"I Want to go Home" Ball 2006

The 12th graders' ball was last night. Compared to America, it is like a graduation and prom all rolled up into a never ending dance and food fest. The festivities go all night and in the morning the girls and boys watch the sunrise. I arrived at school and sat on the stage as diplomas were handed out. Students gave their teachers and the director flowers, and everyone clapped while the students climbed to the stage. After the ceremony, everyone piled into rutieras and headed to the restaurant. The restaurant, who's name escapes me, is set back in the woods and looks like a big cottage. The upstairs was set up with two long tables, one for the teachers/parents, and the other for the students. The tables were filled with salads, vegetables, meats and cheeses, various rolled fish, baked chicken, bread, water, soda, wine, vodka, cognac and champagne. Let the festivities begin! We begin our celebrating, I would say, at 11. After the food, there was dancing. Dancing, oh dancing, the hora. If I haven't explained before, the hora is, apparently, the national dance and consists of people joining hands and dancing in a circle using various footwork. We danced the hora and by the time 1 rolled around, I was ready to go home. The director snuck out earlier via a full car, so I could not make my escape. Every two hours the restaurant would roll out more food, flattened chicken, placentas, potatoes, crepes, and everyone gathered around the tables to eat and drink again. Myself and another teacher were in the same boat and sat staring out the window for most of the evening for signs of daylight.
Long story short, I got home at 5. I spent 3/4 of the time sitting in a chair wishing someone would offer me a ride home. The restaurant is about 3 miles away from Pirlita and most of the people arrived in the rutieras provided for the evening. That means, we were all stuck. I did not really realize this, as people said the day before and the day of, that I could leave early if I wanted to. LIARS! So I had to practice my patient skills (which before last night, were running thin). I had never felt so happy to ride in a rutiera. I climbed into my bed around 5.30 and slept until 1.