1. The party's starting time is apparently only a suggestion. The people who arrive on time (and there are always a few, including Veronica and me) just sit and wait for at least an hour for things to get started. The party is often outside with large tarps (made of sturdy plastic sacks sewn together) spread between wooden posts covering the seating area. Lots of balloons and streamers decorate the area. Mostly cousins and children from church are invited, and it is assumed that the entire family will come with the invited child and stay for the party, so there are always seats for many people.
2. There is often face painting offered as people are arriving. It is normally just for the kids, but I joined in because not many people had come yet. At this party the clown was doing the face painting.
3. Let the show begin with a clown! The clown does magic tricks and challenges with the kids and adults, getting many people involved and always involving lots of laughter.
4. Moving on to the piñata, the clown will invite the littlest kids to swing at it with a long stick first, not blindfolded. Then the older kids are blindfolded and spun around a couple of times, and they have three chances to swing. Usually the girls go first, then the boys. The piñata hangs from a rope that two men pull up and down and back and forth, making it harder to hit. Eventually one of the rambunctious boys finally opens a hole in the piñata and candy starts to spill out. At that point everyone dives in with the shopping bag they brought for the occasion, children and adults alike, while the clown finishes ripping open the piñata and dumps the candy all over the ground.
5. Then everyone gathers again and a family member or pastor prays for the birthday child and the cake is brought out. We all sing "Feliz Cumpleaños," followed by a funny pronunciation of the English song "Happy Birthday," followed by a Spanish traditional song to the same tune, "We want cake, we want cake, even if it's just a little, we want cake!" Everyone counts loudly to the age of the child and then shouts, "Mordita, mordita, mordita...!" (which means "Take a bite!") and the birthday child leans down and bites the cake, coming up with a face full of frosting and ending in lots of applause and laughter.
6. While the cake is being cut and served onto plates for the whole crowd, the birthday child is stationed up front and the guests who brought gifts line up to give their gift, hug the special person, and have their photo taken.
7. Then everyone eats cake and a tostada with tomato sauce and crumbled white cheese, with hot tea to drink served in styrofoam cups. (We actually don't eat at events here, because of the possible uncleanliness of the food. Our friends know this, so they usually run to a local snack store in the neighborhood and bring us each a bag of Lay's potato chips and a bottle of Gatorade.)
8. Little by little the guests leave to go home. Happy birthday!
