Bolivian Birthday

I always find Bolivian birthday parties fun... especially the ones at our homes. Last night we celebrated Ariel's 17th birthday. We had Sajta de Pollo, which is a traditional dish from La Paz, played a lot of canchitas (foosball), had birthday cake and opened gifts. The tradition is to eat dinner, then hang out for a while playing games, sing, stuff the Birthday boy's face in the cake, and then open gifts. Last night was extra special though, since the boys managed to get Ariel's entire face in the cake.

After we sing "Happy Birthday", the tradition in Bolivia is to take a bite of your cake... which in our homes usually happens with a bit of assistance. In our home usually one of the adults gets behind the boy to "protect" them from the other boys pushing their face into the cake. It then becomes a competition to see if the person taking the bite can do it quick enough that nobody notices and escape with just a small bite, or if it will be obvious that they are taking a bite and everybody will push their face into the cake. Sometimes they escape with just a small bite... but not usually.

After eating what was left of the cake we all sat down for Ariel to open his gifts. We start by offering a chance for the other boys to share words of encouragement to the birthday boy, and usually they do. Some are funny, and some are serious. We then pray for the life of Ariel, giving thanks to God for him becoming part of our family, and open gifts. After the gifts it is back to game time until everybody is tired and ready to head home.