Natalye’s Piñata

On Sunday, my host family threw a piñata (birthday party) for my host-niece Natalye who turns 9 on Monday. We spent ALL day preparing for it and then had a great time! We started making tortillas midday (maybe I’ll write another post only about that experience…)and then moved on to making homemade chorizo! The tortillas and chorizo were then combined to make chilaquiles, which was served with beans. Talk about amazing! It tasted fabulous.

The theme of the party was Strawberry Shortcake, which was seen in everything from the invitations (my was made out to Niñeta Renecita J) to the napkins, plates, and best of all…the 3 tiered cake! It was the most beautiful and elaborate children’s birthday cake I have ever seen.

The party started off with serving food to all the guests. Then all the kids sat in a circle with the piñata strung up in the middle. Music played while each kid at the party, starting with the birthday girl, took a shot a hitting the piñata blind folded. However, the piñata was being moved around by another kid to try and trick the blind folded kid. In this case, that kid was Abdulmon. He also works at the cyber cafe and helps me out when Skype is giving me trouble. What I also found entertaining was that the blindfolded kid had to dance in between taking swings at the piñata while everyone cheered on. It was hilarious! Check out the video. During this time, strawberry ice cream was also served. Finally, when the piñata was busted everyone swarmed to get the candy.

Next everyone sang a Nicaraguan version of happy birthday (I took a video of it so if anyone has any insight, please comment) and had cake and went home. Natalye opened her gifts with the family after all the guests left. She got a couple of super cute shirts, socks and underwear, a pair of cute purple shoes, and bath stuff. She was so thrilled. I also want to mention how gracious she was. At the young age of nine years, she made sure to thank every person for coming to her birthday party.

In some of the pictures above are Natalye’s siblings, Brittany and Tito, her best friend Flavia, her twin cousins Vincent and Manuel, her friend and piñata mover Abdulmon, her aunt Katia and neighbor Georgina, and her dad Henry.