Birthdays

I hope everyone had a chance to read my last post, and I hope that many of you will accompany us on Ian's journey "from haiti to home." Most importantly, I hope you will pray for us and with us through the coming months. I have posted a link at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar for easy access to Ian's blog.

Having said that, it is now time to head "back to our regularly scheduled blog" ... Let's talk about birthdays!

Birthdays are a big deal in Latin America.

Especially the first, and then (for girls) the 15^th. On Saturday, our little neighbor boy turned one year old and we were invited to the party. His family is made up of his grandma; his mom; his dad; his aunt; his 2-year old cousin; and his young live-in nanny. They all live in the same house next door, they are all from Colombia, and the adults (with the exception of the grandma and nanny) are all professionals in the medical field.

On Christmas Eve, we stopped by with cookies and they invited us out to their back patio. To Pedro’s delight, they also offered us coffee … Colombian coffee, the real deal. It was a lovely visit, and we are glad to finally be getting to know them better.

At the birthday party, we spent a lot of time talking to our neighbors from the other side of our house. They are a young couple with a beautiful 1-year old girl. The husband’s long-time family nanny also lives with them, and a babysitter comes to the house daily. Both parents are professionals. They’ve been very friendly with us and we look forward to having them over sometime soon to become better acquainted.

Most of the attendees at the party were adult friends of the family, most were non-Chileans, and most were medical professionals. It was quite interesting! We enjoyed the experience of being around so many people whose lifestyles and life work are different than ours. Our kids enjoyed the party for the mere fact that it was candy, candy everywhere! And lots of pop, too. (Of course, getting them to bed afterwards was not quite as enjoyable …)

Isabel next to the birthday boy