Hello, Hivers! It's me, makiyumee and I'm back with the third part of this blog series! I hope you are all doing well despite the weather. It always rains every night here in our place, does it also rain every night at yours? I hope all of you are warm and cozy during the night. Anyway, here is the long-awaited last part of this blog series and this is about the celebration Hannah's 18th birthday!
My mother and I, along with Nanay and Tatay made our way towards my aunt's house where the celebration of Hannah's birthday is going to be held. With the birthday cake in my hands, I carefully trailed down the muddy hill to avoid slipping and ruining the cake before the party starts. The soil became muddy after almost a week of raining in Banban. Tatay and my mother were just ahead of me and so was Nanay. They were talking about something related to goats and pigs while I was busy looking at my steps, carefully avoiding the slippery parts of the path. I don't myself to get injured before the celebration.
After walking for a few minutes, my aunt's house finally came into a view and as we got closer, we walked again on another stone path or paril which was a short cut to my aunt's house. Without a minute wasted, I picked up my pace and gripped the box of the cake as I jogged towards my aunt, who happened to be cooking outside that time.
I greeted her and showed her the cake in my hands in which she thanked me before giving me a hug. She told my other aunts were in the kitchen, cooking the other dishes. When I entered the kitchen, I greeted all of my aunts with my mother following behind me. I placed the cake on the table before giving each one of them a hug. After our greetings, I decided to stay longer inside the kitchen since my mother and my aunts' conversation was getting a little juicy. You see, when there's a party and all the family members are present, the kitchen is the best place to gather the latest gossips.
While my mother was busy gossiping about one of my aunt's friend who I heard got into a fight with their neighbor, I found myself munching on a fried chicken and some spaghetti. Gossip and food are a match and I know you all agree with this.
When I finished my snacks, I helped Tita in cutting the puso or the hanging rice while listening intently as their gossip went on and on. When Tita and I finished cutting the hanging rice, I still stayed in the kitchen to listen to their gossip while eating another fried chicken. My aunts really cook that well and I find it hard not to eat what they were cooking. I'm not really into gossip but there's just something so hilarious about how my mother and my aunts talked about these gossips that made stay in the kitchen to listen.
Soon, I got enough of their gossip which was why I went to the front porch to help by cousins with the decorations. Along the way, I met this pup who suddenly asked for belly rubs and I immediately crouched down to give him one. Later, I learned that the pup was Hannah's new pet and I found myself constantly rubbing the pup's belly to play with him.
With the pup in my hands, I placed him on one of the benches in the front porch and I helped my cousins in decorating the place. But I left sooner after my mother called me to ask for my help in the kitchen which I gladly obliged. Once I got into the kitchen, I helped my mother prepare all of the foods because the party was going to start soon.
Later, Hannah's visitors slowly came in one by one and they all greeted her a happy birthday. My cousins were also done decorating the walls, so my younger sister, who just came from school, helped Hannah get ready for the party. While they were busy choosing a dress and doing her make up, I busied myself by setting the tables and serving the foods and the cutleries. My mother was the one who placed the plates on the table while Hannah's mother helped in placing the foods and setting the other tables.
It was around 5 pm when the party began and one of my mother's cousin, which was a very religious man, led the opening prayer. As we all did the sign of the cross, Hannah stood beside my mother's cousin as he blessed the food and Hannah for reaching the age of 18. The prayer was very holy and solemn, we all felt God's presence as the prayer went on and when it was done, my aunt led the song, and we all sang Happy Birthday to Hannah.
Hannah's churchmates came a little later and we all welcomed them to the party. I gave them plates and told them to help themselves as my distant cousins, who also came a little later followed. Everyone was happy and so was the birthday girl. We all talked while catching up with each other after being separated for so long. After dinner, my sister and I decided that it was time for some picture taking. Hannah took her cake, and I quickly captured a photo of her looking happy as she held her cake in her hands.
My sister and I went next, and we also got a photo with Hannah while holding her cake. It was a battle at first because my sister insisted on doing this very difficult pose, but the time was not enough since there were also others who wants to have a photo opportunity with Hannah. So, we stuck to this pose and gave the floor to the next people waiting in line.
The people who were next in line were Hannah's churchmates and my distant cousins. My sister, who was the expert in what poses to make before taking the photo, instructed them on what to do to make all of them fit in while I was the one who took the photo.
After taking everyone's photo, the sun was setting, and my mother decided that it was time for us to go home or we'll miss the bus going home. We bid our goodbyes to everyone and walked towards the main road where we waited for a tricycle to take us to the bus stop.
Yehey! We've reached the final part of this blog series, and I am so happy to share these experiences and happenings to all of you, my dear Hivers. I hope you had fun reading these blog series, see you all on the next one!
