So it was up bright and early (considering it’s SUNDAY!) and off to a town over the mountain, around the hill, across the bridge, past the tree, into the village…you get the picture. We were invited to a little town carneval, so Jo and I took Cherise, two of our Croatian friends (who also helped with the animation, God bless them) and wound our way into the village just in time for our stomachs to settle with lunch. Cherse’s tummy was so upset, she couldn’t eat for 2 hrs, poor thing! We finished lunch, and then found out where the ‘parade’ was to be. We sloshed through the melting snow into the school courtyard where half the village was gathered, looking like, well, carneval. After the band led up the circus sounding music, we paraded through the streets to the delight of the other half of the village. I’ve never been in a parade before, as in, part of it, so that was a new experience. We just had to smile, wave and the girls did their juggling. Once in the little square, we were introduced and then the kids ran over to our little table to see the little gags we had brought and get balloons, of course. Since we didn’t have a stage, I ended up getting on top of the table with one of the girls to translate, and then the little volunteer got on the table as well. That was fun! Since we didn’t have enough balloons (we only got 2 bags rather than 4 from the guy who had told us he would get us 4…) we could only make balloons for the little kids, which made for a little riot. It reminded me of Drnis in the summer where we were swamped, but thankfully without the very rude preteen boys and with our two Croatian girls who were bold, tough, and made them get into lines (most of the time) and explaining over and over why not everyone could have one. I remembered that we had a big bag of regular balloons which we handed out to the bigger ones, and that made most of them happy. It was great fun making animal balloons from the table top where I stayed until the crowd was gone!
Back at home, Charlotte made a beautiful mask for the little kids disco party that one of her friends at dance school invited her to. She’s never been to a disco/dance party before, so she was looking forward to it. We basically had to take her as soon as we got back, and after one hour of hopping and jumping and wiggling all around, we headed back home where we watched the closing ceremony with a late dinner. My, what a busy day. I’m so glad I decided to get up early for my special time alone with my Maker and His Words! I’m bushed, the kids are happy, and the house is messy…will take care of that tomorrow…
