Fourth of July Party

 Community is one of the four values we're attempting to live out as JVs. Community obviously applies to the intentional community we create at home. But it also extends to the wider community of Andahuaylillas that are our friends and coworkers.

To celebrate the wider community, and to mark our Independence Day, we threw a 4^th of July party. We made a huge pot of sweet potato chili and a large pan of cornbread, and invited all our friends over from between the hours of 3-6. The chili was done cooking around 4, just in time for the first guests to arrive. We ate and chatted and waited for more to come. Then we waited some more.

Most of the guest didn't arrive till after 6:30 mass was finished. But there was plenty of food left for them. It was typical Peruvian timing. It wasn't rudeness; it was just culture. One of the families that came has two children who are in 2^nd and 4^th grade and are both students in my little violin class. They had brought a deck of cards and taught me an addition game, which they beat me at every time. When I got tired of losing I encouraged the 2^nd grader to look in our game drawer. He brought out Uno. Then we all played Uno Jenga. Finally we pulled out the hit game – Spot It. It was great because it didn't rely on English, or even language skills in general. It was lots of energy, and almost everyone played.

There weren't fireworks, we didn't sing The Star Spangled Banner, Peruvians outnumbered US-Americans at the party, and there was no 1812 Overture. But it was fun, filling, and exciting. Plus we had leftover chili for dinner Monday night!