Birthday in Costa Rica!

I have always enjoyed birthdays.  Whether it's my birthday or someone else's, they are fun to celebrate.  It's celebrating life and life, I love.  I had a difficult time sleeping the night before my birthday.  It occurred to me that I was turning 36!  Age has never bothered me, it's just a number after all.  But I find it difficult to say that I am 36 and posting it here is probably therapeutic for me.  Maybe it's that I am at the upper end of the age range of students here or more likely that I come from a town where seemingly nobody grows up and the men are given the moniker 'peter pan' for their eternal boyhood.  I feel like there are so many things I have yet to do in life and so much more experiences are waiting to be had.  Yes, I have plenty of time, but somehow I am not considered 'young' by societal standards even though I feel young and even naive at times.  I don't want to be excluded from this group; I still have so much to give and so much to live!

So, the birthday.  I woke up feeling like it was any other day and that I would accept it for what it was since I am in a new place where people don't really know me yet.  Then, when I left my room, a serenade by my host family awaited me.  They were anxiously making preparations for the party they were planning for me.  As I ate breakfast my host mom called her friends to invite them and instructed me to invite some of mine.  As I prepared for school, I adorned myself in the customary birthday glitter!  At school students hugged and kissed me for my birthday.  It just makes you feel good to have people notice.

When I arrived home, the house was in full bustle.  Appetizers had been prepared and my host sister was rolling out dough for homemade pizza!  I skyped with my friends in Colorado and my younger host siblings gathered around the computer to talk to them, too.  As guests arrived the spirit picked up.  Some girlfriends from school showed up and my host mom broke out the tequila.  In her words, "It's not a party if everyone isn't happy.  For this we have tequila!'  I really like this lady.  We all ate and conversed and everyone remarked on how lucky I am to have such a happy, fun, and loving family.  It is true.  The pizza was delicious and then the cakes came out! My host sister is a professional cake maker and made me a 3 leches cake.  Delicious.  I just had some for breakfast!  My friends moved on to another birthday party and my family said I should join them but you know what, I didn't want to leave.  We danced and another family member taught me bachata and we all continued the fun.  More drinking was done and we partied until 11pm which is late on a Monday night in a culture where people get up at 4 am!

Birthday Sister & Me! (Same birthday)

Host Mom: Nora

Host Family!

Pizza!

Tres Leches Cake

Friends from school

I am lucky. Continually lucky.  And happy.