Festina Lente

Turning twenty-five is like getting a B on a report card. It is not great and it is not terrible, it is just sort of there and asking to be ignored. I think once I hit thirty I’m going to start counting back down instead of up. Apologies to anyone reading this over the age of 30. Anyways, aside from the actual age, my birthday here in Peru was about a million times better than I was expecting. I was actually expecting nothing (so that math might be a little off); I haven’t gotten too sad or nostalgic while being here and am just taking things one day (chicken, pig head, snake, rabid dog) at a time so was expecting the old birthday to be just like any other day. I did wake up feeling a little down in the dumps which surprised me and then got over it pretty quickly and headed off to school. A couple of people actually remembered and wished me a happy bday (probably b/c I had announced it the day prior) which was lovely and then around 8:30 I was lucky enough to get another rabies vaccination (#2 of 3). Happy birthday to ME!

Later on in the day we had another hour long health presentation (the first was about diarrhea – not sure whether or not I touched on that) and this was was about brushing your teeth. They pulled me out of the presentation b/c they said I needed another shot. I argued about that b/c it was for a shot that I already had (measles or some other random ailment) and when I got back to the presentation sans the vaccine everyone was waiting w/ a cake to sing ‘Feliz Cumpleanos’. For the non-Spanish speakers out there, that means “happy birthday”. I am embarrassed to say I actually teared up a little as I was a bit taken aback by the cake and the song and all the love and hugs.

Had a big dinner with the extended family and my two gringa sisters Ari and Sam later that night (will eventually put up some pics of that) of ahi de gallina. Unsure about the spelling of that. But it is chicken in a tasty sauce with some arroz (that is rice). Had my first Peruvian pisco sour and was instantly a fan; it is a drink made with peruvian liquor called pisco and then lemon, ice, something a tad sweet that I forgot the name of, and lots of happiness. Dean told me to look out for it while I was here in Peru and he was right; those things can be dangerous. It was a great time and I realized that I’m *really* funny (even in spanish!!) after I’ve had a drink or two. haha. My peruvian Mom weaved a super sweet little purse and gave it to me and my peruvian bro gave me a necklace to match the one he wears. I am so in with the fam. I also received a bottle of pisco that hopefully will be put to good use at the next birthday or fiesta.

After dinner I headed over to Chosica which is the big town nearby to a discoteca and about 25 people from my group actually showed up which was shocking and awesome. My peruvian brother Jorge and my neighbor Raul came as well and laughed at all the gringos doing our weird gringo dances. We sort of took over the dance floor and Jorge told the barista to play hip hop (pronounced ‘eep ‘opp) and we got some Sean da Paul playing and it was all good. If Adam is reading this, he’ll appreciate the fact that they played ‘Punkie’ en espanol. So we had some beers and danced and had a really nice time. So, twenty five goes right below my Bat Mitzvah and then my birthday sophomore summer at Dartmouth and I won’t comment on that more but if you were there, you know what I’m talking about. If you weren’t there, you may have heard Sonia and I refer to it as the most eventful night of our college career.

But I digress, Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes, and thanks to all my Peru 9 buddies for showing me such a great time after only a week and a half of knowing each other. This post is super sappy and I’ll try to do something more intellectual or hilarious, or at least not totally self-involved, for my next one.

Oh! I was lucky enough to sit next to a woman on the plane ride down here who works with Operation Smile in Lima. She is hosting a really incredible event and if I can get my hands on the URL I’ll post some info on it. The short of it is she gets 50 Peruvian artists to work with children to make works of art: paintings, sculptures, etc. Then on Sunday there is a big art show and the proceeds from the sold art go towards operations for children with cleft palette. I’m going to help out with the set-up Saturday night which should be a great way to get to know some more about the organization. I’m really excited and lucky that Peace Corps is letting me help out for a few hours with this great event! More to come…