Sena de Gala

Last week our Radical Journey team attended the CONEMPAR Mennonite youth camp. Much of our time was spent doing four things, eating, playing games, drinking terere and worship. Overall, it was a very fun camp and I had the opportunity to meet many new people. I also like to think that my Spanish progressed a decent amount.

For Daniel and myself the highlight of the camp was probably the last evening, the “Sena de Gala” During the duration of this event Daniel and I could barely look at each other without laughing. The situation was very similar to High school Prom, except much more corny.

The series of events went as followed... First, Daniel and I went to the local concession stand to buy our “special” 2 liters of Coca Cola, which was a necessity because we had both decided to reserve tables for only ourselves and our dates and we couldn’t be seen drinking the common juice like everyone else (everyone that had reserved a special table was supposed to buy Coke). Next we found our dates, took a few pictures and waited in line for the announcer to announce or names so we could enter the brightly decorated dining hall. Once inside we spent the evening eating our dinner and watching a slideshow of pictures from that week, while listening to very “high school graduation” type songs.

After the slideshow my date and I, as well as several other couples, had to get up and walk around in order to be judged for best looking couple.... or something like that. I didn’t really understand what was going on, all I knew is that people were clapping and that it was a contest of some sort. In the end my date and I got second place, not exactly sure what for, but I received many congratulations after the dinner.

After the long week I was very exhausted and happy to finally get home. It was a great experience and one that I will not soon forget.