Quinceañera

On Saturday night, high in the Sierra de Santa Rosa, a young woman turning fifteen years-old became a princess as the entire pueblo celebrated her quinceañera. She wore a pink, glittery ball gown; her black hair was pulled back in an elaborate up-do; her make-up sparkled. More than a hundred people - all familia lejana, the extended family of this tiny town - gathered together to honor the young woman in this traditional Latin American rite-of-passage. Earlier in the day, the girl had attended a special mass in her honor. In the evening, the festivities moved outside. Tables, chairs, tents, and a stage with full lighting were set-up in a field overlooking mountains upon mountains. A full dinner of pork and rice and abundant beverages was served to everyone - even us gringos, who knew no one, but had been invited by the band, and we were welcomed generously and immediately. The young woman, the quinceañera, performed several formal dances with young men from the community, and then, in a sweet ceremony, she received her last doll - a sign of her moving past the things of childhood and becoming a woman. She also called up dozens of people from the community and gave them each a rose as a sign of her appreciation of the role they have played in her maturation.

And then the band played, norteño-style music, and everyone began to dance. They dedicated one of their first songs, a more somber song, to two sons of Santa Rosa who have gone to the United States to work. We're thinking of you, they said, and their song reached far into the darkness across the sierra. The night was cold, but a thin moon smiled above the field, and the party promised to continue through the night.