Mi vida loca?

This weekend has been very busy for us.
We spent much of Friday evening at a young girl's Quinceanera party, which, as a, well, white guy, was incredibly confusing and amazing all at the same time.
For those who don't know, a Quinceanera is the traditional Hispanic coming of age celebration when a girl reached the age of 15. To me, it looked a lot like a wedding with no groom. But, beyond that, you see a family , both born and extended, gather around a young girl and make it one of the biggest days of her life. On my 15th birthday, I'm not sure, but I had cake and ice cream, and a few presents. Hell, our wedding wasn't even as huge a deal as this party was!
The other thing this weekend was going to the birthday of the 8 year old daughter of some of my wife's adult ESL students. again, a large family gathered for thr bithday of their daughter. This time, there were burgers, some pool playing and the feeling of being accepted in a family, even though I didn't speak thei language. some things were translated, some weren't, and it didn't matter. They were wonderful people who opened their home and their hearts to us.