Well, on April 18th I passed the first of two birthdays in Peru. The big 2-4, and the farthest I’ve ever been from home during a birthday. When I look back on my 24th year, I’ll always think of Peru – it is the only age where I will be 100% in Peru. Half of 23 was spent here, and I’ll pass half of 25 here, but all of 24 will be dedicated to this adventure.

I want to shed a bit of light on the beauty surrounding birthdays here in Peru. First, there is the shoving of faces en la torta. The day before my birthday, I was teaching a tutoría class when another teacher that I work with interrupted the lesson to tell me that I HAD to come to his classroom. I tried to explain that I was occupied with the current class, when he cut me off to say “No, you don’t understand. The students brought you a cake. You have to come.” So, while feeling terrible for leaving one class behind (they still had their teacher there), I could not leave the other class hanging. As I walked into the class, I was welcomed by 20-some smiles, “feliz cumpleaños” greetings, a cute pink cake with one candle sitting next to it, and the kids at work filling pink and purple balloons. We passed around soda and shut the blinds so that I could be serenaded by “Happy Birthday” (which is a mix of the english and spanish here). Then, one student yelled “Take a bite!”. I immediately knew what that meant, as I had seen the tradition before. As I nervously laughed to delay the moment, all the boys were yelling that I HAD to do it as the girls were giggling and yelling to put my hair behind my shoulders. There was never a doubt in my mind – I was well aware of the points I would score with the kids for allowing them to shove my face into the cake. So, as the whole class watched, I bent down to take a nibble, and the next thing I knew, I was covered in pink torta. It was perfect. The kids and teacher couldn’t stop laughing.

After making my way back to the original class and explaining the situation, I was received by another round of singing happy birthday. Then, the sweetest thing happened. One of the girls said “Can I give you a hug?” and her hug was followed by a hug from every girl in the class. 15 year old boys being 15 year old boys, I received no hugs from them. Not hurt about it.

The next day, the day of my birthday, I got the best present – being useful in the health post. Truly, sometimes I just sit in the health post and twiddle my thumbs, but on the 18th I was checking people in, filling out their forms, weighing babies and running files to the doctor, dentist, and pediatrician. I would’ve loved to stay there all day, but I had to get to my tutoría class full of 14 year olds. The night before, I had baked two tins of banana bread – something that my students (nor host family) had ever heard of. Walking into school that day, I was embraced by many hugs from other teachers, and the kids were ecstatic about the banana bread – there were even a couple boys scraping up the crumbs at the end of class. As we ate, the teacher had a few students stand up and say something nice about me, followed by more hugs.

After finishing the work day, I made my way to Caraz to spend the rest of my day with Maddie and Carolina, two volunteers from nearby sites. It was the perfect birthday. We sat at one of my favorite restaurants (they specialize in berry wines), and sipped the night away. I made friends with one of the owners, and got a free, delicious blueberry pie out of it followed by another round of happy birthday. Later in the night, we made our way to a tequila-tasting/homestay/restaurant. The liquor there is actually agave, not tequila, though very similar. Agave plants are found all over the area, and they had the whole distillation facility encased in glass for all to see. After making friends with THAT owner as well, we were welcomed with a tour of the distillery, free agave samples, and special drink on the house – named “Parón” after the beautiful blue water of nearby Laguna Parón.

I really did feel so much love on my birthday, and it felt all the more special given how far away I was from home. It made me realize (even more) how beautiful the people here are. The hugs from teachers, students, and the fact that I have found such beautiful volunteer friends. The people in one’s life are truly what make or break an experience. They are what take such a toll on one’s well-being, and who have such a strong ability to make one feel at home. Cheers to heading into my 24th year, which I have a feeling will be full of more love and more beautiful people. Thank you to all those who sent me birthday wishes!!