Quinceaneros

In the latin american culture, the 15th birthday is a very special event that is typically celebrated with an elaborate party that can sometimes rival a wedding. Of course, here on the ranch, it is impossible to throw an elaborate party for the 15th birthday of each individual. Therefore, each year there is one elaborate party to celebrate all that have completed 15 years that year. It is the biggest party of the year.

This year there were 8 girls from my hogar that turned 15. That made the quinceanero celebration very special for me. They began talking about the party months before the actual date and were fitted for special dresses way in advance because they were hand made by a ranch employee. Each girl has a padrino (godfather) and each boy a madrina (godmother), which is typically an employee or volunteer who is their escort for the evening. My girls began asking for padrinos way in advance and of course all of the quinceanero boys waited until the last minute. Because I don’t really have much contact with them and don’t know those boys very well, I was not a madrina. Because of this, I was able to spend the entire night with my girls.

I spent Thursday night giving pedicures, which is not a pleasant experience since many of the girls have a foot fungus that never seems to go away (for this, I think I should win volunteer of the yearJ). Then on Friday, after work, I spent time watching them prepare their hair, nails and make-up, taking pictures all the while. Of course, walking through the boys side of the ranch, one would never know there was a big event planned for that evening. They were all found playing games in the dirt or soccer on the cement court. When the preparations were finally done. The girls and boys lined up with their padrinos and madrinas outside the church for presentation in front of the entire ranch at mass. After mass, those participating in the evening took a bus down to the school for a special dinner.

The dinner was held in the school auditorium, which had been transformed into a banquet hall with beautiful handmade decorations that the tias had been working on for months. There was a balloon arch where each boy and his madrina was presented and an ivy covered swing set where each girl and her padrino was presented. The ceiling was draped in hundreds of pink paper flowers.

The dinner was typical Honduran fare, but with a small red wine toast to all of the quinceaneros. Almost all of the kids and some of the adults took one sip of the wine and declared it undrinkable because it didn’t have enough sugar. Anyone who has visited Honduras will not be surprised to hear this. I was able to take advantage of this and accumulated at least one full glass of wine. After dinner, the rest of the ranch joined the party. Each quinceanero had one dance with their padrino/madrina as we all watched. It was obvious nobody here does much “waltzing” (as they called it) because they were all bouncing off of each other like a bunch of balls in a pinball machine. After “the waltz”, the quinceaneros had their own performance and did a more modern dance choreographed by my roommate Candy. The night was completed with a big dance party that lasted until about 1 in the morning. This was without a doubt the best night I have had in Honduras.