Part of the masks we decorated.
Close up to see the glitter (I made the 2nd and 4th ones from the left).
I wanted a candid shot, but those don't exist in Mexico. Karla working with the veils.
Alma attempting to sew. She was slow and terrible. It was hilarious!
At 1, Alma popped out of her mom's room, sleep mask pushed back like a headband, hair wild. This is me just about every morning at 6 when the roosters wake me, I take a bathroom break, and head back to bed with my iPod.
I found it odd that she was right on time with her goal of waking at 1, leaving at 2, but I went with it. By 2:00, we were walking out the door. As we passed the microwave, she asked me what time it was. I said 2:00 and she said, but why does my phone say 3? She had gotten up and rushed around because she thought it was 2:00 when she woke up. That explains it all.
We got to Lili's house and she was on the living room floor with two other girls I'd never seen before. They had a sheet spread out, newspaper, glitter and glue. Never in my life! We got in there and got to work! It turns out the two other girls are the bride-to-be (or has-been-bride since they, too, did the civil ceremony already) and her sister.
Eventually Karla got there with more supplies. At this point, we had cut out 100 masks and glued glitter onto about 3/4 of them. I had no idea so much went into a Mexican wedding. After we finished the masks, we were pooped, so we took a lunch break. The boys were making ceviche which totally tempted me, but Alma doesn't eat that, so she ordered a pizza. We rocked it middle school style and the girls stayed inside eating the pizza while the guys fixed the ceviche. It was 4 already, so I was hungry enough to eat pizza and not wait on the seafood. It turns out they had gone to get octopus (is there a nicer word for octopus when referring to food?) to add to it, so I was glad in hindsight to have chosen the pizza. Liliana's mom, Doña Blanca, who jumped in to help with the masks toward the end, came to my seafood craving rescue. She fried up some fish quickly for some fish tacos. I took advantage. She also mentioned to Liliana that I should come over for her famous tortas ahogadas (basically barbecue sandwiches drenched in a liquid sauce) some Saturday. I was not opposed. Lili's dad came in and we talked about Tennessee for awhile. He's a big Elvis fan. Of course, my knowledge is super-limited, but it was another one of those conversations that I enjoyed because it was a cultural sharing.
After lunch, we got back to it. Karla showed us how to sew the mesh to make veils. Apparently, when the bride throws the bouquet and the groom throws the garter, the guys wear decorated ties and the girls wear veils. Hilarious. So we sewed. They were shocked that I knew what I was doing, saying I was more Mexican than they were. Who knew sewing was Mexican? Anyway, don't get too excited; it was not pretty sewing- just the kind that bunches up the fabric. After that, we had to add the elastic to the masks that had dried from the glitter and glue, and again from the adhesive spray. It was a long day of leaning over. I was prepared to be hurting.
Around 7, Alma left to go hang out with one of her grandparents. I don't remember which or why. Apparently, though, on Sundays, they typical do some family things, but every Sunday since I'd moved in had been filled with trips or parties. She was pretty obligated this Sunday! She left and said she'd be back to get me. While she was gone, we finished everything, including clean-up. We also chatted with Doña Blanca. She's a hoot. Around 9, Alma picked me up, and to the house we went for bed! I was tired from the wedding and party on Saturday. Life is a party in Mexico.
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