First Party:
Location: Our house
Time: 11 AM
Guest: Children that live on our road.
The invitations were passed out two days before the party. In this country, procrastinators are guilt free because it's totally acceptable to pass out invitations to your party two days before the date! The girl next door went with me to each house that had children in it to hand them out. It was so interesting to observe how she would call her friends outside. In America, we can knock or ring a doorbell. Here there are gates that keep you from front doors and some have dogs behind those gates. She would almost sing her friends name... I've tried to replicate it but fall flat every time. We had a list of about 25 kids that lived on our road. I forgot that Indonesians have school on Saturday, so some would either come late or not be able to make it.
We made our own bucket of bubbles and wands. We cut the top and bottom out of a can so we could make large bubbles. We had cake and koolaid inside the house. This was a treat for our neighbors because they ate "American" cake (which is sweeter than Indonesian cake), they drank "American" koolaid (which wasn't as sweet, because we took it easy on the sugar), and they were invited to come inside the house. The inside of our house looks different than the inside of theirs... and I have the same reaction when invited inside their homes. I want to look around at everything, without seeming like I want to look at everything- but I REALLY do. All of the sudden it hit me, they want to experience American culture, so we did. We had activities that I thought kids like to do- bubbles, cake, koolaid, presents. I asked if we could celebrate like we would if we were in America. They were soooooo excited about that. So, we sang Happy Birthday in English, which they all knew. We shared a homemade cake, which they gobbled up. One kid had at least three pieces. One difference that I asked for permission to change was the opening of presents. In Indonesia the presents are not opened in front of the giver. In America, the present is opened in front of them. I asked if Kate could open her presents in front of them like we would in America, and they were so excited to see what their friends had given her. Kate couldn't really open the gifts, but we had MANY helpers. After that, they said thanks and went home by 12:30 PM.
Kate took a nap. We rested.
Party Number 2
Location: HIS Playground
Time: 3:30? hmmm... I can't remember. It was post nap time.
Guests: Kate's friends from soccer, playgroup, and some of our adult friends who are like family
A friend made a sweet cupcake-cake in the shape of a butterfly for the guests. Others brought koolaid. Some friends arrived early to help decorate and watch Kate. Another friend took pictures, so we could enjoy this moment.
Activities: We had bubbles. We colored. Each child had a coloring sheet that was the first letter of their name. They had a box crayons that they could take home, as well as a container of bubbles. We had cake. We sang Happy Birthday, and we watched Kate eat her own chocolate frosted butterfly cake. We opened presents.
We wrapped the party up around 5:30 and were home by 6- all of us worn out from the day. Yes, looking back I think we were a bit crazy. But would I change anything? Not one thing. I love our friends, but really I was more excited about the neighborhood party. This was the first time since we've lived here that we have time to build relationships. This party has opened the door even wider for meaningful relationships with the people that we interact with daily. I'm really excited about what's happening in our neighborhood!
Happy birthday, Sweet Baby Kate! We love you so, so, SO much!
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