Birthdays!

Since we didn't quite manage to get a Christmas party in before everyone left for their Christmas trips, and since we didn't quite manage to get a New Year's party when everyone came back, and since we didn't quite manage to have a "dedication" party for any of our new offices and renovations, we had a party today!

The main reason for having the party was to have a birthday party for all those who were born on January 1. Yes, several, if not most, of the folks we work with here have January 1 as their official birthdates. See, most of them don't actually know what day they were born - they just have an idea of which year they may have been born in. So when they went to get all their official documents and ID cards etc., they all just default to "January 1"!

So Pam and I ordered up a bunch of take-away food from the local restaurant (fried chicken, fried meat, rice and bread), Pam baked a cake, and we had a great time together over lunch today! Everyone feasted and enjoyed each other's company. We had a lovely time of prayer together, thanking God for all his blessings and dedicating the new year and the new offices and kitchen to His service.

And then, of course, we played games! I love living and working in a place where you can get a group of grown men together to play silly games! We had a great time together and played some games in a very interesting mix of English and Arabic. The main thing is that we didn't have any casualties, though one of the young women who works in the guesthouse did take quite a tumble over her plastic chair!

Once the partying was over, it was back to work! I forgot to take any photos of the festivities, nor do I have a photo of our new offices yet, so you'll just have to use your imagination for another day or two. All day, Jackie and I were working on these Implementation Guidelines for the language and education policy here. Phew, it's a bit of a mouthful... and a bit of a huge document, too! So, my brain is a little on the tired side, which is why I'm off to bed!