¡Feliz Cumpleaños a mi!

Happy Birthday!

Ok, here’s the super Peru birthday story:
I wake up at 6am because I need to meet my CDA group to hike up to the pediatric soup kitchen before our classes start. So I’m up early and really groggy. I go take my bucket shower and basically no one is up in the house. On my five foot walk back to my bedroom, which I decided to make in a towel instead of actual clothes, I find my door decorated with signs that say, “Happy Birthday, Amanda!” and a rose taped to the door with a present inside my room and my whole family there, waiting to see my reaction, which was “wow! Thank you! Um… I’m going to go put some clothes on… um… right now…” Very cute, very awkward. And my host family is the cutest thing ever.
So since everyone was up I opened the present, which was a large stuffed bunny which has a hidden canister inside to hide valuables. Then we had a huge group breakfast at 6:30 in the morning and which I had allotted 10 minutes for the night before when I was planning the morning. Therefore I felt horribly guilty that I was rushing through such a big event. We went to the soup kitchen (comedor popular, as I shall now refer to them as) and had a little meeting. Then I went to the health post.
Unbeknownst to me, Libby had prepped them the day before on my upcoming birthday. So everyone remembered and said happy birthday and it was all very sweet. Then odd things started happening. Libby kept leaving by herself, a package arrived, and I went to go find Libby once and she was filling up glasses of Coke. Right when we were supposed to leave (as in we urgently needed to leave at 11:15am to catch the Peace Corps combi (a small bus that is the public transportation in Peru, besides taxis) to go to Lima) we were taken to the meeting room where there was… a birthday party! Maria, the secretary, had ordered a cake yesterday from a bakery in Chosica and we had some cake and coke. I felt so special! To top it off, Libby got the Peace Corps to pick us up on the way out of town so we didn’t have to go back to the center, which we wouldn’t have been able to do anyway.
We went to Lima via combi to visit MIMDES (Ministerio de la Mujer y Desarollo Social; Ministry of women’s social development, more or less). It was a huge government building, very nice and intimidating and a striking contrast from basically all of the scenery in which we have been living and working. They gave us folders with information and flyers, a free messenger bag, and a break half way through the presentation with free soda and cookies. I don’t know if that sounds like a lot of free stuff or not but I was blown away. I would have been excited with a free bread roll. So, we had a presentation on domestic violence and what laws and programs Peru has to address the issue. During the break, they sang happy birthday! And there was cake! Tsutsuy found a bakery in Chosica and ordered a cake! Oh my goodness… I was speechless; no one has ever given me a surprise anything for my birthday before so two unexpected parties was crazy. So, Tsutsuy and everyone in PERU 8, THANK YOU!! You guys are the best!!
We got an hour to wander around the Bolivar Plaza (I think that’s what it’s called) in Lima and I shared a pitcher of Sangria while getting serenaded by a very inebriated gentleman. At 8pm, we arrived home to Ricardo Palma and about an hour later, people started coming for the birthday party at my house. :) First it was just about 5 people from the area, and then about 10pm, twenty more people showed up. It was really fun, dancing, music, and no beer, which seems to be all anyone drinks here. My cool-yo host family made strawberry and milk cocktails, which were delicious, and sangria. The RP and HRP gang brought wine and jello shots. Which was a new thing for all Peruvians involved and much enjoyed, except for the five year old girl that they let try some, she found them slightly worse than disgusting, which is exactly as it should be. So, yay, fun dancing and (wait for it…..) a cake! That’s right folks, three cakes, three delicious Peruvian cakes in one day.
My first birthday outside of the state of Arizona, and it was fabulous! :)
I was sick again that night, but at least it was good old fashion I ate way to much sugar sick. Ah, familiarity is always welcome, even if it is me getting sick again.