I had an awesome birthday week. On wednesday I got to skip school and go to Tegus to buy dresses for me and Rosa. She needed a second dress for her graduation dinner, and I needed one for her prom night. It was hard for me to find a dress, even in Tegus's big malls. The Honduran brands didn't fit right and the American brands were incredibly overpriced! But I found a grey strapless one that worked okay. Rosa found a pretty cream-colored chiffon dress.
I was glad we went to Tegus because it also gave me an opportunity to get a small present for nicole-- her 18th birthday was on Thursday! I went over to her house after school with my backpack stuffed with beauty supplies: she had designated me as her stylist for the occasion, and I was happy to take the job. I straightened her normally curly hair, shaped her eyebrows, did her makeup, and instructed her to wear a dress. She looked fabuous.
I had such a fun time at her party! I'm finally comfortable around all my classmates and I didnt deel awkward for a second.
Friday I had a party as well. Since my birthday was on saturday, Nicoles family and mine (who are good friends) decided to have a dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town. I think it was called El Todito. We had salads and trays stacked so high with chicken, steak, pork, and sausage that I was surprised our table managed to eat them. Everything was delicious, and then we had cake! Afterwards Nicole slept over at my house. We painted each others nails and listened to music and watched movies and ate cake for breakfast and it was great! But she had to leave for her cousins house the next morning, so she couldn't stay for my (second) birthday party that Cesia arranged.
Cesia showed up at my house around two and pretended she had an egg. She had been telling me all week she was going to crack eggs on my head on my birthday, because thats a tradition here in Honduras. I screamed and locked myself in the bathroom but she told me she was joking so I cautiously came out. She presented me with a giant, beautiful birthday card. "Read it!" She demanded happily. "Read it all! I wrote easy spanish so you would understand!" And I did! It was laced with sentiments such as "I love you Gringa!" And "I'll never forget you!" I gave her a big hug and then she offered to do my hair. After I was all ready, we called her taxi driver and went to Kenia's house.
Cesia had invited 10 or so people to go to La Princesita with us, but only Nidia and Kenia could make it. I didn't really mind, small groups are fun too. They treated me to a giant Baleada-- the ones at the Princesita are three times the normal size-- and a piece of cake, which we promptly stuck 17 candles into. They told me they had been practicing Happy Birthday in English so they could sing to me. I had mentioned I knew the song in Chinese, and they wanted me to teach them. After they had sung happy birthday to me in both chinese and english, I blew out my candles. There wasn't enough cake to push my face into (another honduran tradition), but they flung frosting at my face. This turned into a bit of a food fight, and needless to say, we were getting some pretty strange looks at this point. What would I do without these girls?
Cesia presented me with another beautiful card from all of them, and then we left. I thought I was going to go home, but Kenia and Nidia were going to a concert, and they invited me to go with them. It was a "Battle of the Bands" concert with a bunch of bands from Honduras. I was surprised by how good they were! I only got to see a little of the concert because it started late and I left at 9, so I spent most of the times hanging out with classmates and friends of Kenia's, and it was really fun.
I sort of feel like I had a party that lasted all week. People kept asking me if I was sad that I wasn't home for my birthday, but I honestly wasn't. I feel so blessed to have such great friends here, they made me feel so loved and special and I had an amazing birthday.
On sunday instead of having church, our church had a Garage Sale, and I got to go help out. I love garage sales! And this was the garage sale of my dreams: all of the clothing and everything was under a dollar and oh-so-very-vintage. But of course I couldn't shop, because I don't have room in my suitcase. So I stayed far away from the 1 lempira bin (the DIY possibilities!) and focused on helping out. I'm good at these things, and I think I was a lot of help. One of these days, I'm going to go vintage shopping in a third world country. That would be rad.
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| Here's a picture of my friends with a hobo. |
