THE STORY BEHIND THE TRAJES TIPICO AND PAELLA VALENCIANA
The United Nations’ Day celebration in Nico’s school will be this coming Friday but as of this writing, I haven’t had in my hands the appropriate costume for the Little Boy just yet. Nico is expected to wear Trajes Tipico, the national costume of Spain, the country he reported on last Thursday. Added to that, I haven’t settled on where in the world I’ll get Paella Valenciana, a well-known dish Spain is identified of. Again, he’s required to bring it in school this Friday.
Two weeks ago, when I learned that senior preschoolers will be assigned to report on a chosen country (including quick facts about it like flag, food, national costume, the country’s language, etcetera), the first thing that came to my mind was Spain. Why Spain? The reason was plain and simple—because of Dora and Diego, the adorable characters from the Dora The Explorer cartoon series. 
Dora and Diego, as most kids and parents alike are very well familiar of, are Spanish-speaking cartoon characters and with the simple thought that kids are more likely to have a recall and get to appreciate quick facts on the country, then we decided Spain will be it!
Researching on the quick facts was quite easy and so was with helping Nico prepare the cardboard illustrations and rehearse for his report. I also saved an efile of the report in one the used tape drives that the school handed me, just as so the school have a copy. It helped a lot that Dora and Diego had “pre-oriented” the kids of how to count and the basic color names in Spanish because as expected, when reporting day came, we were so happy because Nico did very well with his report, according to his Teacher Chie. 
And what’s best, the kids enjoyed the report on Spain too. Again, all because of Dora and Diego.
I cannot describe how I felt those very minutes that Nico was reporting inside the classroom. My heart was skipping in the fastest of beats as if I’m running on marathon. And the moment it was time for the dismissal and the Teacher told me of how the report turned out, oh how I felt I sigh of relief. “Finally, it’s over. I can then relax,” I said to myself. Or so I thought.
The following day, Friday, parents were notified that there will be an activity on the 17th (which will be this coming Friday) to conclude the unit theme on United Nations. The kids will have presentations and a mini-parade of nations. As a requirement, the kids will have to wear the national costume of their chosen country. Added to that, kids were likewise asked to bring food which is popular from his chosen country.
Though going to a professional sewer of costumes came to mind, I didn’t pursue the idea since my thinking was that sewers are going to decline making the costume anyway since it’s a rush-rush work. I just thought that there are many ready-to-wear costumes available in Malls anyway so during the weekend, this was what I busied myself. Five trips passed different Malls however, I haven’t found a decent costume for Nico. I didn’t realize it will be this hard to look for a Trajes Tipico, Spain’s national costume for males. Something like the photo below:
(photo courtesy of http://wikimedia.org)
The closest I was able to find was that of a pirate’s costume, but thinking there are more modifications to be done, I decided not to buy.
And so what I did was revert back to my initial plan to have a professional costume maker do the Trajes Tipico. Yeah right, me and my yet again, another palpak na plano. *toinks head right at this very moment* So now, here I am, almost at my wits end, keeping my fingers crossed the sewer gets to finish the costume earlier, but there’s no guarantee. The costume maker says the earliest possible time I can pick up the costume is by around 10-11AM of Friday, just a few more hours and the program in school will start. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.
And that’s just one issue. Another is regarding the food. I’ve yet to resolve where to get Paella Valenciana in time for the 1PM school program.
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Ella
elle marie’s moms last blog post..Elle is TWO in Laguit…
Hi Mommy Ella!
thank you so much for the offer to rescue me from this sort of a panic attack! fave dish pala yan as family ninyo. actually, even my Mom was giving me instructions how to cook it. but I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just don’t have the confidence to cook special dishes. natatakot ako, baka kung anong maging resulta. 
to save me from shame, Hubby and I decided that we just order from Alba’s. medyo, nakakawindang sa bulsa kasi good for 20-30 persons yung pina reserve namin. pero buti na rin, kaysa walang madala sa Friday.
mali din ang school (sinisi no? hahaha!) they should have known na ang ganyang costumes would need time, kaya they should have informed you months ago. naalala ko lang yung former school ng anak ko, october pa ang event, pero enrollment pa lang (wc was april-may), sinabihan na kami na mag-isip ng country at maghanap ng costume. o diba?
lady cesss last blog post..Shh, Don’t Tell My Kids!
Alba’s? That is a bit expensive to be brought to a school event
My Papa’s fave food is Arroz Valenciana? Is it the same? You know the one cooked with achuete and has chorizo with some other kinds of meat.
Kami,per continent. We are assigned with Oceania, ano kaya costume mga anak ko, floral shorts at me dalang surf board
julies last blog post..Birthday Party at Chili’s
yay, hirap naman nyan.. i was about to tell you to order it na lang, you did it na pala.. so how was it? i bet everybody enjoyed the paella.
analyses last blog post..Picture Collections
costumes for boys are really not so easy to find, meanwhile for girls - pwede na yung flamingo dresses agad
anyway, spain is an interesting country to know , di ba?
raqgolds last blog post..Opa Stayed for the Weekend
Hope you got the costume on time. Buti pa kayo may U.N. Day. There was no big U.N. celebration at Yohan’s school.
When I was in grade school, big deal yung U.N. day. I also wore a Spanish costume but my favorite of all was the Japanese kimono.
Rach (Heart of Rachel)s last blog post..Your Blog is Addictive