All that and a hurdy-gurdy for my first guyanese birthday!

This is a shot of my friend Buddy and I "sticking the cake" (a Guyanese birthday tradition). North Americans do the same things at weddings (cut the cake together and feed each other a piece), but it is an every year birthday tradition here. My facial expression indicates my confusion about whether or not I was supposed to fit the whole piece in my mouth in one big bite or not. Apparently, all in one bite is NOT necessary, so I managed to end up with some frosting on my chin to finish off during the second bite. As you can see, my neighbor, Julie in the back to the right of Buddy, is enjoying my first guyanese birthday cake experience, too. Perhaps I'll be a little more polished next February (I'll put up a picture for comparison!).

The day was wonderful. Eileen and Lisa and our friends Vanessa, Anthony, Damion and Jenny all helped us prepare enough food for all the people we invited. Eileen thinks there were probably about 35 people during the course of the afternoon/evening (it went from 4 until 8:30). It was mostly just an excuse to come together, celebrate and enjoy each other. I think we managed to do that. We served an array of little foods, from little pastries stuffed with chicken salad to pilouri (spicy fried dough, sort of like a hush puppy, also served with mango sour - yum!) to pizza to deviled eggs - it was an appetizer feast! The cake was excellent, and I learned that candles are sold in boxes of 24 - so this is the last year I can get by with just one box! Man, oh man was that cake tough to blow out, though! Three last little flames winking at my futile attempts to huff and puff them out were all that kept me from my birthday wishes coming true! Well, actually, I think my birthday wishes came true in spite of the candles ;o)

The picture of our living room shows several of the Sisters and many of our friends who came over to get the party started. It was the first time we've had them over to the house, so Eileen and I joked that it was a little bit like our guyanese debutante ball - finally entering into guyanese society and opening our home to others in a big way. I had a fun time waltzing and doing our version of the tango with my new little friend Kimberly (the daughter of one of my coworkers at Mercy Wings). And when it was all over, a slightly dazed Lisa, Eileen and I documented the fancy-schmancy shirt with sparkles on it that I received as one of my gifts. Never one to miss out on an opportunity for dress up, I got all glamored up. I guess I'm ready for Guyanese nightlife now!



Lisa left early early in the morning on the 14th. She got a ride to the airport (located about an hour out of town) at 3:30 am in order to catch the 5:45 flight heading back to the states. Such is the convenience of the Timheri airport. I think there are only two flights a day that leave, and one is always at an ungodly hour. We will miss her terribly. No one else could laugh with us about our unfortunate choice of mixing bowls in the market, or remind us that it wouldn't be Guyana if our envelopes didn't seal themselves shut. The mixing bowl fiasco originated because we have no mixing or serving bowls - just pots. Eileen was mesmerized with the choices of sizes and colors at the market, and was confused by the little handles on all of them. She chose two and brought them home and they looked great to us. Only later that night did we learn our dreadful mistake: what we took as mixing bowls are actually used in Guyanese homes that have no plumbing. They are bedpans. The women who saw us mixing food in them in our kitchen practically lost their breath laughing so hard, and warned us never to show ANYONE the bowls we're mixing their food in. Ah, the learning curve. That same bowl appears as my trendy hat in this funny shot: me and my bedpan bowler, Lisa and her duty-free demerara rum gift, Eileen and her favorite cook-up doll. We had a wonderful time together.

And of course, no birthday would be complete without a serenade from my folks. Last year it was accordion and guitar. This year the repetoire (can't spell in French?!) included a new family instrument: the hurdy gurdy. This is originally a French instrument, played all the way back to Renaissance times. I hear it is currently resurfacing in American and French-Canadian folk music - so keep an ear out for it. I like to think of it as a stringed bagpipe. You wind a crank and there is a chord that drones in the background as you push keys to play your melody over it. It's a neat little thing, and I can't wait to SEE my mom play it! Thanks guys, and thank you family and friends for the birthday cards and emails! It was truly special.