So, this week started out with an invitation to a birthday party for the younger sister, who was turning 12 years old, of one of my students.
It was at 8am on a Wednesday morning.
Apparently, the Burmese do not have the same time-line for celebrations as people in the West.
There were also about 200 people invited to their two-room bamboo house for breakfast, also unbelievable, but they made it work. Breakfast looks more like lunch in the U.S., spicy noodles with some meat, in sauce. They also had some fruit and pieces of pound cake on the side. People came in shifts, sitting down long enough to eat the large amounts of food being served, have some fruit and other treats offered, and then exiting soon after to continue on with their day.
Unlike a typical birthday party for a 12 year old, the birthday girl was part of the service squad, refilling drinks and bowls of "mohinga" (traditional Burmese breakfast of noodles, some fish, cilantro, and spices) as the guests came and went from the house throughout the morning.
The rest of the party was pretty traditional, with the birthday girl dressed in a party dress, a pretty barrette in her hair, and a birthday cake - though I am not sure if there was any singing and I didn't see any candles.
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