Toni and Pablo This weekend Charles and I were able to experience a high school graduation first-hand. Pablo, our live-in Bolivian, graduated Friday night. The invitation said 7pm so we were there promptly at 7. Little did we know that Bolivian graduations don’t always start on time. The graduation started at 9:30pm! The other highlight of the graduation is that it’s much like an American wedding – each graduate is walked in by a family member or close friend. Toni did the honors for Pablo. We watched as Pablo’s name was called and he met the others in cap and gown up front. I had a nasty cold and it was late so we decided not to stay. Another interesting aspect of the night was the gift-giving. Outside the school where the graduation was held, a number of vendors were selling these pyramids of small stuffed animals surrounded by fake flowers. It was all a little unreal that this is the appropriate gift for an up and coming adult.
The second part of graduation happened on Sunday night – the graduation party. Charles and I dressed in our “Bolivian formal” attire and met Pablo for his graduation party. This is much more of a family event than what most of us are used to in the States. The graduate goes ahead of time, reserves a table and chairs in a reception hall and then the night of the party, brings all the food and drink he/she wants to have at the party. The whole thing was quite amusing. We sat at the table with Pablo’s sister, brother-in-law, cousins and friends. The traditional Bolivian graduation party food is potato chips, meatballs, peanuts, etc. The most popular food item was the pineapple with toothpicks sticking out of it, full of cheese cubes, olives, ham and quail eggs. It’s quite a site and if you forgot your party pineapple, you could buy one right outside the gate. The music was mostly from the ‘80s such as Aerosmith and Four Non Blond coming from a DJ. Unfortunately, we had to leave the graduation party around 10:30pm for the next day’s work but it seemed as if it was just getting started.
The second part of graduation happened on Sunday night – the graduation party. Charles and I dressed in our “Bolivian formal” attire and met Pablo for his graduation party. This is much more of a family event than what most of us are used to in the States. The graduate goes ahead of time, reserves a table and chairs in a reception hall and then the night of the party, brings all the food and drink he/she wants to have at the party. The whole thing was quite amusing. We sat at the table with Pablo’s sister, brother-in-law, cousins and friends. The traditional Bolivian graduation party food is potato chips, meatballs, peanuts, etc. The most popular food item was the pineapple with toothpicks sticking out of it, full of cheese cubes, olives, ham and quail eggs. It’s quite a site and if you forgot your party pineapple, you could buy one right outside the gate. The music was mostly from the ‘80s such as Aerosmith and Four Non Blond coming from a DJ. Unfortunately, we had to leave the graduation party around 10:30pm for the next day’s work but it seemed as if it was just getting started.
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