- Thread starter jeb321
- Start date
Qui?ceanera
Feigning will be the correct way to convey the action. Most do it for vanity and the feeling of superiority.
Although I must dress up for work (no options there), I prefer the old sandals, shorts, t-shirt and my God you must see my camo hat...lol
i've only ever been to one and i remember it well as it proved to be a traumatic experience.
it was a large party in some solid middle class family. rich, by general standards but tasteless and tacky as fcuk. the party had a price tag of 3 million pesos and looked like it was worth about a dollar fifty. ostentatious, loud and boring. i remember well the dress of the b-day girl, pink, feathery and quite red carpet worthy if it was not worn by someone with chesticles like two aspirins pressed into wide ironing board.
there was an inevitable dancing number which was as excruciating to watch as it looked painful to execute. maybe middle class girls cannot twerk. then a display of childhood photos the girl projected onto a large screen. this is where i drew the line because no one ever should be subjected to the torture of watching 15 years worth of somebody's blurry photos.
it kinda resembled any middle class wedding i had to attend in my 9 years here. made me wish i was home, after a crippling bout of diarrhea. plenty of booze (thank you, baby jesus) and zero food of any kind anywhere in sight. not an event i long to repeat ever again.
it was a large party in some solid middle class family. rich, by general standards but tasteless and tacky as fcuk. the party had a price tag of 3 million pesos and looked like it was worth about a dollar fifty. ostentatious, loud and boring. i remember well the dress of the b-day girl, pink, feathery and quite red carpet worthy if it was not worn by someone with chesticles like two aspirins pressed into wide ironing board.
there was an inevitable dancing number which was as excruciating to watch as it looked painful to execute. maybe middle class girls cannot twerk. then a display of childhood photos the girl projected onto a large screen. this is where i drew the line because no one ever should be subjected to the torture of watching 15 years worth of somebody's blurry photos.
it kinda resembled any middle class wedding i had to attend in my 9 years here. made me wish i was home, after a crippling bout of diarrhea. plenty of booze (thank you, baby jesus) and zero food of any kind anywhere in sight. not an event i long to repeat ever again.
I attended one of these birthday parties with another member of this forum in Esanche Carmelita, Santo Domingo earlier this year. Lots of food, drinks, music and dance. Didn't seem any different than any other birthday party I've been to in the past here in the DR.
A few days later I remember speaking to some Dominican friends about it. I was told these elaborate parties for the 15 year olds are reconignition of (early) adulthood and for the girls it means they are now ready to be "courted".
A few days later I remember speaking to some Dominican friends about it. I was told these elaborate parties for the 15 year olds are reconignition of (early) adulthood and for the girls it means they are now ready to be "courted".
Have been to half a dozen. They have ranged from a fairly simple party with only closest friends and relatives attending, and within a reasonable Budget for the family to an extravagant affair that had to cost over 10,000 dollars. Certainly lots of poor girls don't have them. The girl who lives next to the school turned fifteen in August and her dad allowed her to have her closest friends over for a birthday party, cake, ice-cream and pizza, no dressing up in fancy dresses....etc. Probably never cost him more than 3000 pesos, but that is lot for him.
it was started by the older money types, an affair where the parents of little Mercedes would invite the family members of the upper crust to mingle with future brides. only certain types were invited, because the scions of business and industry, and owners of latifundia did not want their daughters carousing with the sons of Fausto and Joaquin. the newer version, featuring the nouveau riche, like ballplayers, and guys who won the lotto, are spectacles to show how rich they are, and everyone is invited to gaze upon how the other half lives. the more chopos and cueros , the better.
A quincea?era is
http://www.amazon.com/Dominican-Republic-Culture-Essential-Customs/dp/1857335279
At 15 I would have run a mile if anyone had expected me to go through that, and so would most of my friends!
http://www.amazon.com/Dominican-Republic-Culture-Essential-Customs/dp/1857335279
At 15 I would have run a mile if anyone had expected me to go through that, and so would most of my friends!
Chiri, there is no formal equivalent for boys, because they remain boys forever.
dominicans are generally traditional and very homogeneous in terms of behaviour. i mentioned this before: everyone dresses in the same way, listens to the same music, eats the same food. from the poor to the rich, there is very little expression of individuality of any kind and no encouragement to develop it. if you go to a high school in poland you will see long hair in metallica t-shirt; skinny red jeans with a mohawk; black clad goth with eyebrow piercing. in HS in DR everyone looks exactly the same.
this attitude extends to such events like birthdays. even if my parents ever had money for a hundred thousand dollar party i would p*ss on that because this is not who i am and what i like. at 15 i was into grunge, listening nirvana and wearing torn up sweaters 2 sizes to big. here everyone is into romeo fcuking santos, whether they are 5 or 95.
My mother was never cheap when it came to food, health and education, but a party was considered an unnecessary expense to please society. A nice present, a trip abroad, a family dinner or a small get together with people you really like, were always better.
Now, if anyone wants to throw a huge party and they have the money to "tirar la casa por la ventana", I say good for it. I do have an issue with people who get into serious debt over a party, and then expect a loan from you.
Now, if anyone wants to throw a huge party and they have the money to "tirar la casa por la ventana", I say good for it. I do have an issue with people who get into serious debt over a party, and then expect a loan from you.
you are my guru.
let me bore you with my passion, high fidelity stereo equipment. i have said this a million times, so make this a million and one. every single speaker made in this country, be it in Samana or Bani, looks just like the other. every one. not only that, but they looked like that in 1989, when i first got here. there are millions of them, and everybody builds them, but not one guy has ever sat down and decided to try to be different, and design one that was not like the others. if you go on the internet, and go to a hifi site, there are literally thousands of different designs out there. what is interesting is that i have seen some very clever designs from guys in the Turks and Caicos, among the jillions from the USA, Europe, the East, and South America. there seems to be zero desire to be creative in this country. everyone is a follower.
i scratched my head when my housekeeper threw a birthday party for her 3 year old granddaughter, and invited the entire barrio. she was in debt to loansharks for months. i have no idea what that is all about.
true, Chiri, but i bet that those cruises are exclusive affairs, populated by the old money crowd. the new money guys want the affair to be seen by everyone who has less than they do, so they are not going on any cruise. they would rather rent an auditorium, hire Antony Santos, and serve up bottles of Johnny Walker, with cases of Gatorade to chase it.
preach, gurl. i have the same attitude. occasionally we may go to a fancy wedding or whatnot. i never ever bring any gifts. it's a gift that we come over so the dumbasses who threw the party can boast to their friends how big the event was and how many guests have attended. if someone can fork out several million pesos on a god damn wedding they can afford to buy their own set of fcuking spoons. and if they could not afford such party yet got into debt to do it, they are too stupid to gift them with as much as a a plastic spoon fished out of the trash. and i get to have the last laugh too because nearly every single lavish wedding ceremony i've been to ended in a bitter divorce within 3 years. once the parents of the bride were still paying off the credit they took to pay for the party way after she divorced. ha ha ha.