Deja Vu

Bad news: I've been duped again.
Good news: the dance party trend in Rwanda continues.

In my community there is a small (and by small, I mean large) obsession with surprise birthday parties. Is it really a surprise anymore when every single person is given one? Get back to me on that one. On top of that most of the guests attending aren't even told. Hence, me being duped.

So let's fast forward to the point where I am pulled outside by a coworker, ushered into another coworker's house and shown the birthday cake we are going to surprise Edison with. Again, nothing tipped me off! Rwanda has made me gullible, to surprise parties that aren't even mine!

When I was invited the day before by Fidele (surgery nurse), I didn't think anything about it. He had promised to have us over sometime. Then when I showed up and saw a bunch of other coworkers, including my supervisor Fidele who doesn't really know all of these other people, again didn't think anything of it. Then when even more coworkers were outside cooking, not a second thought.

So I'm really glad this second surprise birthday party happened so I can tell you a few things I forgot on the first go around.

Cake: Cake does exist here. Most Rwandans don't make it at home because they don't have ovens…and don't know how. If you ask them for cake, most will give you a ball of fried dough. There's a love of the fried dough here. I can't completely complain but variety is nice. So this birthday cake was store bought. They even personalized the frosting to have Edison's name on it. We lit candles and did the dramatic walking into a dark room with a lit cake. There was an interesting rendition of Happy Birthday and then How Old Are You. I've had quite a few cakes in Rwanda and questioned their ingredients. There is just something missing. Sugar perhaps. I'm no baking expert but it doesn't taste the same.

Gifts: I've noticed a trend among gifts, especially smaller ones of the birthday variety, not so much wedding. It involves food. Edison was given so much nutritiously horrible food I'm afraid he might have a heart attack in the next couple days if he downs it all.

Dance party: Yes, a dance party happened. I have to say I have a group of the most awkward/funniest dancers as coworkers. It was a mix between bad seventh grade dance and a home for senior citizens let loose. It spiraled into goofiness pretty quickly and quite a few times I had to catch my breathe from giggling so much. They have some interesting moves here. The upside, anything I did instantly became cool and copied. So needless to say I'm reveling in my status as the 'cool kid' in Rwanda. I'm also thankful I'm not Facebook friends with my coworkers. In America I would be dreading the inevitable next day FB posting of embarrassing dance pictures. In Rwanda I believe it equates to these pictures being shown for years upon years to people thinking 'Who is that white girl?'. I'm not being self-involved. The busting out of a photo album is a common occurrence during visits.

Speech: You, as the guest of honor, are expected to give a small speech. In the case of my birthday I had to tell everyone what my future life plans were. It sort of felt like 'where do you see yourself in five years' interview question. Edison had more of a free forum and was able to thank everyone for coming and celebrating. I remember at the very end of my training, almost my whole house went out for drinks as a bittersweet celebration. One of our language teachers stood up and gave a speech. It was incredibly sweet and heartfelt, yet I didn't realize how common marking an occasion with a speech was. It's kind of nice, as long as I'm not the one being stared at by everyone and put on the spot :)

So the November-birthday-filled-month is over. We had five coworker birthdays in November. Our next one is on Christmas and we are all invited to her house. I think I'll be passing on that one. Who knows, we'll probably have a surprise party after vacation.