birthday-ing.

Lot’s of birthdays here at the end of January.  Kenny’s.  Mine.  Two of Judah and Amelie’s playground friends.  So it was a birthday-ing weekend here.

Saturday evening was Dhruv’s two-year-old birthday party in the all-purpose room at our apartment complex.  And Sunday afternoon was my friend Asma’s youngest daughter birthday at a little cafe down the street (incidentally, the cafe from this post).

Here are pictures from yesterday’s festivities.  As you can tell, birthday parties are a big deal here.  At one point yesterday, Jonathan said, “This doesn’t feel so much like a birthday party as a rave.”  There was techno music blaring, people crammed together, shouting, dancing.  Typically, there are lots of relatives present as well, but since Asma and her husband are from up north, this group was comprised of neighbors, co-workers and preschool friends.

This weekend will be treasured away in our memory banks because it was one more tentative step forward into the life of our community here.  It felt really good, as an outsider, to be included.  To be welcomed.  To be told our presence matters.  And, it was just plain fun.