Happy Birthday Marcela!

We were invited to a party for Marcelas' 50th birthday last night. The family went all out and hired a mariachi band as a surprise for the birthday girl.

The musicians came from a city 2 hours away. Mexican music is very popular in Costa Rica. (We've even been to a local funeral with mariachi music, but that's another story.) Lots of people had a chance to wear the big sombrero and there was lots of dancing.

Many of songs were cumbia rhythm and Russ and I don't know how to dance to that. But when there was something we could polka to, we sprang into action. There were whoops of encouragement for the only gringos there. I'm pretty sure they had never seen folkloric dancing from Wisconsin before.

There was a lot of food, some of it by Gelen who spent the day cooking in honor of her mom's party. I volunteered to bring a cake. Even though it was a large bundt cake we were worried about it serving the 35 or so people there. Gelen decided to serve it at the end after everyone had eaten a lot so there was plenty.

   There was a piñata to swing at. Marcela's husband Juan had it rigged up on a pulley. As he raised and lowered it so it was really hard to hit, he had a huge grin on his face. Eventually lots of candy and a few toys tumbled out. Great party guys and thanks for inviting us!