as the school year here starts in january, november means graduation season. right now we are entering "summer," even though we are above the equator. curious. the point is, this is a great country because they make their children waltz. the school in las delicias goes from kindergarten to 9th grade, and at the ceremony only the kindergarteners and 9th graders dress up fancy and are made to waltz and sing. and oh yes did they dress up fancy. here is the kindergarten:
behind them in that photo is the stage where there is a "table of honor" where the teachers and the "queen" were seated. the queen was a kindergarten girl in a red gown with a crown and a wand and a sash, of course. the criteria for election to such a post are not clear to me. all of the kids were made to dress identically, except for a few who did not. many kindergarten girls wore high heels. ehhh.
and then they waltzed!
the waltz was mostly a fervent rocking back and forth with a forcefully executed spin every few measures. also, no smiling.
recovering from aforementioned spin
vilma's daughter woke up at 5am to have her hair done. just like my kindergarten days!
then, obviously, the 9th graders waltzed too. no pictures of that - it is not cute awkward like with small children who are concentrating very hard and wearing stiff fabrics.
there were of course normal graduation exercises - the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place students in each grade had to come up to the stage and receive certificates. then they had to come back to receive medals. rather inefficent. only one song played repeatedly for three hours, except for the brief intermission where the principal presented a brief budget report. now that is admirably efficient use of time. this is not all pomp and circumstance, it's also how many toilet paper rolls were purchased in the last year. actually i think that'd be zero, i don't think the school provides that. BYO, even you, "queen."
there were of course normal graduation exercises - the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place students in each grade had to come up to the stage and receive certificates. then they had to come back to receive medals. rather inefficent. only one song played repeatedly for three hours, except for the brief intermission where the principal presented a brief budget report. now that is admirably efficient use of time. this is not all pomp and circumstance, it's also how many toilet paper rolls were purchased in the last year. actually i think that'd be zero, i don't think the school provides that. BYO, even you, "queen."
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