Alex was invited to his first African birthday party here in the city... he was so excited! So, off to Little Caesars we go...
The invitation said that it started at 6 pm, so we should have known better than to be on time or even worry about being a few minutes late! The birthday boy wasn't even there yet and didn't come with his family until closer to 7:00. There were two other foreigners besides Alex there... probably the only three that go to his school, and we decided that was possibly the only reason we were invited in the first place. We didn't quite "blend" into the crowd :o) Apparently, to know foreigners, much less have three come to your birthday party, is a
really big deal here. Who knew we were so popular??
Anyway, the party finally got started and I couldn't believe all that took place over the next four hours... yes, I said FOUR hours! Really late and on a school night! First, they had hired a DJ to play really loud
American dance mix music... something from the 80's because I knew most of the words :o) Not really something I would have played for a group of children!
After we had all been deafened, a magician showed up to do a few magic tricks. You would have thought he would have the kids help him; but instead, he was apparently interested in one mother in particular! Thankfully, it
wasn't me! It was so funny and we even moved a few times to get out of his direct stare; however it didn't help much.
The next thing I knew, I had this bright light in my face... a
lot!! They had actually paid someone to videotape this entire birthday party... for a seven year old! However, most of the time he spent taping the three of us and our children! Who wants four hours of video footage of strange foreigners?? We laughed at the fact that we tape about thirty minutes of our weddings that we hardly watch, much less a birthday party for our children once you get past the time they turn one! Well, the music continued to be extremely loud, and by now all the locals had started smoking up a storm, so it was beginning to get more than just a
little uncomfortable for us!
After the magic show had ended, they had hired some poor, pitiful soul to dress up in various silly costumes and dance with the children! I think at one point they were supposed to be Mickey and Minnie Mouse; but they had really strange eyes :o)
Maybe Minnie Mouse... Not Sure??
This went on for about another hour or so and we couldn't figure out why they hadn't fed the children yet? One of the other mothers and I finally realized that they had all come home from school, took a nap, ate dinner... all
before coming to this party. So, not eating again until 10:00 or so would be normal to them... I am beginning to understand that our cultures are on vastly different schedules. It's all in what you are raised in and get used to, I guess... Well, we were starving! I was feeding our three kids chewing gum to fight off the hunger pains :o) Note to Self: Eat next time before leaving or bring snacks!
We wondered if they were ever going to get around to eating and cut the cake so we could go home. I had just talked to the birthday boy's mother and she said the person who was bringing the candles hadn't gotten there yet. I wish I had known... I'm sure we could find her a few candles to throw on that birthday cake. However, once I saw the theatrics behind lighting the cake, I realized that what we do to blow out the candles wouldn't have even compared to what was about to take place! After all they had done already, I wasn't sure how they were going to make this cake the center of attention... but they found a way! The owner of the Little Caesars had put the cake on this huge table because the cake was huge! They had placed four, big sparkler tubes on each corner of the cake and once those were lit, they started shooting straight up into the air! They had turned out all the lights, so when the cake got surrounded by smaller sparkler sticks... it was truly amazing! Then, all of a sudden, a large amount of confetti fell from the ceiling... all over this cake I was about to have to eat :o) For the finale, they covered
everything in silly string to finish up the presentation of this cake. However, I thought I was going to roll in the floor laughing when I finally got a glimpse of this cake! They have a few party themes around here to choose from for a seven year old boy... Spiderman, Transformers... but do you know who was on the center of that cake?? A huge decoration of a scene from the Tom and Jerry cartoon!! I knew now that I had finally seen it all...
The Fireworks Display!!
Finally, it was time to eat and I laughed at the fact that they were going to feed these children pizza, soft drinks, and chocolate cake at 10:30 at night! We were ready to go home and go to bed :o) Even Alex had said he'd had enough and that's
never like him! So, once we noticed a few people starting to leave after the cake had been cut, we decided it was time to make a quick exit!
What a night! It was interesting to see how different cultures celebrate a child's birthday. I couldn't help but think just how disappointed they will be if they ever came to one of Alex's birthday parties :o) We're just not that much fun!
Do We Look Tired??
