Visiting a Baby

Today the boys and I set out on a local adventure without Matt, since that’s the culturally appropriate way to handle this. One of my friend’s younger sisters had her first child, a daughter, 10 days ago. She hadn’t gotten the chance to go visit so asked if I could help out. Ladies, especially with their firstborn, stay with their parents after giving birth so they can be taken care of and rest. Quite the system if you ask me!

Since the ladies rest, only close male family members are allowed, plus other women. Hence Matt not going. So Michael, Samuel, my friend, and I loaded up in the car with gifts (and an empty liter jar since my friend’s parents are our source for local milk…2 birds, 1 stone!) and picked up her mom and daughter along the way. I got complimented on my language ability (this was while having my friend re-say everything her mom said so that I could understand it) and played the creation story in their language in the background.

The house is just outside of town, so it’s not easy for my friend to get out there. Thus us having a vehicle is a bonus for her. And her parents are great! So it’s a pleasure to take the boys out there for an hour or so to visit.

The visit was mostly just sitting around while talking went on around us, especially since her parents and older brother were getting ready to go to a funeral a little over 2 hours away. But the highlights included Michael eating salt milk tea with butter, yogurt, and fried eggs (the only local foods he likes, and it was his first time trying the milk tea) and him getting to play with and watch a plethora of animals, including a kitten, rabbits, cows, goats, a turkey, and a renegade dog (Michael wasn’t afraid, but my friend was for him!). The lowlight was when Michael stepped on the 10-day-old girl. Yowsers! Talk about me panicking! They were super gracious and didn’t seem upset by it at all, and even invited us to come back again, but man, did I feel horrible!

So that was our outing! I told my friend on the way back about a difference between our cultures. In America, it’s not uncommon for someone visiting a new baby to hold the baby. But she didn’t hold her sister’s baby, and that’s not the first time I’ve seen the sister not hold the newborn. She said she didn’t know why it’s like that, but that if she finds out she’ll tell me. She then said that she’s afraid of holding the baby because she’s so small (I’m guessing this is the common reason, but that’s just a guess).

Oh, and I forgot my camera, though don't know if they would have been comfortable with me taking pictures anyway. And since my phone is a dumb phone, there wasn't even that for a backup. Oh well, maybe some other time.