Last week Moriah turned 1. Whether or not she was completely aware of the fact...we aren't sure. But we tried to make the day special anyway. Some gifts and cards in the morning before breakfast started the day off...then it progressed into our normal work/office routine, where Moriah plays in the morning with her sitter, Gai. Plans for the afternoon included eating cake with our landlord's family...until we realized that another 1st birthday party was planned.
 |
| Apple Carrot Cake (She didn't touch the candle) |
 |
| Enjoying Birthday Blocks |
Earlier last week Jeffrey received an invitation at work. Assuming that it was just another wedding invitation (it is wedding season are there are invites almost once a week), left it on his desk, not really wanted to go to a wedding on Moriah's birthday evening. As it turned out the invitation was not to a wedding...but to a birthday party for Fa. When Kaarina and Jeffrey realized this, Jeffrey retrieved the invitation and sure enough it was a first birthday party of a girl born on the same day as Moriah.
In Laos, birthdays are not celebrated and hardly even mentioned...with the exception of first birthdays. We were exposed to this first birthday tradition in Vientiane, but have not seen it practiced in Tha Thom, until now. Fa's party started a 7pm...(Moriah's bedtime), but hey, what good is a birthday if you can't enjoy the whole day right? We arrived bearing the invitation envelop, returning it with cash (customary for both weddings and 1st birthdays). The whole side-street was blocked off with tents and tables full of food. This was bigger than some weddings we attended! We progressed to the family's home, buried behind the tents, tables and the stack of speakers blaring standard party tunes.
 |
| Fa and Moriah |
A crowd of kids filled the living room around a heavily frosted cake brought all the way from Vientiane for the occasion. The lights were turned out and candles were lit and extinguished after a very rough version of "Happy Birthday" sung Lao style (slower, with out the "dear 'Fa'" part, and birthday pronounced, "Burr-day"). Cake was distributed. Moriah tasted a little, but was far more intrigued by poking the red cherry embedded in the frosting, than with eating. Moriah's highlight of the evening was getting pushed around the house on a toddlers scooter with Fa.
 |
| Singing Happy Burr-day |
The rest of the party was adult-oriented, with traditional Lao party food of meat, soup, sticky rice, spicy dipping sauce and beer. We left before the dancing started with the help of a few big yawns from Moriah. The unexpected 1st birthday party had certainly worn her out!
