Muleya's Birthday Party

I got to attend a nice little birthday party last weekend. Well, I guess you could call it a birthday party. Whatever it was, it was fun.

Muleya, my little next door neighbor and sister of the infamous (infamous means MORE than famous) Junior the Pooper, was turning five. Birthdays aren’t that big of a deal ‘round these parts, but people do take note of them and sometimes celebrate.

So, I figured, what better way to celebrate than by slaughtering a live animal? I dropped some money on Chealo, Muleya’s 18 year old cousin, and got her to pick up a big ol’ chicken at the local market for supper. Chickens aren’t that expensive. We got a big one for K20,000, about US $4. Still, you have to keep in mind that Zambia is one of the world’s poorest countries and many can’t afford to eat chicken on a regular basis, so it’s a nice treat.

As usual, I insisted that I be the one to do the slaughtering. Having financed the purchasing of the bird I didn’t feel out of line in doing so. So, I sliced it up and gave it over to Chealo to cook up.

Oh boy, what a party. We sat out on mats on the ground in the back yard and ate chicken and nsima and cabbage. We talked and laughed and threw food at each other. It was a clear, breezy night and the stars were out and in full effect. The cows were mooing and serenading us in the background.

The party suffered a minor setback when the birthday girl, walking around with her chicken in her hand, tripped and dropped her chicken in the sand. Man, she started bawling. I told her that it was ok, that it was her party and she could cry if she wanted to.

So, all in all it wasn’t that different from most other nights here. They usually eat outside like that and I often join them. But we did get to eat a big ol’ chicken, and that was nice. In a way I felt like I was back home at Two-For Tuesday.

So that was the “party”.

Later on we were sitting around and chatting, and we started talking about Christmas. They asked me what we did at Christmas time in the US. So I told them. I asked them what they did for Christmas here. One of the girls looked at me and said quite matter-of-factly, “Well, Sam, pretty much exactly what we’re doing right now,” ie. sitting around and not doing much of anything. She didn’t say it in a negative way. Just stating the facts.

I’ve come to find out that most churches have a lot going on around Christmas time, but, for the most part, it sounds like there won’t be a whole lot going on different from the usual.

That’s how it goes out here in Siavonga. There ain’t much changing from day to day.

And you know what? That’s a-ok with me. Give me a little chicken here and there and I’ll do just fine.