Cake and exploding candles

As much as I tried to let my birthday on the 25th pass by without a fuss, it didn't end up working out that way. Through various ways, including a concession on my part, my host family hosted a little celebration for me with a bunch of the extended family. My host mom made a nice cake for me and one of my aunts put a big candle in the middle for me to blow out. They sang happy birthday to me in English, Arabic, another Arabic happy birthday song that is actually in English, and in Spanish! So it was a very multi-lingual celebration. My host family gave me a nice shirt from their clothing shop, another hint at my need to improve my wardrobe :)

Singing happy birthday before I blew out the candle

The day after my birthday, I was in a taxi with some other HLT interns and the HLT non-violence coordinator, Marwan, coming back from an outing. Somehow it got out that my birthday had been the day before, and Marwan got very upset that I hadn't let them celebrate it with me. He dropped me off back at the office and then he, with two of my friends, Meggie and Carrie, left to go "get something for the office." Once they got back, Meggie and Carrie blandly said Marwan needed the three of us in his office, and then after a few minutes they took me to the kitchen where everyone in the office was waiting, with a cake and sparking candles!! As tradition calls for, I cut the cake for everyone and then we all enjoyed the snack. I thanked Marwan profusely for making me feel so special.. he is one of my favorite people in the office.

So, I had a few great birthday celebrations! I also got to talk to my parents AND to one of my best friends Amanda on my birthday, which was a huge treat. Thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes :)

Making malfuuf (rice and meat wrapped in cabbage) with some of the women in my family

From now on, I am going to try to put links in my posts to current articles about Palestine and issues connected to it. For those of you who are interested in becoming more informed and up-to-date on the situation here, check out some of these articles!

The struggle of Palestinian communities to remain on their land

International law and the upcoming Palestinian bid for statehood in the UN

Sami Awad talks about Muslim and Christian involvement in non-violence in Palestine

Israeli attacks on non-violent protesters in the West Bank this week