Bolivian Birthday (2007.01.06)

I turned 25 on Thursday. Twenty Five. Now, some of you (little VA cousins, mostly) are thinking man, that’s old. But, the majority of you are thinking “man, that’s young.” As for me, I don’t consider myself old or young. I don’t feel old, although I’m not positive I know what it feels like. And I don’t think not feeling old constitutes me feeling young, either. I would say that like Baby Bear’s porridge, I feel just right.

It was quite a good birthday if I do say so myself. Wednesday I went into the city to pick up some packages my friends had told me arrived for me and man were they right. There were no less than 6 packages awaiting the birthday boy. Granted, many were Christmas packages, but who really cares what the presents are for when you’re getting presents? I got a bunch of stuff I requested from my parents, plus a few bonuses, including 2 DVD’s of Bugs Bunny cartoons and a bunch of xmas cards from different family members. There were a whole slew of T-shirts from various sources, including a couple paying homage to two of my favorite Ohio State institutions, Buckeye Donuts and Catfish Biff’s, which I will wear with much pride. My friend Kirk got married in October and his mom put together a little wedding package for me, including all the table favors and invitations and even a few decorations. It was like Kirk’s wedding in a box. Definitely the highlight of that package was my groomsman’s gift, for which I was absent to receive. Ol’ Kirky really outdid himself and got all the groomsmen sweet Leatherman tools! I was stinking pumped to get that, since mine got stolen a few months back. From now on I’m wearing it with a string attached to my pants. And I don’t even have to worry about (insert grandpa ranz voice here) PUTTING MY NAME ON IT since Kirk took the liberty of having it engraved with my name! Pretty sweet. I got a good selection of new music and good books from the likes of Ben & Mia Coleman and the West Coast Ranz’s, Mike & Linda, not to mention a couple of birthday cds from my Peace Corps friend Katie here in Bolivia. New music is awesome. A sweet package from the greatest tag team since the Bushwhackers, Amy & Tahira, topped it all off. It took me about an hour and a half to dig through all of the fun presents, it really felt like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one. This also just caused more grumbling from my Peace Corps cronies who continue to receive not nearly as many packages as I do. I really do feel loved and want to say thanks to everyone who takes the time to send things, be it packages, cds, phone calls or emails, or even just reads this blog. All are equally appreciated and really give me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Some friends took me out that night and bought me a few rounds and we had a jolly old time blowing the froth off of a few and shooting the bull. Nice and tranquilo evening. The next day I bought a few things I needed in the city (including a new bag to put all my new toys in, since they didn’t all fit in the one I had) and headed back to my site, where I treated myself to some Hardeman fried chicken (75 cents) and was joined by friend Ana Maria, who in fact remembered it was my birthday! She had told me she was going to make me a cake and I asked her if the deal was still on, and she assured me it was. Sure enough, the next night she came a knockin’ on the door to tell me the cake was ready, so I hopped in the shower and headed over to her house to share the cake with her and her sisters. So for whatever reason I didn’t realize the Bolivian tradition is to smash the cake in the birthday person’s face. Below is my friend Maritza grinning after surprising me with the cake smash.
Of course she got a huge kick out of this, and I did too. “Didn’t you know that’s what we do in Bolivia?” she asked. “uh, no,” I replied. Please note the sweet Catfish Biff’s shirt I’m wearing.

Here is a photo of the whole cake eating crew. In the middle is Ana Maria (the cake maker) and her daughter, Sofia. To her right is Maritza and to her left is their neice Joanna. That’s me on the right, the guy without the beard. I cut off the goatee that day and started a fresh beard. Stay tuned for a nice thick beard when I travel home in May! While we were eating, my friends Ronald and Remo came walking by and we invited them up for some cake as well. The cake was so good. Most Bolivian cakes are hardly consumable, but Ana Maria has got it down…chocolate and coconut with white frosting…oh man to die for I say.

After we polished off most of the cake, I went with Ronald and Remo to eat some more famous Hardeman chicken and played a bunch of awesomely bad 80s music (kirk, you would have loved it) on the jukebox and made everyone roll their eyes. I didn’t care, it was my birthday. Here is a shot of the three of us on our way out.
These guys are two of my good friends, I will be sad to see them head back to college in a couple of weeks, but they’ll come visit on the weekends at least.

So it was a very successful birthday, and I’m glad I got to spend it in my site. Thanks again for all the packages, emails and phone calls. You guys rock.