P-A-R-T-Y

As my loyal readers know, we are trying to raise money for the construction of the Adolescent Clinic here in Corinto. Well the best way for any teenage in the world to raise money is to have a party (more or less like a high school social...but with a few differences).

Xiomara and I, with the help of our loyal team of youth, went around town arranging all the details, buying soda to sell, paying the DJ, asking permission from the police, and reserving the location. Although, this was sort of like a high school social, people not in high school also go to it. And since the drinking age is 18, and there are a lot of people here in high school over 18, any time you throw a party, you have to serve beer or else no one will come. I was hestitant to serve beer because this was a fundraiser for an ADOLESCENT Clinic, and I didnt want people to get the wrong impression. But people convinced me that without beer, theres no party. And all we had to do was make sure we didnt serve to minors.

We were nervous the day of the party for many reasons. We had invested a certain amount of money in just DJ, soda, beer, and reserving the location. Which means, if a certain amount of people didnt show up, we would lose money. Another big worry was rain. Its the rainy season here, and if its raining people dont leave their houses. So if it rained that night, we would have lost a lot of money. Luckily...it didnt rain.

I volunteered/was assigned to be the bartender at the event. I forgot how much fun it is to be the bartender, even if I was only serving cans of beer and bottle of coke. I got to relive my college bartender days for a brief moment. Unfotunately, tips are not customary in this culture...

The DJ pumped reggaeton, salsa, bachata and carribean music the whole night and the place filled up quite nicely. We sold all the drinks we needed to sell and had enough people come that we made money. It was a success but we need to do about 20 other events like it to make the money we need! But now that we know how to throw a party, we´ll be able to make more money in the future. In the meantime, my life as a Peace Corps Volunteers has become party/event planner (and part-time bartender) and I´m enjoying it!