This past Wednesday marked my twenty-third birthday and what better place to spend it than in Nicaragua, right? Well, I'll let you all be the judge of that after reading this post. My birthday started off like any other day here in Nica, I woke at the wee hours of the morning (well, at least for a 22 year old!) covered in a thick layer of sweat, and made my way to the internet cafe in the center of town for some coffee and connection to the world. After setting up my computer and ordering my usual Cafe Americano, I took a trip to the bathroom where I was treated to my first of several surprises of the day. As I was taking care of business, I felt something graze my backside and before I could make out what it was, a rat scurried through my legs and out of the toilet. After a few moments of screaming and trying to avoid the rodent, I grabbed my backpack and went back to my seat, finding myself alone in the cafe with no one to share my story with. Happy freaking birthday to me. Later on, I was welcomed by Allie and Jill, who, after a great amount of difficulty explaining (in Spanish) the concept of birthday candles, brought along one of my favorite banana-chocolate chip muffins with a large religious candle on the side (it was too big and dirty looking to put in my food, Allie explained).
Later that day, Allie made sure that I was taken care of on my special day by taking me out to a delicious lunch and a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in town. We had practice where the girls decided to introduce me to a Nica tradition where the birthday girls gets a number of eggs broken on top of her head! We were doing a heading drill and when I went to demonstrate the other coach threw an egg instead of a ball as I was diving towards the goal - when I was on the ground the girls came over and showered me with 4 or 5 more! It was pretty hysterical and so much fun, but not exactly a tradition I plan on bringing back to the States..especially given how much I HATE having stuff in my hair haha. After practice the girls presented me with a poster that they had all signed and sung Feliz Cumpleanos to me. Then 3 of my favorite girls "took me" out for ice cream (I ended up paying because they couldn't afford it). After dinner we found ourselves ending the night playing all sorts of games at a bar downtown with a couple of Nicas, two Italian guys, and a couple of British people - pretty crazy combination of people! This weekend were going to a beach town in the south that is apparently a huge hotspot for big time surfers to carry on the celebration!
Thank you to everyone in the States who reached out to send me birthday wishes in whichever way possible - it always goes greatly appreciated!!! I know I don't make it easy running away to another country!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July and were able to celebrate Americanism a bit easier than we could down here!
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