A Special Birthday Celebration

Zemi's husband sent her 12 dozen roses!

Zemi’s 50th birthday was Saturday, October 16th! Her day started with a very special coffee ceremony at her house. Alem did a wonderful job and it was beautiful. The incense she uses is especially strong and fragrant. We had the traditional bread, popcorn and sweets served with a papaya and avocado smoothie. A coffee ceremony is about 2 hours and involves three rounds. of coffee. In the background was the 12 dozen roses-yes, 144 roses- sent to Zemi by her husband. They are so beautiful!

Alem is cooking the coffee beans for the coffee ceremony
Our next stop was the Joy Center. The teachers were gathered for a birthday celebration for their beloved leader. What better way is there to show your love for someone than having a coffee ceremony! Yeah! Another one! Everyone, including Kayla and I, took the podium to express our love and appreciation for Zemi.

 

Zemi wanted to spend her birthday afternoon at the Sheridan pool where I could take Jo Jo swimming. He is like a fish in water! I taught him to float on his back, but he already knows how to do basic swim strokes. I mostly just followed Jo Jo around and kept him out of the path of passing swimmers. The hardest part was getting him out of the water. The pool at the Sheridan Hotel has music under the water! You can only hear it when your ears are below the surface. Imagine floating on your back, looking up at the big birds circling overhead in a big blue sky and listening to relaxing classical music! It was a spiritually moving moment. The hardest part was getting him out of the water. I was well beyond the wrinkling stage, yet Jo Jo had no interest at all in getting out. Eventually, the lure of a chocolate bar brought him out of the pool!

Teaching Jo Jo to float on his back

Zemi’s birthday evening was spent at a wonderful restaurant surrounded by friends. We had a lovely meal and then enjoyed some amazing traditional Ethiopian music and dancing. It was the best I have ever seen! I have a great video of Kayla learning how to do the shoulder dance. She was brought out to the dance floor on several occasions to dance by the entertainers. In fact, we all danced quite a bit last night. We were a group of five fun, beautiful ladies and a teenager, and we were celebrating Zemi’s life with joy and happiness. Happy birthday Zemi and best of luck to you as you celebrate your birthday every day this special year!

Kayla learning ethiopian shoulder dance!