Little man's birthday

My host mom gave birth today. I was struck with the same thought I always have when seeing newborns (more often now than ever before), "That was just inside you yesterday!" He was not as small as I expected and definitely not as cute, but marked the beginning of trouble for my two younger host sisters. Although they were excited about something new and different from the daily small town routine, they failed to see how their already attention deprived world will be vacuumed by this little bundle of boy. Being the only son thus far as well as the youngest, he is sure to steal the show. If he is successful in encouraging the host dad to stay home more he, the baby, will be showered with attention from not only the formally absent father, but also a grateful mother. I may just be seeing stereotypes, but so far my host family has yet to disappoint. My host mom gave birth sometime after lunch, the hottest part of the day. Although in the US it is called the ultimate "labor" to give birth, it is seen as something less here. As I said in Bambara, "Good work, you must be tired" the youngest daughter, already affected by her culture, spurted out, "Why? She didn't do any work today. She didn't even cook lunch!" And she's only 5. The father made an appearance long after dinner, long enough to see the baby and take the TV power source to play one of his 4 music tapes on full blast. This made me think of my own possible future child bearing days to come(way future mom, don't freak out). In an ideal world the father would be the love of my life, but even not in an ideal world I would want the father to be there for the whole thing. To cry with me, laugh with me, awe with me and fall asleep with the thing that was just inside of me yesterday. This also led to discussions about population control and the end of the world with my fellow volunteers, but we'll leave that from some drunken ramble later. Right now I am pro baby, and excited to see my new nephew when I go back to the good 'ol US of A.