If anyone knows me well, they know that I love birthdays and celebrating them with friends and family. I love to spoil friends with gifts and cards. As an RA senior year, I made sure each of my residents got a birthday sign and made sure each of them got a special treat like cupcakes or brownies. I always enjoy making other people feel special on their birthdays and feel so blessed when people do it for me on mine. This year, my roommates and I were at a music festival for the weekend and had a great time camping and listening to some great music. On my birthday, my roommates treated me to Titanic 3D which was amazing and a perfect birthday present! They also made me a delicious dinner and cake and a great card to remember it all. My birthday ended with a Skype call with my parents who missed having me home to celebrate but held up a pint of Cherry Garcia with two candles so they could see me make a wish. It was all very thoughtful and I appreciated everything that went into making my birthday in Africa so special. I even had the day off from work for South African Family Day which was a nice break.
The following day at St. Theresa’s Lyle turned 13 and I was there to celebrate with him and the rest of the boys from Cottage 3. I took down all their birthdays at the beginning of the year to make sure I remembered them all and were able to do something special for each of them. Lyle was the first one I was here for so I brought the cottage mini cupcakes and candles so we could sing. I lit the candles in the cupcake he picked and we all sang happy birthday to him. It was a great moment to see all the kids singing and having the spotlight on Lyle for a couple of minutes. From the looks of the excitement on the boys’ faces, I don’t think the Uncles and Aunties do anything special for the boys birthdays so I was happy to make Lyle for special. Lyle is usually pretty quiet but when he does talk, he always has plenty of questions about what life is like in America . He asked me how I usually celebrated my birthday and I told him that I always blow out a birthday candle and make a wish. It was very nice to share this little piece of home with him and the rest of the cottage. After Lyle blew out his candles, Auntie remembered that it was my birthday the day before so we relit the candles and everyone sang to me. Of course the rest of the afternoon was blown from all the sugar the boys had but the lack of homework was worth the smiles on Lyle and the rest of the boys faces.
On Wednesday, we went to our biweekly dinner at Kloof Parish with the priests. Gogo Flossy cooked a delicious pasta dinner and the conversation was great as always. Then Father Frank said that there was a very special dessert for everyone. He then came out with a birthday cake and everyone sang happy birthday to me and my roommate Kevin, whose birthday was 2 weeks before mine. I had no idea this was coming and was flattered that they took time to get a birthday cake for us. The extra special part of the whole meal was that Gogo Flossy actually sat down and had a piece of birthday cake with us. Gogo is the cook for the priests and never sits down to eat her own meal. Father Frank invited her to join us for dessert and she hesitantly accepted. She sat next to me and quietly enjoyed her piece of cake while the rest of us continued our conversation. It was great for Gogo to be a part of my birthday celebration along with all the priests and Brother Craig at Kloof Parish.
Turning 24 has been quite the whirlwind of feelings and emotions but I feel so blessed to be a part of this community and program in South Africa . My birthday was perfect because of Kellie, Kevin, and Matt and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for all the love they have showed me. Birthdays are special no matter where you are in the world. I am so blessed to be able to say that I shared my birthday with these amazing people in my life. I hope you all special you are and enjoy your birthday whenever it is! Just a little shout out to my brother Steven whose 21st birthday is ironically today, the day I am posting this blog about birthdays. I hope you have a great birthday Steven and all your wishes come true. I love and miss you all but know that I will be thinking of you on your birthday even though I can’t be physically with you to celebrate.
Halala ngosuku lokuzalwa (Happy Birthday in Zulu) to everyone!
South African Fact: Dessert is called pudding in South Africa . Also when we were teaching body parts at St. Leo, I found out that our American “head, shoulders, knees and toes” song is actually “head, shoulders, chest, waist, knees and toes” in South Africa/Zulu.
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