My Host Sister Colle's Bday

So I woke up this Thursday morning and wished my roommate and host sister, Colle, a Happy Birthday. I promptly fell back asleep lol. But she went off to work and I had my classes and work to go to – so it wasn’t until evening that the real birthday spirit was on.

Of course, since it was Ramadan we had to wait to break the fast. There was some bread and hot beverages – and I thought that would be all to break the fast and then dinner. Boy was I wrong. Minutes before the calls from the mosque, some of Colle’s friends burst through the door saying “Surprise”. With them were huge platters of food – unbelievable! There were crepes, croissant sandwiches and more cheese/sausage sandwiches. Then my host mom brought out some begne she had made and some fataya (a fish pastry thing) the maid had prepared.

Can you spot the sandwiches, croissants, crepes and begne?

We still managed patience to have our dates first – and then it was time to dig in. The air was full of conversation and laughter as we all ate – I ate my fill and it wasn’t even dinner yet.

As the platter of dinner arrived - all waiting patiently to eat AGAIN

After a little pause, it was dinner time. We had grilled lamb and chicken with fries, served with salad. Absolutely delicious. I am surprised we could eat more.

But that’s when the cake came. I took a pic of it and the next time I looked there was Colle cutting her cake. I immediately put a stop to it – insisting that we at least sing “Happy Birthday”. And Happy Birthday it was IN English lol because I really didn’t know it any other language – so it was mainly me singing.

Cake time!

I then allowed her to carry on with the cake cutting and we all had a slice of deliciousness. I am not sure if I felt guilty after all this, but I decided to be ‘healthy’ and have cubed mangoes as my second dessert. My host sisters were too full, but at least my host mom joined me eating the mango.

Colle cutting the cake!

This post is probably a lot about food – but I think food is a universal language whereas I can’t explain some of the things my host sister and her friends were saying in Wolof cause I don’t understand – I can certainly speak food.

Me and my food understand each other very well

It was definitely a good birthday surprise I believe!