Turning 23!

There's nothing like a birthday to make you feel absolutely, 100% loved! 23 has definitely started on a high note!

dig in!

Saturday morning, I made a banana bread in a round cake pan and later took it outside to my guard hut, where my friend Hkou, his wonderful sister, Fatima and my friends Ibrahim and Yao, and I made tea. I put a birthday candle in the middle of my banana cake and lit it. They made up a birthday song for me in full Tamafranglish--a combination of French, English and Tamasheq. If my internet were faster I'd upload the video of it! It was incredible! They were so entertained by the birthday candle that when we ate lunch, they insisted on sticking it into our rice and sauce and relighting it for round two! I had a great afternoon with my friends!

my birthday song in Tamafranglish :)

make a wish!

please keep in mind that this was midday and so it was +40 outside!

Then the next morning, after my normal 10k with Lisa, my teammates put on a wonderful pancake breakfast for me at the Cheungs house. Cecilia had hid five presents for me around my house and so early in the morning I went hunting (some I'd already found by accident--the one in the microwave wasn't so hard to find!) Before leaving for my walk with Lisa, I'd found three of the five. When I returned I found the fourth, but the elusive fifth was still hidden away when I left for my pancake breakfast. (Oh, and I'd told Hkou about these hidden presents which amused him to no end! When I got back from my walk with Lisa, he told me he'd hidden a present for me somewhere in my yard! After searching, digging though bushes and flowers, I found a piece of paper on which he'd written, "Happy 23rd birthday!" I laughed so hard!)

DELICIOUS BREAKFAST!

mini muffin anyone?

Pancakes, puzzles, presents, and chatting took up a good chunk of the day. It felt like Christmas or Boxing Day--we should declare my birthday a national holiday! It was wonderful. It felt like spending the day with family--THANKS GUYS!

After the Sunday night church service, our normal group of young adults headed out to a restaurant for dinner. I got to pick the restaurant--lucky me! Some previous group had left behind "Happy Birthday" serviettes on another table in the restaurant that we helped ourselves to!


After a delicious meal, suddenly, over the restaurant sound system, came the very loud notes of "Happy Birthday" in voices reminiscent of the chipmunks! I laughed so hard! One of our waiters appeared with a birthday cake that one of my friends had made and brought with her to the restaurant and convinced them to stash it in the kitchen! She'd made a happy face with jelly beans ontop and they--the restaurant--added a heart-shapped candle!


So all in all, it was a FABULOUS weekend of celebrating!! Thanks everyone who celebrated with me!!

p.s. i found the missing fifth present--with a couple of hints and under the threat that if I didn't find it by midnight, they'd claim it for themselves!