My birthday was on Wednesday and because I’m abroad I didn’t expect much of a celebration. It should be noted though, that I love birthdays! If I was in the States I would either celebrate with a bunch of friends or fly home and hang out with Kansas City friends.
Last weekend I went to Jaipur with a friend and had a lot of fun. I planned that trip to be sort of a birthday treat to myself that, and booking a couple of trips this summer to escape the Delhi heat. It’s only (only being the key word here, becuase it will get so. much. worse. from here on out) 108 here right now but I already feel like a sloth crawling through air made of peanut butter.
I have mentioned this before but my family has a family friend in Delhi thanks to my dad doing business over here when I was a kid. (Thanks for literally paving the way for me to live in India, dad!) He called on Saturday to see if I could come over on Wednesday for dinner and music with his family. Because there is literally nothing to do in Delhi except go to the mall people have these kind of get togethers all the time so I didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t mention that Wednesday was also my birthday because I felt awkward polluting their family plans with my birthday. Haha… little did I know they were planning the “get together” for me and were in cahoots with my parents.
I Ubered to their house on Wednesday night after work and arrived to a decorated house and a ready-to-celebrate family! I was SO surprised! Apparently they had written down my birthday when it had come up when I met them earlier in my stay.
It was a huge celebration! It started with cake before dinner because there is no other way to party, right?! They surprise Skyped my parents in which was so sweet. My parents loved it. You can see them on the phone I am holding in the picture below. After cake there was music and dancing. One of the family members is a great singer and one is a dance instructor so I basically had a private professional show. 😉 And then dinner. In India dinner means you have to have at least three servings of everything so I learned early to start small with my portions, like very small. After dinner we chilled on the rooftop terrace. Most homes in India have rooftop terraces which I love! I am sure they are wonderful in the spring and fall but right now they are only enjoyable at night when the temperature drops to the mid-70s. After some terrace chilling we had ice cream. It was a really tasty Indian flavor that I can’t remember the name of but it was so good.
The party ended late, around 11:30pm, as all Indian parties do. It was a blast and I am so thankful to have them here. They make India feel more like home and I know I have a whole family of people to hang out with and help me when I need it.
Best,
Rae