birthday cakes.

So it’s been re-discovered that I can make cakes.

I’ve found an easy recipe—the “Great Depression cake” or “dump cake” or whatever not-so-great-term you want to use—basically, it’s ridiculously cheap to make, so that I can make one or two for about $1. I’m still sorting out the icing and trying to find dairy items on sale, but either way, it’s a pretty reasonable task. And a small investment is worth putting some weight onto these kids and celebrating their lives.

We’ve decided that we’ll make them all as a gift to the family at least for this first while—A year? A few months? Certain families? We’re playing it by ear until it gets out of hand!

It does mean that I’m now making two to three cakes a week and we’re attending a number of birthday parties. At least they’re adorable.

A few notes on birthday parties: they often involve us sitting at the honored spot. They also generally include excessively loud Burmese music on blown speakers. Cake is a very shared commodity—sometimes it is plated and given to a pair or a group to share.

We attended this party last year, when there weren’t enough spoons to go around; so we snuck some in our pocket and added them to a collection on the table.

At this party, the birthday girl was the only one with a plate and spoon. She would put a large piece on the plate and give a bite to each guest one at a time—starting with us, then to her parents, then to all the children and adults…then one bite to herself. Then we started all over the cycle again. By the third bite that came to me—and thus the spoon being reused some forty times, many to children I had give medicine to this week for fevers, coughs, and stomachaches—I said I was full. Between shared spoons and multiple parties, I’ll admit I’m a bit tired of cheap cake!

This family particularly liked the feeding-each-other model, and I turned around twice to literally have a cookie or bite of something shoved in my mouth|nose|cheek.

Birthday parties involve so many people in one {tiny} house. Everyone gathered, singing for someone, sharing food {& spoons}, and laughing. When we’re often dealing with fighting and injuries and sickness and hunger, it’s fun to see mouths full of sugar and faces full of smiles. It’s recently become a highlight of the community living!