Par-TAY

Decorated piece of candy

 At 4:57 pm Thursday we heard a forceful knock at the door. Upon opening we discovered our tiny neighbor girl of about 6 smiling brightly and presenting us with an envelope. Inside was an invitation to a birthday party for a boy turning 1. We smiled as we saw the day and time. It was for this same Thursday at 10 pm. A toddler’s birthday starting at 10. We laughed and thanked her and began rethinking our schedule for the day.

It was important that we attend. In this culture, a one year old's birthday party is very special. I think it stems back to the fact that before vaccinations and clean water the infant mortality rate was incredibly high. To have a child that lived to his first birthday meant that he had a good chance of survival so a celebration took place. That tradition carries on today. 

In order to hang out with these night owls, we have to sometime include a proactive nap somewhere in the day. John pressed through with his to-do list, but I “rested my eyes” for a bit so as to be alert and conscious.

Special chandeliers for the party...

Throughout the rest of the evening we noticed that our lights kept getting dim and our voltage regulator kept making whirring noises. We couldn’t figure out what was happening until we saw a guy on a ladder outside our door taking a wire and adding it to our electric pole. He needed electricity for all the party lights so he just helped himself.

The party was right next door so we had the advantage of being able to peek out the window to see when the other invitees actually started showing up. FYI: If the invitation says 10 pm, it’s never 10 pm. The question is…Is it 11 or later?  Sure enough around 10:45 pm others began gathering in a garden area that had 10 round tables set up along with a dance floor and party lights.

The women were sitting in one area and the men the other so John and I smiled and went to our respective groups. There I was received warmly by the other women with kisses and handshakes and told to sit down beside them. We chatted for a while as we waited for the family of the 1-year-old to make their appearance. During this time, a woman presented me with a piece of paper and a pen. I wasn’t sure what to do. She told me to write a blessing for the baby on the paper. I did and then put it in a giant plastic baby bottle designated.

Some of the decorations

From a side building 3 characters appeared that looked to be Winnie the Pooh, Donald Duck and Jerry (of the Tom and Jerry cartoons). The costumes were pretty busted, but the kids didn’t care. They swarmed them and began jumping up and down to greet them.

After a bit of visiting, the family of the birthday boy arrived and presented us with a tray of chocolates that had been individually decorated in blue with “Baby Boy” on top. I took one at her insistence as did the others. Once the tray was passed around, she ushered us into their home where a large table was laden with a giant sheet cake with her son’s picture on it. Around it were juice boxes, candies, mini-pizzas, the works.

As all people gathered around the table, giant sparklers were added to the cake and the lights were dimmed. We sang (to my shock) “Happy Birthday” in English as the sparklers lit up the room. Then a version in Arabic. We all clapped as the one year old looked around trying to figure out what was going on.

The cake!

The beaming father asked us to return to the garden where they served us pizza, salty snacks, cake and bottles of water. We visited with one another and wondered what else would happen at the party.

A magician appeared on stage and for the next hour he amused and thrilled the children. We were just getting ready to depart (as it was creeping up on 12:30 am) when the cartoon characters appeared and created a conga line of sorts. John was in the direct line of fire. Soon Winnie, Donald, Jerry and John were dancing up and down the aisles making the whole evening completely worthwhile.

As soon as he was able, he took an exit ramp and returned to his chair. More dance music was cranked and I was surprised that the whole playlist was Western music including, “Peanut Butter Jelly Time,” “Spon-gee Bob” and something by Akon (a 10 year old girl next to me told me).

Our sweet neighbor and the beautifully decorated table

The father danced with the newly turned one year old throwing him up in the air every once in a while to keep things exciting. The mother walked from table to table to make sure her guests were cared for. I could only see her eyes behind her veil, but she smiled warmly at me and pressed another piece of candy into my hand.

Some other local friends began saying their goodbyes, so John and I took that as our cue that we could as well. We thanked our host and said our goodbyes.

The next day we heard another sturdy knock on the door. It was our same little neighbor friend smiling and holding a gift bag that said, “Baby Boy.” She said that these were party favors from the host. She opened the bag and showed us the party confetti, glow-in-the-dark necklaces, candy and a blue ink pen.

We thanked her and smiled. Family here is premium and marking special events in their lives is important. We're so thankful to be a part, share life and to learn how to form a proper conga line. :)