Nicaragua: Every cell is transforming

"Me dicen que estás de happy birthday!" a member of my host family greeted me last Thursday. "They tell me that you are celebrating a birthday!" Yes, yes I was. 

Letting a birthday come and go without taking a minute to reflect on the occurrences of the past year would be a shame. A lot can happen in 365 days. In an effort to recognize all that has transpired in my life since my last birthday, I created a video. Here it is for your viewing pleasure: 

On my birthday this year I awoke at 5:30am to a text message from a fellow volunteer wishing me a happy day, was at school by 7am, treated myself to an iced coffee at my family's coffee shop when I was finished at school, shared a lunch of black bean soup and breaded eggplant with my sitemate, taught piano in the afternoon, then taught English, and closed the day with a nice family dinner. We had a rice dish with carrots, potatoes, and soy meat, and then enjoyed a cake which my host aunt made from scratch. By the end of the day, my belly and my heart were equally content.

I am a few weeks into teaching English to my host cousins. In the spirit of my birthday, I thought it was appropriate that they learn birthday vocabulary and use it to make me birthday cards.

Ready to share my birthday dinner!