Gorging

I ought to begin by thanking the uncounted thousands of you beautiful people who wished me a happy birthday yesterday. I only wish I had time to personally thank you all. Celebrating the anniversary of one's birth in a foreign country has its perks, not least, I was spared the hassle of ripping through layers of orange and black crepe paper to get to my (numerous) presents.

I celebrated last night, after an unholy nine hours of class (a Wednesday ritual), with an excellent dinner among friends. I ate way, way too much, and had to sit still for a few hours so as to avoid the possibility of exploding. A good evening, all around.

Failing already in my effort to put up a photo a day this week, I will seek forgiveness by offering you a short series, taken last weekend. I found this little boy and girl playing in an alley on campus here at Beida. I snuck up on them and took a picture.

I said hello, and the boy practically jumped out of his socks with excitement. He jumped on his friend, and twisted her head up to look at the camera. I certainly appreciated the chance to photograph such a willing subject.

One of the nice things about photographing kids is that they enjoy it. Nine times out of ten, when I ask permission to take a picture of someone older than 15, I get waved away. As such, I have stopped asking permission, but that is a tactic that sometimes invites a frown. Not so with these two.