Happy 28th Birthday!

Jeremiah, Lonna, and Jasimine, my neighbors.

Just last week Jeremiah and Lonna brought some passion fruit up to my apartment. Luckily my fridge still contained plenty of kulau and I had something to offer them. Lonna being a toddler walked around opening and closing my cabinet doors and picking up everything she could get her hands on. Jeremiah saw the map on my wall and couldn’t believe that I flew off the map and arrived on the other side! Yes, the earth is round Jeremiah. I was also surprised that he didn’t know his age. “I must be around 12 or 13,” he said. An eight year old child in the U.S. will proudly proclaim that he/she is 8 ½! You must include the half. Birthdays are a big deal in America. Parties are planned at school and at home with cakes, balloons, and presents. Here birthdays are just another day. There are not viewed as "personal holidays" as my friend Brittany would say. Similar to PNG, age and birthdays were not culturally significant in Zambia either. Adults and children could not tell you their age when asked. This identifying information is regarded with such importance in the U.S., it is measured as a indicator of intelligence on IQ tests. Obviously it’s heavily cultural in nature.

Nevertheless, I am American and I wanted to celebrate my birthday. Lyn and Roger had an afternoon tea (I believe the British call it 'high tea'). Nine Nationalities were represented. Expats from America, England, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, India, Philippians, Ethiopia, and Australia brought various cakes unique to their culture. Lyn cuting the cakes!
It was a beautiful day, sunny with a breeze. Children were running and playing oblivious of their own diversity. I stuffed myself with cake and soaked in the uniqueness of my 28th birthday in PNG! Me and Marleen!
My American wontok gave me these beautiful flowers from her garden!