The week before my birthday it was Becca (one of my housemate)'s birthday too. Being a sports fanatic, she often plays football out in the street with some of the local kids who come knocking at our door asking for her in the evenings. When they found out it was her birthday coming up, one particular eleven-year-old boy insisted that he would bring round a gigantona (and at this point none of us had any idea what that might be) to celebrate with her. I have to admit that I think everyone in the house was a little sceptical as to whether this would actually materialise. But, come the evening in question, after a birthday meal had been cooked and eaten, sure enough there was a knock at the door and Becca's young football friends had turned up.
The gigatona is a oversized doll with someone (in this case another little boy) underneath and whilst the "band" plays drums and chants a long and complicated Nicaraguan song/poem/story, the gigatona twirls round and round with her skirts out flying. These little boys really went for it, and everyone who'd come round for dinner absolutely loved the spectacle. In fact, children from our neighbours' houses came out into the street to join in the fun too. It was a truly unusual and memorable Nicaraguan birthday celebration for Becca (and in fact for all of us).
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