It's a girl!

No we are not expecting, sorry mom.  Our neighbors just had a baby girl.  This is their second, the first is a little girl 2 1/2 years old, just like Whitman.  According to the local culture new babies are not given a name until a special party which usually takes place on the 7th or 8th day after their birth.  The 7th and the 8th day came and went and we didn't see any large crowds gather at our neighbors nor did we receive an invitation.  Come to find out the party can happen really at any time, but it is best if it take places within the first 20 days of life.  2 weeks after mom and baby came home we were visited by the mom to ask our permission for a large tent to be put up outside our gate.  We were also invited to come for lunch at the special party.

Party tent right outside our gate.
  These go up in front of homes for weddings and funerals too, often closing down the whole street.

The night before a large tent was set up directly in front of our gate.  At this time a goat is killed as well.  We were not aware until the next day when the meat was served.  Apparently one goat is killed for a girl and two for a boy.  At 6am the morning of, the family, which includes an extended family of 5 siblings and their perspective families, began preparing.   The road was swept and motorcycles moved.  I, Erin, quickly offered our garage area as parking for the family’s 4-6 motorcycles and one car.  . 

our garage area as a motorcycle parking lot

The event actually began that morning with a few close relatives each cutting a piece of the new baby’s hair and reciting a prayer.  The hair is then collected and placed in a coconut.  We have heard some plant the coconut afterwards, but are not sure about this specific instance.  At some point the baby’s name is also announced to this intimate group.  This all took place inside the neighbor’s house first thing in the morning so we unfortunately did not take part.  The rest of our morning was spent outside watching the preparations and playing with the neighbor kids.  The event we were able to attend was a catered buffet set up outside for friends and relatives to enjoy.  We ate around noon and stayed another hour.  Guests came and went, eating and visiting until at least 4pm.  Most visitors just sat outside eating.  Often the women would venture into the house to greet the mom and new baby.  By 7pm the tent was down and all was cleaned up.  All in all is was quite a big event consisting mainly of food and visiting.  It was fun to take part in the celebration of their daughter’s birth, even if we didn’t quite understand it all. 

 

Neighbor kids and their cousins sitting in front of our gate. 
Our neighbors are the two on the end left side, and the one in pink second from the end, right.
  The new big sister is second from the end, left. 

waiting to eat