Surprise!!! ¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

On the Friday before, I was assured that they would be back in town for my birthday. "Don’t worry, we will be back by Tuesday to celebrate your birthday, we promise,” Patrick told me. When Katie, Patrick, and Natalie, who made a weekend trip to a Santa Cruz pueblo for the weekend, did not show up for classes on Monday, I wasn’t worried. When they did not show up for the class on Tuesday, I realized they still had not returned to Cochabamba. To be sure, I asked many of the professors if they had seen my compañeros. “No, no I haven’t,” they all replied. Professor Oscar then delivered some shocking news: “Michelle, didn’t you hear? There is a bloqueo near Santa Cruz and they are stuck there, will not be able to return for a few days.” Curiosity quickly turned into worry. All throughout my second class, I kept asking myself, “Are they okay?” “I wonder if I should call Juana and tell her to cancel the special dinner she has planned for tonight.” I had made the decision to call Katie after my class to see if they were safe, knowing that my birthday would have to be celebrated another night.

As I left my class, I saw a sign: “¡Feliz Cumpleaños Michelle!” it said. I thought, “Oh, I bet Liliana (a young professor) here made that for me, how sweet.” Another sign: “¡Feliz 23!” “Wow, another…how great,” I said, not realizing that the next moment I would hear SURPRISE! and see my three compañeros, standing in the fully decorated institute with cake and candles in hand. “What are you doing here?!!! I thought there was a bloqueo in Santa Cruz! I was so worried!” Come to find out, they had returned at 6:00am on Monday morning and had been preparing the prank ever since. I also realized most of the professors were in on the joke too and had laughed at me when I questioned them about my friends. Apparently, the three HCAers were in the institute the entire time that Tuesday morning, hiding from me and making signs to decorate during the second class; they had actually heard me query about their whereabouts and Katie let out her boisterous laugh in response - they were sure I had heard it and they had been caught. After the entire institute sang Happy Birthday to me, blew out candles, and said a few words of thanks, I smiled, knowing that my birthday had gotten off to a great start and that I am blessed to have such wonderful people in my life, people who would make such an effort to provide a special day for me.

Not particularly caring for the texture of the cakes here in Bolivia, I made my own birthday cake, shown here. For dinner, Juana cooked a special meal for my family, my compañeros, and me. We had a great time, laughing, eating, opening up presents, and drinking wine. As always, I provided a bit of extra entertainment for the night by breaking yet another glass (so clumsy…) and by being a victim to the Bolivian tradition of having your face pushed down in the cake by someone while you are blowing out the candles. Natalie’s picture of this for her birthday is cute, her cake was vanilla. My picture is simply disgusting because my cake was chocolate. It doesn’t quite look like chocolate on my face now, does it??? Realizing it is all in good humor, I am willing to accept a few moments of humiliation and publish this picture on the internet for all to see.

Between going out dancing with a few other friends on the Saturday before my birthday, the events that surrounded the actual day, and all the phone calls and emails I received from around the world, there is nothing I and do but give a giant THANK YOU for all who made my first birthday outside of the United States truly special. My 23^rd birthday is one that I will never forget.

(Pic #2, from left) Bolivian mom Juana, Katie, Bolivan brother Jorge, Natalie, Patrick, Bolivian dad Nestor and me in front