The ThunderBlogs

Sarah Meli left her room early on Friday morning and walked to one of the common kitchens in her graduate residence to start cooking for the birthday party.

She had sent an email three weeks earlier to inform over 150 residents of St John’s College that she was organizing a party for those born in September.

Meli had turned 24 years old the previous Tuesday.

She was carrying a notebook in which her mother had written recipes from Meli’s country, Malta.

“In Malta, you host, you pay, you cook, you feed,” she said.
“The potluck doesn’t happen in Malta- it never did, it never will. When you host it’s the thing you do, you cook for people and they eat.”

As she spread out the ingredients on the large wooden table, Ian McIvor rolled into the kitchen with his skateboard. His birthday was on Sept. 11 and he was volunteering to mix the dough and cake batter.

A French-Canadian student plopped himself into an armchair and talked about the Quebec beer he was bringing to the party- one of Meli’s emails had said people should bring their own alcohol.

At around 6 p.m. Meli and some other residents were rearranging the furniture in the ground floor social lounge where the party was held. She was wearing a white dress with a red pattern, a red scarf around her neck and a red shrug.  Her curly thick black hair was pulled up and a red flower rested over her left ear.

“Being away from my home I wanted to do something special, so I thought it would be a better idea to do something collective for all of us,” said Meli.

Residents from around the globe walked into the lounge carrying bottles of wine, beer and snacks.

Music started playing, ranging from Arabic to Spanish to Lady Gaga.  Ziaul Hasan, a student from India, danced the salsa with a resident from Ecuador.  Canadian student Samantha Meade was showing off some belly-dancing moves she learned last year.

Hanna Galal, another birthday celebrator, was standing with her friend Taylor Hatrick who was visiting from Victoria for the party. They met during their undergraduate studies in Germany, where Galal is from.

Meli stood at the other corner and watched her recently made friends dance and eat some of the pizzas she worked on almost all day. “This is one of the most special birthdays ever,” she said. “The fact that so many people came just to say happy birthday, the way they say it and what they do for you- you really feel the care.”