Family Birthday Parties

Few things are quite as Latino as the family birthday party. It's a rarity in the US, at least among my immediate family, but here it's an art. This weekend, my family and I trekked 2 hours to a little beach town in Puntarenas, the Pacific side of Costa Rica. The occasion? A cousin's 25th birthday. A good 35 people came, ranging in age from a 3-year-old with ADHD to the borderline senile.

Amongst this group was the sweet birthday girl and her boyfriend, who kindly brought me to meet and hang out with their friends (fortunately, I'm not feeling too much like the awkward exchange student).

But of course, there's always an odd branch in the family tree. This weekend, it was an aunt who -- though well over 50 and somewhat corpulent -- felt comfortable enough to rock the tube top. And her cross-dressing friend. While they were incredibly friendly, I knew by the time they started yelling across the beach, MEEEEE-chell, VENGA!!! that they had consumed a bit too much of both their expensive Japanese vodka and the cheap, ubiquitous Costa Rican beer, Imperial.

These events are always an experience. And though there are plenty of oddballs in every family, I'm coming to cherish the Latin American mentality -- where family comes first, even if it means dropping everything to celebrate a 25th birthday.