My First Real Party

Against all odds, my party was a great success!

I was a little nervous. It's the first time that I've hosted people on my own. In the past I've invited Ana and her family or Erika and her siblings to my house. But really nobody else has been here and Fany always helped. So this was a first.

It's been raining since I woke up yesterday. We planned the party for late afternoon because it's been unbearably hot every day. Today everyone came in jackets and sweaters.

I got up early to clean the yard. In Honduras, the outside of your car is supposed to be kept perfectly clean at all times. Same with the outside of your house. So I was cleaning the yard, scrubbing the oil stains out of the driveway, pulling weeds, scrubbing the patio and sweeping the sidewalk at 8:30 a.m. Of course by the time my guests came in the afternoon, it was full of leaves and fallen flower petals again. Luckily, my guests didn't seem to notice or care.

Every single person who was invited showed up. I was surprised. One girl is new to our team and another has family in the hospital. But they still came.

First there was no water, then I realized that all of the chairs which usually are in the yard had disappeared, then the power went out. It fluctuated between sprinkles and rain the whole time. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but we had a great time!

Everyone made themselves at home, which was nice. I played host, but it was because I wanted to. Not because I had to run around waiting on everyone.

We barbequed beef, pork and sausage. There was rice, beans, chismol, cheese and plantanos. Plus a FANTASTIC desert, which I don't know how to describe except it was very Easterish. It was like a layer of flan on top of tres leches cake with raisins. It was very light, juicy and delicious!

We were a diverse group. Some people were young, just finishing their internship from college. Others are close to my age and have been working at the organization for many years.

Everyone brought something. I contributed the beans. We all chipped in on the meat.

We celebrated the end of two internships, one birthday, and my four year anniversary. We laughed a lot and joked around. We are already looking forward to the next opportunity to get together.

The food is ready!

On the left is the lady who directs my club with me