San. Juan. 3

Hola a todos!

So...! Most of the team members have attended a total of 3 San Juan Festivals to date. (Some of them, have attended FOUR!)

Last night's was my favorite because the girls at the home performed in the dances (and they were so cute!!!). It was really cool to see them performing traditional Paraguayan dances and also more modern pop numbers. Soy muy orgullosa de ellas. :)

And now... allow me to share some super cute photos of them!! He he!!

The girl in the lighter blue skirt (second from the left) is Araceli. She's 7, super cute, loves eating apples and climbing trees barefoot and she did a great job last night! <3 She has also adopted me as her aunt... I think being an aunt is my calling in life. ;)

Not the best angle (lo siento), but all of these performers are our girls. In the front is Mirian (I think she's going to grow up to be a model because whenever you look at her, she gives you the Blue Steel), Pamela (she is a great teacher-- she taught me Spanish and Guarani), Jasmin (she might seem like she's quiet, but she is a silly bean) and the only girl you can see in the back from this angle is Camila (she has got pro-photographer skills, yo). Pictured but not visible is Banesa (Pamela's twin) who loooooves to dance and Mirian-Ramona (she's a smarty, picks up on languages and is very observant of people). They did a great job.

We have 2 of our lovely chicas in this dance: Marlene (the one in red skirt at the front) is very mature and calm and has a very sweet disposition. And, Ana-Victoria is wearing the red and white skirt with the blue sleeves. She's the oldest of her siblings, and while she is quiet she is so so so sweet and is really hard-working. I love these girls. <3

Once again, my angle is poopy, but, let me assure you that these young women did a great job! :) I can't tell you what song they rocked, but I am probably hum it for you, ha ha. Anyhoo! In the front is Julia (she seems shy, but she is a cray-cray jokester-- in the best way possible), Damarys (she is super helpful and explained a lot of the San Juan activities to me, and she is also a joker--she's the one that put flour on my face during baking night, pfft.), Carmen (una chica super duper responsible.. she puts me to shame at how mature she is), in the back we have Silvana (she's the fearless type), and the invisible people are: Christina (I don't think I can express how much I love her and am encouraged by her) and Mily (she's so cute.... I just want to eat her up!!!!).

Andrea, the home's chiquitita, went onto the dance floor and twirled around and entertained us all. Muy linda. <3

This dance is where there is a line of couples and an emcee in the middle of the floor. The couples take turns speaking into the emcee's mike; the boys say something sweet/cheesy to their girl partner and the girls retort back with a diss. I didn't understand what was said (I think it was done in Guarani, anyways), but it was nice to see them turning down back pick-up lines. Lol. In the front in the blue skirt is Bellen (she is such a sweetheart... and so funny. Let's just say I've seen her eat realllly bigggg chunks of raw cookie dough...eww). Julia, Carmen and Silvana also performed. Muy bien hecho!!

As mentioned before, our team also performed. We did the Boot Scootin' Boogie (a line dance) and the Chicken Dance. It was fun! :)

There was also an intermission from the dancing to watch people try to climb up a pole that was covered in pork grease to get money that was tied at the top. I was kind of worried, because there was a storm brewing during the entire night's festivities. Meaning, while the girls were dancing I would see lightning off in the distance. And... so I'm glad no one was hurt or struck by lightning while climbing that pole. O_O

Hopefully the other team members have less terrible photos of the girls dancing that they can share. :P

Anyways. Epic and blessingful night of fun. Yee haw!