Anniversary of Padre Fabretto's Death

March also marked the celebration for the Anniversary of the death of Padre Fabretto up in the mountains of Cusmapa. In Nicaragua you try to celebrate as many peoples' deaths as you can possibly remember. I've already lost count of how many people I've met and who have died during my service, it's alot more than home put it that way. For the celebration the town had a feria (Fair) and a King & Queen Fabretto competition amongst the highschoolers. At first they were only going to do a Queen, but Lauren and Callie pointed out that it should be a competition for both sexes and not an "exposition" of young girls.

Some of our highschoolers also wanted to particpate in the fair selling their wares. One group made cookies, another made popcorn balls, the boys had their fresco (juice) stand, and we also had their knitted items out. The night before I helped Lauren with the kids and we baked and cooked for a good 3 hours. I taught the cookie group how to read a recipe and follow the instructions (including the meaning of amounts of ingredients), and they turned out pretty good. Lauren made a point to the kids that they should only use ingredients that they can find in Cusmapa. In addition, we made them calculate their costs and estimated earnings to arrive at their Equilibrium point (where you sell enough to cover your costs). This was a good opportunity for my students to continue to practice the basic skills they had learned last year during their competition. The fair lasted all day and the kids sold most of their items, except for the knitted items. The interesting thing was that none of the families that "have money" (or extra money to spend is better to say) showed up to the fair. It was a community event, but many do not come to mingle with their "riff-raff" neighbors...pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

Making cookies! Oatmeal raisin and plain oatmeal.

Yum!

Lauren writes down all the ingredients and the total cost.

Memo and Eric were being "hams" as my mother would say.

The kids showed me their jumproping skills...I shared mine as well.

Gieselle has the biggest smile out of anyone!

Jump around! Jump around!

Popcorn balls: there were 4 other groups that sold them too. The girls got a little discouraged, but managed to sell quite a few.

Rigoberto claims to have made this purse...we think he had alot of help from his mama since she is the one who crochetes and Rigo can only knit. He's a great knitter don't get me wrong! A+ for creativity!

Making frescos with a variety of fruits: watermelon, canteloupe, pinapple, and orange.

The girls man their table and we worked on customer service skills. "Thank your customer", "Advertise your product"...I probably sounded like a broken record at the end of the day...

Our fresco boys! Great sign and they did it all by themselves!

The knitting group, who also sold enchiladas (Nica style: fried tortilla with cabbage and some cheese, topped off with some "spicy" vinagre mix)

Popcorn ball girls, who got sad they weren't selling and left their booth for long periods of time. Sometimes we had to chase them down!

Cookies? Galletas?

Cusmapa Knitters

They had 3 tents set up to shield the sellers and patrons from the sun.

Padre Fabretto: 19 years since your departure, Cusmapa remembers you!

Marlon (english teacher in Cusmapa) and Jorge (music assistant) were in charge of the tunes.

The view from outside the tents.

The bus station converted into the main stage.

This girl wrote an essay about the Padre all by herself, she is one of Lauren's students.

Selwin, one of my 2nd year highschoolers, won King Fabretto...he is one of those very happy, excited, talks too loud and I have to tell him that I hear him just fine!

So what did we do with the extra juice? We bought it, poured an entire liter of Ron Plata in it, and made the closest thing in Nicaragua to Maverick Juice.

Fun picture of me!

Callie took this one of Ozzy, very artistic!

Did I mention that I'm teaching myself how to play trombone? The kids were watching me through the trees and then I went over a blasted them! They thought it was hilarious!

This is the place where Ozzy spit, right in front of the walkway...I then proceeded to scold him for spitting in the same spot where people walk, and then he responded that it was fine because he spit outside. Mike cleared up the entire situation by making a sign that says "Careful/Caution"...dios mio!

Callie and Ozzy before the concert at the church where I had my debut performance on trombone in the song "One Love" with the Cusmapa choir.

Streets of Cusmapa....

"I have often walked, down this street before...but the payment always stayed beneath my feet before..."

Mike looks at the Catholic Church in Cusmapa...aka the only social highlight for women.

This little piggy when to market...

Livestock wandering the streets is not a rare sight.

Mike who do you see?

Chavalos! aka Children!

More Chavalos!

I forgot to mention they had cock fights to celebrate the weekend as well.

Love this Callie face!

Mike and Pablo, our new Spanish dude, watch the barbaric sport.

I really don't like chickens, but I still feel bad for them that they are used for killing to the death! Makes me ill.

I took this picture to show the male dominance of the sport...one female (not including the gringas) out of 50 men.

Yummy barbarque!

The spectators try to catch a glimpse at the "bull riding"...why do I put it in quotes? Because they were female cows that didnt buck or do anything! Poor girls!

Pablo enjoys his barbarque, Nica style!