Birthday #27

It's been a fun week of birthday celebrations which will end after dinner tomorrow evening. I'm not one to enjoy the center of attention much; I don't like standing awkwardly while people sing to me, opening cards in front of people always makes me nervous because everyone's eyes are staring at me while I read, and I get anxious about how to respond when I open gifts.

It was fun this year to celebrate my birthday along with Javier this year. (I'm still amazed at the way the Lord fashioned 4 years of friendship to get us to this point.) His birthday was on Sunday, and because of his crazy work/study schedule we started the celebrations on Thursday last week by adopting a family tradition of going out for a nice meal together. We went to Brujas de Cachica which is a fine dining restaurant not too far from my apartment. The food was very typical Peruvian cuisine and quite delicious.

On Sunday, Javier was here before church so I made breakfast...french toast, eggs, and coffee. I gave him his gifts, and we headed to church. Afterwards we met up with his mum, and we went to the food court at the mall for lunch before he headed to work for the afternoon shift. This has become our regular Sunday lunch when he works in the afternoon because the food court is the only place serving food at 11:30 on a Sunday morning.

Then came my birthday on Tuesday. I was informed on Monday that I had to go to the Immigration office in downtown Lima on Tuesday for the finally process of my residency. "Great," I thought, "Just how I want to spend my birthday...sitting and waiting." I really didn't have many plans for Tuesday except to have my friend Mary and her daughter over for dinner in the evening. However, Javier called late Monday night and informed me that he'd worked out his schedule to be able to spend time with me on my birthday.

Tuesday was a wonderful day; it was probably one of the most memorable birthdays yet. I woke up as normal and headed to school. When I walked into my classroom the students began singing happy birthday to me, and three more times that day a class sang to me when I walked in. I left for Immigration around 8:30 and returned to school around 1 as a resident of Peru (after 3+ months of paperwork and waiting). Upon returning to school, my students had made me a giant card and each one drew a small picture along with a little note.

Javier picked me up at school, and we went to the laguna near my home. We sat near the water and talked, fed the geese, ducks, and other birds nearby, and enjoyed the sunshine. Afterwards we went to San Marinos - a nearby cafe - for cake and then returned to my apartment to hang out for a bit before he left for work.

My friend Mary and her daughter Milly came along with my friend Juan Pedro. We ordered chicken, french fries, and salad for dinner and Mary and Milly bought me a chocolate cake. My landlords also came up and had bought me a cake that is similar to tres leches but even better. I shared cake with them before dinner arrived. Mary, Milly, JP, and I had a great time laughing over dinner and sharing cake together. We chatted for a bit, and then they headed home around 10 last evening.

Tomorrow I'm going out for dinner with some of the Peruvian teachers from school. I still find it humorous that I have more in common with the Peruvian teachers than with the international group, but I think we could all agree that I never came here for the foreigners to begin with.

I'm still waiting on the package from my parents to arrive. The tracking number shows that it's arrived in Peru, but beyond that I have no idea where it is. Hopefully a call to the customs office tomorrow will explain where the package is and how I can get it. I'm excited to see what's inside.

Year 26 began with me being offered a teaching contract here in Peru, and year 27 begun by receiving my Peruvian residency. I can only imagine the great things God has in store for this year. Here's to being one day closer to 28!