Birthdays are Universal

       Happiness is celebrating birthdays in any language and any country.

One of the joys of the evening was teaching everyone to sing 

"Happy Birthday" in English.

We laughed and tried to sing...mostly clapped, but the children got the idea and enjoyed the cake and candles. There are no ovens in a typical Thai kitchen, so the cake was store bought.

The little girl whose birthday it was lives in the house next to mine. For her gift I looked all over the little village to find a "Barbie" doll. It didn't exist. I happened to be lucky enough to find one in Bangkok, the only one with dark hair and a sparkling yellow gown. Needless to say she was very happy and took the doll to bed.

In the Thai culture every celebration is a party and centers around food and an evening of eating. Usually the cooking is done together and outside. The eating is done mostly with hands picking up noodles and sticky rice and then communally sharing all the side dishes.

One fish often feeds a whole family and the portions of pork, beef or chicken are very small, with lots of cabbage and green vegetables.

Cucumbers are a favorite. Lucky for me the really hot spicy sauces and dips are  usually separate and you can dip "nit-noy" (a little bit). I like Thai food and everyone laughs at me when I say "sap-sap" or "aroy," delicious!

  

 I am so grateful that everyone here in the community has welcomed me into their families.

Could it be that GOD is smiling ?