wow, what a blessing to be able to celebrate my birthday in this tropical paradise, and surrounded by beautfiul, warm, people.
thursday the day before my birthday, we had quite a full day in that we had to bring a pinata to school for the end of the year. we also decided to bring a nicaraguan spin on red chile chicken enchiladas for the family we work with. so after dropping off the food in the morning, we walked down the road to the school and prepared ourselves for what we knew was surely to be chaos! and that is was. the kids were beside themselves with excitement to open the pinata, and ran around yelling all crazy like for the good 45 minutes wait until we began. we started with the little guys first and each kid took 3 swings. and by the time we got to 2nd grade it was already being broken into pieces and fell off the rope twice. so we decide to rip it open instead of retie it a 3rd time (and also to speed up the overwhelming adventure that it was) and all the sudden kids rushed in from every direction, surrounding me in the middle so that i fell over backwards on them, and then when Matt saw some random 17 year old boys jump in, he realized he´d better get his share too! but really he was trying to help the little guys out because unfortunately the 1st graders didn´t get much of anything as all the older kids were stronger and faster and didn´t want to share. lesson learned: next time bring an extra bag of goodies just for the ones that miss out!
1st graders!
after that hilarious scene, we walked with all our 10 kids to their house and the family busted out the enchiladas and heated them up so that everyone, including ourselves, could have some. and to our great delight, they loved them so much they even asked for the recipe! woohoo. and then somehow the secret leaked out that my birthday was the following day and what ensued was so sweet and precious- all the kids made me birthday cards and two big posters, the mom wrote me thoughtful letters, the kids all sang me "las mananitas," they put on a birthday cd after that, they even painting me a picture on canvas. we shared smiles, laughs, tears of joy, and food! it was indescribable.
oh and also in that one day we got invited to future birthday parties, communions, and christmas with their family. and they insisted that my mom and grandma come meet them when in town! these are the rewards of such an adventure.
communion outfits
friday my actual birthday, was just as splendid. matt didn´t bang pots over my head at 5 am as the family told him to, because i requested that we skip that tradition. but he did make the most delicious birthday breakfast for me of pancakes, eggs, and pitahaya (which we now know is a cactus fruit!). also he gave me a beautiful bracelet and earrings set and my roommate sally made me an extraordinary card with an om mandala on the front. then i got to talk to my mama on the phone, my dad on the internet, and nicole on chat while i opened up the package she sent which had my favorite - larabars - and some awesome fall cards she made.
after that, matt and i packed up our bags and hit the road, stopping by a retired american couple´s house in order to arrange accommodations for the family in december, before getting to the bus stop. 3 and 1/2 hours later, we arrived in the one and only san juan del sur, and just in time for a sunset stroll on the beach! birthday dinner consisted of eating lobster in garlic sauce at the iguana - a restaurant bar right on the shoreline.
26, i think you are going to be a terrific year!
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