Last night Fatima’s mom arrived at our place for a visit, and it was her birthday yesterday! I was quite amused a few weeks ago when Fatima celebrated her birthday and fed bite-sized portions of cake to her students. I found the gesture intimate and sweet. In the states, we commonly witness feeding cake with one’s hands during a wedding. However, it is a custom to eat with one's hands in Bangladesh (and still in some parts of my parents' home country, the Philippines). At the time, I was set on sticking to my habit of using forks to eat and declined to let Fatima essentially stuff cake, icing and all, into my mouth. In this picture, I am meeting an “elder” for the first time, and what do you know? Five weeks have flown by and I feel comfortable enough to obey Fatima’s mother’s wishes and eat cake from her hand.

Carolina Mommy Moment: I’m a displaced northerner confronting the daily challenges of maintaining a work-life balance as a wife and working mom. Originally from NJ, I’ve lived in Baltimore, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Los Angeles, but now I call North Carolina home. I am actually doing something with my MA in East Asian Studies (gasp!) and work as a program coordinator for China-related projects (yes, I had to learn Chinese, it is not my native language).
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Let me eat cake
Last night Fatima’s mom arrived at our place for a visit, and it was her birthday yesterday! I was quite amused a few weeks ago when Fatima celebrated her birthday and fed bite-sized portions of cake to her students. I found the gesture intimate and sweet. In the states, we commonly witness feeding cake with one’s hands during a wedding. However, it is a custom to eat with one's hands in Bangladesh (and still in some parts of my parents' home country, the Philippines). At the time, I was set on sticking to my habit of using forks to eat and declined to let Fatima essentially stuff cake, icing and all, into my mouth. In this picture, I am meeting an “elder” for the first time, and what do you know? Five weeks have flown by and I feel comfortable enough to obey Fatima’s mother’s wishes and eat cake from her hand.
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2 comments:
Sweet!
sometimes I eat with my hands when no one is looking :) . It is much more enjoyable!
mark
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