MEXICAN HAT DANCE

The children watched as someone cut the birthday cake.

We had a dinner to celebrate March birthdays at the church in Nuevo Progreso.  There had been an unusual number of birthdays in that month.  Everyone had a good time, especially when the Mexican hat was passed around.

After the usual Sunday evening service, two long tables were arranged in the auditorium near the altar. Benches were placed alongside, making room for almost everyone to have a place at the table.  Others sat on benches close by or brought folding chairs to the ends of the tables.

A cool breeze finally made it’s way through the windows, making things much more comfortable. Distant lightning flashed in the east windows, but no rain or storm came near. The heat of the day eased away into a soft, warm evening.  It was the perfect time for a celebration.

Two long tables were placed together in the auditorium.

The main dish provided was chicken molé, which is chicken cooked in a rich dark sauce made of several kinds of chiles, spices and dark Mexican chocolate. Molé can take a long time to make because first the chiles need to be roasted along with the spices and the mixture blended together with chicken broth for a sauce that is so dark, it looks like melted chocolate.  This is a favorite dish for celebrations in Mexico.

Someone brought a rice dish to go along with the molé, another brought mashed potatoes, and we took our specialty - a large kettle of spaghetti with meat sauce. We all saved room for the special birthday cake, a white sheet cake covered with fruit.

Alejandro's daughter Monica was very pretty in the sombrero.

And in that relaxed atmosphere, someone brought out an enormous and beautiful purple Mexican sombrero that was covered in silver ornaments.  One by one everyone wanted to pose in the impressive sombrero.  On some it looked overly large and on others it looked small.  Monica was a beautiful example of a typical young Mexican girl.  It was easy to see pride on her father Alejandro’s face as he sat next to her.  Roman was asked to put on his “Pancho Villa” face when he wore the hat. And he did appear to be much different from his usual cheerful and smiling personality.

Roman's rendition of Pancho Villa.

Even little Kimberly got into the action and struck a pose in the sombrero.  Her portrayal of a Mexican bandit made us all laugh.

Kimberly was a lady bandit.

It was not a typical Mexican hat dance with the traditional music, but it was fun and different.  Before long, almost everyone had tried on the hat as it made it’s way around the table.

Social events such as these are a big part of our church.  They make us feel part of one big family, the family of God.  There were some neighborhood children there who regularly attend Sunday School at the church. They enjoyed the food, good clean fun and laughter as they were made to feel part of the family.  And the celebration dinner was a good way to set an example they will long remember.

Sunday School children enjoyed the celebration.

“We celebrated with laughter

    and joyful songs.

In foreign nations it was said,

    “The Lord has worked miracles

    for his people.”  

Psalm 126:2 CEV