Kaela’s Birthday

By Cindy

We celebrated Kaela’s 7th birthday this past Tuesday. Aaron and I knew that, compared to her fancy birthday party in the US last year, this year’s celebration might not seem as spectacular. We tried to “gently” prepare her for that ahead of time. At the same time, we wanted to try and make it a special day for her. So, Monday night after she and Melia had fallen asleep, Aaron and I hung some balloons and decorations to surprise her when she woke up in the morning. This was no easy feat to do quietly since she sleeps on the top bunk and her bed is about the same height as the dividing wall in our house. Kaela can basically peer over the wall at any time and see what is going on in the other room. And since we were hanging decorations about three feet from her, we wondered if she might wake up and catch us at our decorating. But, she didn’t!

Sure enough, she woke up on Tuesday morning surprised and excited over the decorations we had put up, especially the High School Musical napkins that were sitting out on the breakfast table. We let her open one of her presents at breakfast, some clothes and a little activity book from the Brandells. One of the dresses looks very much like a ballet dancing dress. Kaela loved it immediately and has worn it every day since her birthday. Soon I will have to confiscate it for washing!

On Monday, Abu Philip “Security”, had informed us that he and his wife wanted to come eat lunch with us and celebrate. I knew I could expect anywhere from 2-5 guests for lunch. Fortunately, I knew they would bring food with them, so I wouldn’t have to worry about cooking for an unknown number of people. With the knowledge that Abu Security and family were coming for lunch, Aaron and I had to forewarn Kaela that they would likely make her a laplap and bring it as a gift. To say she was dismayed by the prospect is an understatement. Kaela tolerates laplap, but doesn’t love it the same way Melia does. Unfortunately, we had to tell her that she ought to expect a laplap or similar gift from anyone she had told that her birthday was on Tuesday. It is a difficult concept for her to understand. The idea that if she tells someone that her birthday is coming in the USA or in Port Vila she might be blessed to get a toy or some clothes for a present. However, in Tanna, things are different. People don’t have the money to run out and buy a little gift at a store and a trip to town is more complicated than simply hopping on a bus for 10 minutes to get to the store in which you want to go. So, people give food for gifts, more often than not. Therefore, we had to prepare Kaela for what to expect and remind her that even if you receive a gift that isn’t something you particularly like, you still have to receive it with a thankful heart and a smile for the person giving it to you.

Well, lunch time came. I prepared our lunch and not long after, Abu Security and his wife, Abu Yesweh, arrived with two of their small grandchildren. They brought some susut and noodle soup and a taro laplap. I dished up the plates for us all and we had just began to eat when another Abu woman (I can’t recall her name) arrived with her granddaughter and another taro laplap. So, I dished up their plates, as well. About 10 minutes later Tess arrived with Kowia, baby Ron-Jon, Sandy, and Patu…and some goopy-looking banana laplap. Needless to say, we had a lot of laplap! So, I dished up plates for all of them. Lina, our housegirl, and I kept having to run outside and wash plates and silverware because there wasn’t enough go around. Finally, the people had finished arriving. You recall that I was expecting 2-5 guests and we ended up with 11! Ah, such is life in Vanuatu! Even though I had shared some of the laplaps with our guests, there was still more left than I knew what to do with…and I really didn’t want get stuck with it (not that I wanted them to know that)! So, I quietly enquired of Lina what I ought to do with all of the extra laplap, since there was so much of it. She suggested that we divide it up and share it with those who had come to eat with us. So, I did and I am happy…no thrilled!...to tell you that I managed to give away every bit of that laplap! Aaron and I agreed that we really dodged the bullet on that one!

When lunch was finished, I brought out Kaela’s birthday cake. I had baked it down at Harry and Tess’ kitchen on their fire. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate-peanut butter frosting and it turned out quite tasty! It was only a 9x9 inch cake and I had to cut it in 20 pieces to make enough for all of us present (there were 16 of us), plus for several who were unable to make it to the party. So, you can imagine the size of the pieces! They were all quite small, but at least we each got a taste and I let Tess clean up the cake pan and all the crumbs. She was as delighted as a child over that prospect. Chocolate cake is a rarity in the bush and Tess loves chocolate cake, so I knew she would be very happy to clean up the pan!

We waited until after rest time (long after our guests had gone home) to open presents. Kaela was thrilled over all of her gifts. She most loved a small backpack she got that is black and white with butterfly designs all over it (all in white). The bag came with a set of 5 permanent fabric markers so she could color it any color she wanted. She loved that and set to work on it immediately. She also was happy to get her very first Bible. She loves to sit and read her Bible while we are holding Bible studies and such. She most loves the stories about Ehud and Aichan (for some reason) and has read the books of Esther and Ruth all the way through.

It was a good birthday for her and a nice day all together. It might not have been the most “conventional” birthday party for a 7-year-old, but she didn’t seem to be the least bit disappointed. Aaron and I were very proud of how well she just took it all in stride and ended up with a lovely birthday. As for Melia, she is already letting us know that her birthday is coming very soon, even though it is still 3 months away. She is just sure her turn for presents is right around the corner!