The Big One
& nbsp; Filipinos celebrate the first birthday of their babies like crazy. I remember my daughter’s first birthday we had to rent a huge place to accommodate about 80 to 100 people. And we did fill the place! Americans are baffled why we do that and really, we don’t know. I guess its just tradition passed on from generation to generation. I recently learned that it’s not unique to Filipinos, but Hawaiians and other islanders also celebrate big on a child’s first birthday. But their reason for doing that is much clearer. You see, the children mortality rate of islanders is pretty high due in large part to poverty and thus, limited access to medicine and medical facilities to fight diseases like malaria and hepatitis. So reaching 1 year old is a significant milestone for them because they believe the immune system of the child is fully developed and it can better fight those freaking microbes. I actually heard islanders save up for this special occasion.
& nbsp; We celebrated my niece’s first birthday last Sunday and here’s a little insider’s peak to the kind of effort that we put into this big event. (1) My sister in law flew her mother-in-law from California to cook her specialty dishes. She is one excellent cook I tell you. We immensely enjoyed the porcupine she cooked for us one time. No, it’s not the actual animal but the dish is a version of meatballs with a lot of spices in it that it tastes heavenly. Couple that with grated corn a little bit sweetened with caramel (I think). Then the next night she cooked meatloaf and I ate a ton of it. I’m not usually a big eater but I gobbled up 2 thick slices of it in a jiffy. (2) We also enlisted the help of seven friends to cook for the party! My wife actually took Friday off to shop for the ingredients with her sister. Then they (the sisters, the birthday baby’s grandma and the 7 friends, so ten cooks all in all!) took the whole day of Saturday and half of Sunday to cook all the food. Man, you’d think they were about to feed 2 football teams that had just finished fasting for a week. Although it’s satisfying to hear from the guests when they complement the food, the Filipino food in particular. (3) Then we had to set up the venue of the party. Set up the tables and chairs and the decorations (banners, balloons, pictures, the works). (4) Then for the actual party we entertained the little ones with what else, but clowns. My brother-in-law wasn’t that satisfied with them cause they performed very boring magic tricks (the usual handkerchiefs turning into a flag, the disappearing toy or something). Gee, they were so boring that trying to recall them is making me yawn. But they were a cute combo because there were three of them, the magic performer was the mom (she also did some face painting) and her two daughters (also dressed up as clowns) were on the side making some animal balloons. (5) We entertained the adults with some games, some of them were playing chess, some playing Xbox, some were singing karaoke, and some, to my surprise were actually having a conversation with each other! You know, this art of conversation is slowly dying. What I mean is live, face-to-face conversation. In this age of cell phones and emails, it’s really nice to meet someone new and try to come up with subjects that you can talk about. (6) I took the role of videographer or filmmaker if you would, cause this frigging word processor is flagging the word videographer as a non-word. I learned a hard lesson from experience that you don’t take more than 30 minutes of footage or anyone who will watch the video, including the birthday celebrant’s parents, will be bored watching it. (7) Then after the party, we had to clean the place or they will take some or all of the $200 deposit we left besides the $150 rental fee. When you have a lot of friends, cleaning a huge place is not that difficult. Now that’s how you know if they’re real friends, if they stay after the food is gone, LOL. (8 ) So after a dozen yummy dishes, about 60 guests, one and a half months of planning and preparation, mountains of toys, clothes, and birthday cards received, I would say we gave my niece one birthday party to remember.
A proverb a day keep sins away
In this post, I want to share another proverb with you that I find to be very beneficial to remember.
& nbsp; &n bsp; &nb sp; My child, pay attention to what your father and mother tell you. Their teaching will improve your character as a handsome turban or a necklace improves your appearance.
& nbsp; &n bsp; &nb sp; & nbsp; &n bsp; &nb sp; Proverbs 1:8 (TEV)
& nbsp; &n bsp; &nb sp; My dad always taught me to ask questions, to never be afraid to inquire if I don’t understand something. I have always kept this advice specially regarding assumptions. I question every assumption. This is a very tedious task but I believe it is well worth it when you prove or disprove an assumption.
& nbsp; &n bsp; &nb sp; Another teaching of my dad is to save as much as you can. He reasoned that not all times are time of plenty, but there will come a time that we will need the money that we sock away. My dad is one of the most frugal people I have ever known, but he also has been one of the most generous towards his loved ones.
& nbsp; &n bsp; &nb sp; My mom always tells me to drink lots of water and eat lots of fruits. The Bible tells us that wisdom will give us a long and pleasurable life and I think this one will literally prolong your life if you follow it. It seems to be a very simplistic and obvious advice but if you look at what people eat and drink nowadays, you can easily say that this advice is not being followed.
