You wanna go where everybody knows your name...

A couple of weeks ago I went to a fiesta in a small community named Khazu. I arrived the day before the fiesta, which was the second day of a two-day football tournament between teams from local communities. As soon as I got off the bus in Khazu, men from one of the local communities told me that I would be playing for them. I was given a shirt, and told to play in centre-midfield.

I hovered around the centre-circle and hoped that the ball would make it's way in my direction. I was so bad  that I was replaced at half-time. I touched the ball a maximum of once. The whole time I was playing though, I all I could here was my name being shouted constantly from all directions, exhorting me to score a goal, tackle, or just to run. It was incredibly distracting.

Although the fiesta was officially the next day, in reality it began that evening, (the vispera), at the house of the sponsors of the fiesta, with eating, drinking, and music provided by two local bands. Once darkness had fallen, the sponsors of the fiesta, brought of from a room in their house torches in the shape of various objects: stars, houses, aeroplanes, cups, for example.

There were 20-30 torches brought out in all, which were given to each of the guests, the guests then being led out of the house to dance around the square of the Khazu, with their partner.