Said I was a Buffalo soldier, troddin' through the land

I saw a water buffalo on the way to church on Sunday. It wasn't in the water. It wasn’t remotely near the water. It was in a field and looked like a cow with rhinoceros skin and Shrek ears.

We ate fried chicken last night for dinner. I usually avoid fried chicken to the dismay of my southern friends and if I do eat it, I almost always,in the interest of not clogging my arteries, take the skin off. But last night I shamelessly licked every bite of chicken off of my chicken leg. We don't get familiar food here very often, and though the food here is great and much better than I had expected before coming, it is really nice to eat something and know what it is.

It was also the first birthday of the new batch of kids. Mark turned 12 and was, at first, very shy about the birthday attention when we sang to him at breakfast, but he loosened up as the day went on as his peers wouldn't let anyone forget that he was the birthday boy. It was as if they were as excited about Marks birthday as they would be about their own. We all watched The Road to El Dorado and ate cake at the Main House. It is really adorable the way they do birthdays here. No matter how big the cake is everyone gets a piece, no matter how small. I insisted that is was not a big deal if we didn't eat cake so others could have more but Ate Donna wouldn't hear of it. The birthday kid gets to choose a movie to watch at the Main House, and is given a gift.

For many of them, their birthday at Stairway will be their first birthday celebration that they have had in their whole lives. Some don't know their actual dates of birth so Ate Donna asks them when they would like their birthdays to be, and they celebrate on whatever day they choose. I just wish my birthday fell during the time we are here!