Holidays

I'm well into my summer holiday - I've enjoyed my job and spending time with friends thus far.  In the meantime, several other holidays have come and gone.  Let's have a look:

The Pides of March
This actually happened before school got out.  As everyone should know, March 14th is Pi Day (get it? 3/14 and 3.14159...) and March 15th is the Ides of March (the day Julius Caesar was murdered).  I was speaking to a friend at work about combining the two into a "Pides of March" Party.  She loved the idea, and we started planning it.  It turned out great - ancient Rome decor, togas, and pies (along with other round treats) were all part of the festivities.

Notice the togas...

Notice the punny phrase...

We even did a reenactment...

Something I made to put on the wall.

(I would have kept going, but the next digit was a 0.)

May the Fourth / Cinco de Mayo

Here's another set of back-to-back holidays.  May 4th is Star Wars Day (get it? "May the Fourth be with you"), and is actually more official than you'd think.  And May 5th is obviously Cinco de Mayo.  On the evening of the Fourth, I went with a group of friends to the first of a series of free rooftop concerts in Provo.  The super-nice weather, great music, paper lanterns, full moon, and fun friends made it an enjoyable evening.  Afterwards, in honor of Star Wars Day, we watched Episode III.

On the following day, my new roommate threw a house-warming party for our apartment - it was "Old Hollywood" themed.  He spent a lot of time getting it organized, and it turned out great.  We had lots of good people, good food, and tons of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider.  In honor of Cinco de Mayo I came dressed as one of the Three Amigos, but quickly felt silly and changed into something else.  I think the party turned out to be a great success.

Here's the outside view of our place.  Notice the red carpet...

 Here's the inside.  Notice the record player in the corner (playing "Old Hollywood" themed music)...

There was a silent Charlie Chaplin film playing, which was cool.

Downstairs, we had a "speak easy" showing the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

Also, a poker table.

Paraguayan Independence Day

As most of you probably know, I went on a mission trip for my Church to the southern part of Paraguay.  A good friend in my apartment complex also served there, but in the northern part.  We decided to throw a party for our mission friends to celebrate Paraguayan Independence Day on May 15th.  It was a blast!  Among other things, we sang 'Happy Birthday' to Paraguay in Guarani.  There was traditional Paraguayan food and music playing, along with flags and other decorations.  We also had a good time passing the mate/ tereré around.  There were two real Paraguayos and my mission president even came!  I think it was a great success.

 From the outside...

 My friend made a map - we all stuck pins in the cities where we'd worked.

All the gente...

 Chipa, mandioca, chipa guasu, jugo de mburucuya, etc...

Here's a nice low-quality photo taken as the party was dying down.

There were lots of other fun things going on between all these holidays - I'll post about that soon.