Happy Birthday to you

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Birthdays are very special days...especially when you have never had one in your 21 years. We just provided a birthday cake (2 layered yellow cake with chocolate frosting) for our friend Stefano who turned 22.
Even without a birth certificate, he knew the date but had never celebrated the event. So, true to our PC mission of bringing a taste of American culture to TZ, we supplied him with The Works, complete with candles and song. He was so appreciative. But, then Samwel who had joined us for lunch & cake (can't do ice cream) said "I have an April Birthday, too." TZ don't understand our humor as I said, "Yes, sure, you just want cake."But, I love baking on our charcoal jiko 1 layer at a time, so I agreed and we set it up. Lunch and cake at his home.
After we hiked up his steep hill, we found a lovely lunch waiting for us and all the family waiting for cake. Many spoonfuls later (ugali, rice, beans, bananas) we had cleaned our plates and were now ready for dessert. With singing and candles aglow, we cut the cake and served little bits on toothpicks. No big slice for anyone, but it was wonderful and Samwel immediately ran into a bedroom and proudly displayed a TZ birth certificate proving that he was 21 in April. We then began our trip down the steep decline in the rain carrying fresh pears, and 3 very fresh eggs. As we were leaving Samwel's Form 1 sister helped carry our bags of farm fresh goodies and she kept looking at the cake, now wrapped in newspaper which he was taking to his friends. I said, "Do you know when your birthday is?" She nodded and replied, "May." Of course I asked if she would like a cake too and surprise...and answer was "YES". So, I'm glad we bought a big bag of charcoal and it could wait until after COS Conference. Move over Betty Crocker. Bye for now and look forward to the chimps. Dave & Wendy

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