Nine More Birthdays

Text and photos by Elizabeth Barnes unless otherwise noted

August 11 saw 2016's second birthday party, celebrating our nine cumpleañeros from May to August. We held the party outside to take advantage of the unseasonably clear, sunny day.

We started with piñatas! Damaris, who just turned 11, takes a swing at the first while Pop Wuj teacher Carlos works the rope that moves the piñata back and forth.

Eri, who celebrated her birthday in May, gets a little tangled in her first ever piñata. Eri studied at Pop Wuj in both the Regular Immersion and Social Work Spanish Programs. Students are always welcome to join us for activities at the Family Support Center on Thursdays!

Carlos shakes the busted piñata to scatter candy and peanuts over the heads of the older kids. Most of them were so ready to start picking up treats that when the younger kids' piñata broke they tried (unsuccessfully) to sneak pieces early. (Photo by Lily Bodinson)

I had my mouth open, ready to yell, "Get down!" at the kid who'd decided to mess around on the wall when I realized that the "kid" was in fact our teacher Santos.

Following piñatas we sang "Feliz Cumpleañeos" and dug into the cake. Arturo doesn't seem to realize that Emmanuel has dropped his cake icing-down on Arturo's sleeve and given up on plates.

Next came sorpresas (party favors, or literally "surprises"). Amy and Samuel have wasted no time tearing into their punch balloons and bubbles.

Finally, the birthday kids got their presents. We pull birthday gifts out of donations, so sometimes finding age-appropriate gifts is tricky. But little kids are easy—newly 3-year-old Yosvin is already attached to his stuffed lion! 

Our final birthday party of the year will be November 10, in the middle of school vacation. The kids have just a couple months of school left in 2016, and then we'll be extra busy with activities!