Feliz Cumpleaños!

So how do they celebrate birthdays in Peru?
Glad you asked. Let me tell you how I celebrated mine. The day began like any other. Wake up at 5, eat breakfast, get ready for school. But from there, it was a little different. I walked in the door at school just in time to see Wendy scurry around the corner, looking guilty. I walked in to the office to use the copier, just in time to see Damaris leave the office, looking guilty. And since everyone else was busy looking guilty, I got to use the copier without standing in line! (The copier is quite a popular place to be at PROMESA at about 7:15 in the morning). Pretty soon, I found out the reason why everyone was looking guilty. They were all waiting around the corner with cupcakes, drink, and other fun surprises. I felt very blessed by each one of my coworkers. They blessed me with a beautiful bag from Cusco that works very nicely as a teacher bag and is a lot easier to take with me on combis (public transportation...that's another blog entry for another day) than my backpack!
As soon as I left the school building to go upstairs to do something, I ran in to Isaac, one of my third graders, who greeted me with a big hug and "Feliz cumpleaños!".
mid-section and many more greetings of "Feliz cumpleaños profe! (teacher)". Kids definitely have a way of making one feel loved... We began the day, as we do every Wednesday morning, with a group devotional time with all the grades. Before going upstairs, Ron called me up front and everyone sang to me (Yes, they have "Happy Birthday" in Spanish). As I was goingI came downstairs again only to have many more enthusiastic sets of little arms thrown around my back to my seat, I got mobbed by most of the third and fourth graders. When I say mobbed, I mean as in I couldn't walk and I was trying not to fall over and squish anybody. Literally.
The day proceeded uneventfully until just before recess/snack time, when Chrisnna, one of my fourth graders, started complaining of a stomachache. So I took her to the office to give her some Pepto-Bismol. On our way back up to fourth grade (after being mobbed again in the hallway en route to find the keys for the office), Alejandra (from third grade) called down to me from the railing at the top of the stairs. "Profe, come to our room!" For a few minutes I became a human tug of war rope as Chrisnna pulled on one arm and Alejandra on the other. Fourth grade eventually won (first come, first serve), but only with the promise that I would be right over to third grade. The fourth grade room doesn't have a door yet, so as I stepped through the curtain that serves as a makeshift door, I was promptly showered with confetti from all directions and shouts of "Feliz cumpleaños!". Again, I was surrounded by fourth graders. Have I mentioned that kids have a way of making one feel very loved? A package was thrust in my hand and immediately the entire fourth grade began chanting "Que lo abre! Que lo abre! Que lo abre! (Open it!)" Inside, I found a ch'ullo (a traditional hat with ear flaps from Cusco, which is actually becoming popular worldwide
) My kids continue to amaze, surprise and bless me. The girls in both grades were way into writing notes to me, so I have lots of little notes on Peruvian notebook paper decorated in gel pens (quite a popular item among the girls in both of my classes) and colored pencils. I have to say...I love my kids. So then I went in to third grade and they all sang to me too and gave me hugs and encouraging words (and more notes). It's been a while since I've gotten that many hugs and felt that loved all in one day!
Side note: then I went back to fourth grade and found out that Chrisnna's "stomachache" was really an excuse to get me to go down to the office...)
After school, I went home for lunch. Lomo saltado....probably my favorite food here. I had invited my friend Juana and my host mom, Mama Zenaida for lunch. Including my friend Marga (who works in our house), my roommates and I, we were 6. I walked in the door and was greeted by my roommate Carrie thrusting a crazy balloon hat on my head. Apparently, one of her friends is from Switzerland and there is a Swiss tradition that single girls celebrating 25 years of life must wear a crazy hat. I happen to live with Carrie, who, for several months of her life, got paid to make balloon animals. So...I got a beautiful balloon hat, complete with a flower! :)
I felt very blessed at lunch by my roommates and my friends. We had fun fellowshipping together and enjoying each other's company. (In the pictures, Mama Zenaida, is in the black, Juana in pink and Marga is wearing blue, in case anyone's curious). I definitely feel like I am surrounded by family here and am very loved.
And after lunch, there came the cake. Chocolate cake with peanut butter icing (yes, we have enough American peanut butter that we can splurge on things such as peanut butter icing at the moment). Very rich, but even yummier! And I was sung to again.
There's this Peruvian tradition involving birthday cakes. After one blows out one's birthday candles, everyone starts chanting "Que muerda la torta! Que muerda la torta! (Bite the cake! Bite the cake!)" If you're unfortunate enough to have anyone behind you, you might get your face shoved in the cake in the process. But if you're lucky, it's a simple process of taking a bite out of the cake with your mouth. Then you get the piece you bit and the cake is cut up and served to everyone. As you can see from the picture, I obviously need more practice. But the cake was ceremoniously bit, cut, served and enjoyed by all.
After lunch, Juana stayed a while and we ended up talking and playing Dutch Blitz with Carrie and Shannon till Juana had to leave to catch the bus back to Huacarpay.
My friend Hilda (Juana's sister) called me later that night, promising to call again on Friday night to set up a time that we could get together today. So this morning I met her and we went downtown for the day. We just had fun walking around, looking at the

Qorikancha museum (I love the fact that I can get in for free with my residence card!) and climbing up the giant statue of Inka Pachakutec that gives you a great view of the city of Cusco. Before we went to get lunch, we stopped at Pukllay Kancha (Quechua for play place) where there is a giant slide that makes you feel like a kid no matter what your age. Great stress reliever and laugh inducer! I have decided that if I ever miss sledding while I am here, I will pay the $0.35 or so entrance fee and slide down the slide a few times. It's really a lot of fun! The last time, Hilda and I went down back to back our arms twisted together, and had quite the laugh when we tipped over and got tangled up at the bottom, laughing too hard to get ourselves untangled for quite a while.
The other great part of my birthday was hearing from many of you over the course of the last few weeks. I felt very blessed by each one of you and greatly enjoyed going to the post office and checking the mailbox there. I have cards hanging on the side of my desk in my room and have filled up the entire side of the desk. Thank you to everyone who helped to make my birthday special. I felt more special, loved, blessed, missed, appreciated and welcomed by people (both here and there) this week than I have in a while.
I seriously think this was one of my favorite birthdays so far. Muchas gracias!
Thank you so much!