So Big E was invited by a classmate to his birthday party last night. It's the first party invitation from school that he has ever gotten. I'm sure you're wondering why this is blog post worthy, so let me tell you. Big E's friend, T, happens to be Qatari. They tend to do things a bit more lavishly than we do. And birthday parties are no exception.
The party was held in a private party room above an indoor amusement park. (Almost all the malls have small amusement parks inside with rides and some even have small roller coasters.) There were tables and chairs for the adults to sit at and smaller chairs up front for the kids. In front of the little chairs was a small stage. Most of the seating was facing the stage.
On the invitation the party was supposed to go from 7-9pm. But we don't live in a very punctual society here, and so it wasn't really a surprise that the party didn't actually start until 7:45. Fortunately we didnt' arrive on time ourselves. :) The party felt more like it was an adult party tailored to kids, if that makes any sense. When if finally started, 4 employees of the park (2 men and 2 women) got on the stage and did a few synchronized dance routines to songs like "Ice Ice Baby". Really?? Of all the songs a boy turning 5 would want to listen to, that's one they choose?
The next act was called "The Dwarf Show". I'm not making that up. And guess what. Two dwarfs came out and did some dance acting of a few songs. That would never pass at home. It reminded me of the old freak shows, except these performers weren't being mocked, but they were used for entertainment. Big E didn't mention it. I'm not sure he was aware that something was different about them. Or that they were adults.
There were a few games like "Who can guess what T's favorite_______ is?" The winner got a prize. Another game was finding hidden pictures that were taped to chairs or tables. Winners also got a prize. The third and final game involved the moms as well. The first kid who could bring up the named item got a prize. The items were a phone, red lipstick, a visa or mastercard, and baby shoes. Big E was not interested in any of these and just sat by me most of the time. The male workers had left after the synchronized dance routine, and the two female workers called all the children up to the stage to do the chicken dance and another dance reminiscent of the bunny hop. The birthday boy didn't seem too excited about this, though he participated with the children. Big E didn't want to go up. I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to go up either.
The only time Big E went up was when they brought out the cake and sang happy birthday to T. Big E was excited that the cake was an igloo with penguins. Then food was brought to all the kids. They had ordered Burger King chicken nuggets and fries and juice boxes for all the kids. The moms had quite a selection. Chicken and kebabs, and arabic bread (think pita), and tabbouleh, and a number of rice dishes. During the shows arabic coffee (which is orange, by the way) and arabic sweets were passed around on trays. I wish I could have tasted the sweets. They looked intriguing, but I have gestational diabetes, and couldn't. :(
By the time Big E had eaten the chicken nuggets and fries and a penguin from the cake (he doesn't seem to be a cake person, mostly just eats the frosting), it was 9 and he was sitting on my lap as I finished eating. Poor guy was so tired. He gets up around 5:30 am to get ready for school, and so to stay up to 9pm is a very long day. So he went up to get a party favor bag and wish the birthday boy a happy birthday and say thank you to his mom.
The gift bag contained marshmellows shish kabobs, oddly flavored popcorn, gum balls, a penguin on a stick, and bags and containers of smaller candies. It also contained a mug that says "Guess who is 5, T!" with a penguin in the center. The hostess also handed out cards with money on them to all the kids so that they could ride the rides downstairs. I told big E that we could come back to ride them and he didnt' have any problem with that.
Big E was the only blond haired kid there. And we were the only westerners there as well. There are a few others in his class, but they didn't come. It was interesting to see that as soon as the male workers left the room, the women started to take off their abayas. There was a wide variety of what was worn. Some dressed up as if they were going out on the town, others were nice casual in jeans and a nice top. It wouldn't be any different from what you'd see at home. That was the first time I'd been somewhere with only Qatari women where they took off their abayas.
As we walked to the car, I mentioned to Big E that he shouldn't expect anything like that for his next birthday party. We've already discussed that parties with friends are an every other year thing. I can't even imagine out much was spent on this 5 year-old's birthday party that I'm not sure he fully enjoyed. The kids just wandered about when the show wasn't on or they weren't eating. I asked Big E if he liked it. He said, "It was really loud". He doesn't like loud music or loud speaking in a microphone. So I wasn't surprised that that was what he mentioned.
It was a very different experience and I'm glad we went for that, but I don't need to do it again.
The party was held in a private party room above an indoor amusement park. (Almost all the malls have small amusement parks inside with rides and some even have small roller coasters.) There were tables and chairs for the adults to sit at and smaller chairs up front for the kids. In front of the little chairs was a small stage. Most of the seating was facing the stage.
On the invitation the party was supposed to go from 7-9pm. But we don't live in a very punctual society here, and so it wasn't really a surprise that the party didn't actually start until 7:45. Fortunately we didnt' arrive on time ourselves. :) The party felt more like it was an adult party tailored to kids, if that makes any sense. When if finally started, 4 employees of the park (2 men and 2 women) got on the stage and did a few synchronized dance routines to songs like "Ice Ice Baby". Really?? Of all the songs a boy turning 5 would want to listen to, that's one they choose?
The next act was called "The Dwarf Show". I'm not making that up. And guess what. Two dwarfs came out and did some dance acting of a few songs. That would never pass at home. It reminded me of the old freak shows, except these performers weren't being mocked, but they were used for entertainment. Big E didn't mention it. I'm not sure he was aware that something was different about them. Or that they were adults.
There were a few games like "Who can guess what T's favorite_______ is?" The winner got a prize. Another game was finding hidden pictures that were taped to chairs or tables. Winners also got a prize. The third and final game involved the moms as well. The first kid who could bring up the named item got a prize. The items were a phone, red lipstick, a visa or mastercard, and baby shoes. Big E was not interested in any of these and just sat by me most of the time. The male workers had left after the synchronized dance routine, and the two female workers called all the children up to the stage to do the chicken dance and another dance reminiscent of the bunny hop. The birthday boy didn't seem too excited about this, though he participated with the children. Big E didn't want to go up. I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to go up either.
The only time Big E went up was when they brought out the cake and sang happy birthday to T. Big E was excited that the cake was an igloo with penguins. Then food was brought to all the kids. They had ordered Burger King chicken nuggets and fries and juice boxes for all the kids. The moms had quite a selection. Chicken and kebabs, and arabic bread (think pita), and tabbouleh, and a number of rice dishes. During the shows arabic coffee (which is orange, by the way) and arabic sweets were passed around on trays. I wish I could have tasted the sweets. They looked intriguing, but I have gestational diabetes, and couldn't. :(
By the time Big E had eaten the chicken nuggets and fries and a penguin from the cake (he doesn't seem to be a cake person, mostly just eats the frosting), it was 9 and he was sitting on my lap as I finished eating. Poor guy was so tired. He gets up around 5:30 am to get ready for school, and so to stay up to 9pm is a very long day. So he went up to get a party favor bag and wish the birthday boy a happy birthday and say thank you to his mom.
The gift bag contained marshmellows shish kabobs, oddly flavored popcorn, gum balls, a penguin on a stick, and bags and containers of smaller candies. It also contained a mug that says "Guess who is 5, T!" with a penguin in the center. The hostess also handed out cards with money on them to all the kids so that they could ride the rides downstairs. I told big E that we could come back to ride them and he didnt' have any problem with that.
Big E was the only blond haired kid there. And we were the only westerners there as well. There are a few others in his class, but they didn't come. It was interesting to see that as soon as the male workers left the room, the women started to take off their abayas. There was a wide variety of what was worn. Some dressed up as if they were going out on the town, others were nice casual in jeans and a nice top. It wouldn't be any different from what you'd see at home. That was the first time I'd been somewhere with only Qatari women where they took off their abayas.
As we walked to the car, I mentioned to Big E that he shouldn't expect anything like that for his next birthday party. We've already discussed that parties with friends are an every other year thing. I can't even imagine out much was spent on this 5 year-old's birthday party that I'm not sure he fully enjoyed. The kids just wandered about when the show wasn't on or they weren't eating. I asked Big E if he liked it. He said, "It was really loud". He doesn't like loud music or loud speaking in a microphone. So I wasn't surprised that that was what he mentioned.
It was a very different experience and I'm glad we went for that, but I don't need to do it again.
2 comments:
That sounds really odd: dancing to 80's music and dwarves? for a 5 year old boy. I sense some therapy will be useful in the future.
I had to laugh at Rebecca's post. Therapy indeed! The Qatar people definitely dance to a different beat than what you are used to. Makes me wonder what they would think of our birthday parties of hot dogs, cake and swimming all afternoon and no parents around but Mom and Dad
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