Blans with birthdays

I was a "gringa" in Honduras, a "mzungu" in Kenya, and now I'm a "blan" in Haiti. Being labeled by one of these local terms for foreigners is somehow simultaneously endearing and annoying.

Haiti's term "blan" translated "white" is the name with the most obvious roots of the three. (People say that all foreigners in Haiti are called "blans" regardless of their skin tone, but I met a Nigerian here who says she hasn't been called one yet). However "mzungu"remains my favorite because supposedly its roots are in a Swahili verb which means "to go around in circles"... which isn't so hard to imagine a bunch of British colonialists doing in East Africa....

Anyway, my social world so far in Haiti has been has been much more "blan" than in my other seasons living outside of the US. I am hopeful that I will develop some stronger Haitian ties in the days to come but I must say that it's quite a nice group of 12 or so fellow foreigners that I have met so far.

The crazy thing is that 33% of my little social circle was born in the period between October 31 and November 9. Four birthdays in 10 days translates into a lot of frosted cakes. It kind of makes you wonder what it is about Scoprios that brings them to places like Port-au-Prince, Haiti for such a time as this?

Maybe I'll do a little epidemiological investigation at the joint birthday celebration we are planning to have this weekend. Not quite sure n=4 is a PhD worthy sample size...

PS - I must say I was quite excited about the Mango-Lime Carrot Cake I made for a birthday dinner this last weekend. I know the temperatures are dropping where most of you are ....but here's the recipe in case you get spring fever during the long winter to come.

Mango Lime Carrot Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup mango nectar
2-3 Haitian key limes – zest + juice (about 1 full-size lime)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated carrots
1 81/2-ounce can crushed pineapple in juice, well drained

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. In a separate large bowl, beat 2 cups sugar, eggs, mango juice concentrate, and vegetable oil until smooth. Beat in dry ingredients; stir in carrots pineapple and lime zest + juice. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan.

Lime frosting: 1 pkg cream cheese, about 1 cup powered sugar. 1 lime (juice + zest)