Peruvian Birthday Parties

Today I had the opportunity to go to a birthday party for a local kid in the Santo Tomas village, where the orphanage is. Surprisingly, it was pretty similar to the birthday parties we had as kids, but with a Peruvian twist. The party was supposed to start at two this afternoon, however the Peruvians have no sense of time, so most people got there at three or three-thirty, like us. When we got there, there were a couple kids but for the most part it was only us, which consisted of six smaller children, three of the moms, and myself. The birthday was for a boy who was just turning one, however, none of the other kids were anywhere close to that age, except for our Vivian who is two. We got there and were greeted by the parents and the grandparents of the little boy, sat down, and were continuously served juice from corn and popcorn the rest of the time. As kids started showing up, the mom brough out paper hats, Disney-themed, for all the kids to wear. And there were Disney-themed goody bags full of popcorn and animal crackers for the kids to have throughout the party. In the background, the parents had a small TV playing a CD with eight kid friendly songs and the videos to go with them. The mom really wanted the kids to dance so she offered a package of candles to the person who had the best dancing skills. The most popular song for the kids to dance to was this Spanish song called "Chua Chua Ua." It's similar to the ChaCha Slide but so much more annoying (I'm posting a link to a youtube video for those who want to listen!) But this song was probably played back to back 20 times. By this time it's probably 5:00, three hours after the party started, and the kids are still dancing, and the mom is still serving everyone juice and popcorn. There is a rumor of a pinata, so the girls wanted to stay for that. However, at 5:45, there is still no pinata and the mom brings out dinner for everyone of rice and an unknown meat. None of our girls liked the food but they still wanted to stay for the pinata. The birthday boy has been asleep in his grandmother's lap for two hours now, actually, I'm pretty sure the grandma was asleep as well. Chua Chua Ua is still playing in the background and there is no sign of cake or a pinata anytime soon. Needless to say, we left the party but after speaking to one of the translaters in the city, he assured me that the party is still going on even now, and it's 9pm. So that was my first experience with a Peruvian birthday party, and I'm sure it won't be my last.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G4HWJxoUMY
Chua Chua Ua Video