Third Anniversary Party
The timing of the visit of Rose, Cecilia and Kavita cooincided with the third anniversary of the beginnings of the women’s group, so the women took a vote and all decided to hold a celebratory festival to mark the occasion. There was only a couple of days to prepare, so Kavita made some posters and put them out in the tiendas of the village, and Cecilia went around in the truck with the megaphone to broadcast the event from neighborhood to neighborhood.
The young Ixcanaan Dancers immediately canvassed their friends for “costume materials”, dug out their favorite Hindu music, and began practicing so they could participate in the show.
All of the women volunteered various foods to the production of tamales … corn or banana leaves or herbs from the garden, and everyone showed up to work together to prepare the feast.
Tinoco (left) happened to be still in town since Unificacion Maya (this is sometimes a hard place to leave) and he volunteered to present his musical “show”. He has a marimba and a frame-work of drums and percussion instruments, as well as various flutes and shakers that he passes around, and he gets everyone involved in making music.
The music was so “alegre” that many of the guests began to dance … Danny even began teaching salsa lessons!
A number of donated items including mostly school and art supplies were placed out on a table where Cecilia offered them to the children as a Q1. raffle, with all the money going to refurbish the petty cash fund of the women’s group. The women also set up a table on the patio with a selection of their wood carvings for sale.
The tamales, served with a black bean and cilantro salad on crispy tostadas, were superb … the quality we have come to expect from the cooking of these women!
And while we ate, we were mesmerized as Danny Diaz played several of his hand made flutes for the group (http://www.kokopellistrailflutes.com/).