Just Don't Make Cupcakes!

Walking down the trail to the Jordan River at Bethabara yesterday, I met Karim. At seven years old, he's fluent in both Arabic and English; his parents are both Jordanian, his dad is a Baptist minister, his mom studied in the States, and he goes to an English-speaking school. We were speaking English, but his Mom said "Karim! This boy is learning Arabic. Help him! Speak Arabic with him!" We ended up averaging half and half.

When I asked Karim how old he was, he grinned "Seven--but I'll be eight tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow's my birthday too! I'll be 24!"

When we got down to the river, my Jordanian birthday buddy and I took a picture together. I asked him what he was going to do for his birthday. He kind of shrugged his shoulders, like he hadn't really thought that far ahead. His mom helped him out: "His friend George is coming over, and then tomorrow night he gets to pick a restaurant for us to go to for dinner. I'm making a cake tonight, and--"

"But Mom, my birthday is tomorrow, not tonight!" She explained to him that she was making the cake tonight and they would eat it tomorrow. That seemed to satisfy him, but he had one more point to emphasize before he ran off to find his dad, almost whispering the last word, as if he didn't want anyone to even hear him saying it: "Just don't make cupcakes!"

Happy birthday, Karim!