Seeing as how this week’s focus in reading is family and cultural traditions, I think it’s the perfect time to talk about birthdays in the villages. It’s also pertinent because we’ve had three birthdays in the past week. Similarly to many things, birthdays are a bit different here.
Yesterday was Sophie’s birthday. She is one of the elder’s in the village and she might just be my favorite person ever because she’s so incredibly adorable. So in true village fashion, we heard it through the grapevine this morning that her birthday would be at 5:00pm. The villagers don’t really say it as “It’s Sophie’s birthday today, she’s having a party at 5”, they just say "Sophie’s birthday is at 5" and we know to stop by her house. The first time one of my kids said this a few weeks back I wanted to correct them but I let it go. Then I realized that all of the kids and most of the adults talk about birthdays based on the time of the celebration that will be held.
So yesterday at 5:00, we headed over to Sophie’s birthday potluck. Quite a few of the locals were there when we got there, and there was a small feast waiting for us. It was just like any family picnic with deviled eggs, potato salad, macaroni salad, and of course geese and whale (okay so it’s a little different than our Memorial Day menu). Basically when there’s a birthday, you go and wish the person happy birthday and then eat and stay for a bit and then leave. It’s more-so an open house than a birthday party. It would be perfectly acceptable to stay the whole time or just to stay for a few minutes.
The kid birthdays are a bit different. They are funnier to ask about their birthdays though. Last week, I asked one of my student’s when his birthday was because I knew it was coming up and he said “it’s this Friday at 5 o’clock”. It’s as if he didn’t realize that his birthday is all day long and that it’s just the time of his celebration. The kids generally seem to have just family show up and kids in the village. They play and eat and then everyone leaves. There are no gifts given from kid to kid, but my students love to show off the gifts they got from their parents.
This is just another time where I realize what’s really important. In the lower 48, kids complain when they don’t get the 37 presents that they want. The kids here though are ecstatic to get a new winter coat or a new pair of shoes as their gifts. Birthdays here are really just about celebrating the passing of another year and not about how many gifts they got or how fancy their party was. The one common theme to birthdays in the lower 48 is that there’s cake because what’s a birthday without off-key singing and a special birthday wish?
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