being stared at, which is not uncommon because I always look different. I asked Yasser why no one else was dressed up and he said that they weren’t the invitees, just attending mass, but then he thought maybe we were at the wrong church. Great. He made a phone call and found out that his friends were outside waiting, so we joined them. They were dressy. Phew! We sat outside during mass, waiting for about an hour.

When mass finished, the girl who we were celebrating walked from the front of the church to the back in a pink gown and tiara with her father as her escort. She even had a bouquet, which made it seem just like a wedding. They took lots of pictures and there was a videographer too. We followed them out the church and they walked to where the party would be—about a half mile away. I couldn’t believe that they didn’t have a special car to take her to the party, but apparently it’s the tradition to parade through the town to the destination with her family following.

The party hall was all decorated in pink and flowers. There was a giant display with not one, but 10 cakes. The chairs had white covers and pink bows on the back—it really did feel like a wedding.

Cake display across the dance floor

They played music and the party girl came in with her dad and they danced to a traditional quince song. Then it was time for everyone else to dance, so we did :) We didn’t eat dinner until 9:30pm and by that time I was starving! They had good food though—salad, 4 different choices of meat, rice, and rolls. There were bottles of rum on every table with Coca Cola too (totally Nica).

We had a great time dancing and chatting with everyone. We finally ate cake around midnight and it was better than the usual Nica cake which was good because I usually don’t like cake here. A lot of people were leaving after this, so we headed out too. It was quite a celebration!

Mariachi band member...in true Nica fashion: a rum bottle up the pant leg.