The party is held in a civil building in the main square and inside are maybe 50 circular tables upon which are seated various family members, friends, teachers, and a strange English girl you've never seen before (me). I took my seat with Evelyn and her family and soon the birthday girl entered the room upon introduction by man on microphone, as if walking down the aisle, flanked by mother and father to a round of applause. Then what followed was something I could have never expected in Mexico. 4 males swooped down from the staircase with silver flags, and Bruno Mars - The Way You Are came on the speakers. The dancers and the birthday girl performed an interesting routine to this song whilst everyone in the room watched them avidly, and professional photographers filmed/took photos. Following that spectacle, the birthday girl has to dance a waltz type song with male members of her family, then performs a number of other dance routines which included a rather saucy dance to Lady Gaga, surrounded by leather clad backing dancers...
We also saw a girl performing 'el baile Jarocho' which is a dance typical of the state of Veracruz. This was really cool to watch and was performed to traditional music (quite guitarr-y).
A lovely powerpoint presentation was shown of the birthday girl, with lots and lots of photos and then the she came round collecting presents from people (bringing the camera crew along with her - there will be several shots of me I am sure will confuse her) and then the family handed out embroidered cloths with Frida's name on them as memerobilia to each table. We had a 3 course meal, a bottle of brandy and coke for each table and plenty of spicy peanuts. After the meal the live band started and everyone danced the night away to reggaeton, salsa, rumba, merengue, and not forgetting the classic songs that will undoubtedly be heard in LIFE on a Sunday - in fact last years freshers week song even came on (Dynamite). It was SO hot inside I was such a sweaty mess and definitely chose the wrong dress to wear as it was LONG - had to tie it in a knot to survive!I had a great night, learnt the Mexican equivalents of Cha Cha Slide and the Macarena (I imagine) and even came away with a nice little yellow bandana (they handed them out free as they are necessary to dance to a particular song...) :) but I don't think I could have had one if I'd been a Mexican girl - it's just SO over the top and the dance routines...? Make a fool out of myself in front of literally everyone I know? No thank you!
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