Adding a 1 to the 20!

{This post is being published a week late because I have had a lot of problems with it and I kept having to start it over...but here it is at last!}

This past week, I turned 21! Crazy. There are lots of things I could tell you about last week, but I am going to focus on my birthday and the festivities surrounding it. You might think that my birthday was all about me, but to me, it was just as much about being thankful for the people that are in my life and everyone who has helped shape me into the person who just turned 21. It was odd celebrating my birthday outside the US, with people I have only known a couple of months, but it was also very exciting.

It was a crazy day, because I had my first exam and left my phone on the bus(and did not get it back), but it was still a day that will be cemented in my mind for years to come. I was woken up by my host mom, Gaby, singing "Happy Birthday" to me in English and then again in Spanish...I love this crazy, confusing bilingual life I live. I spent my morning sitting on the patio with Gaby, drinking tea, and reading all of my birthday cards. Although I am continents apart from everyone who has ever celebrated a birthday with me before, I felt so loved and appreciated by them-friends and family stocked me with a collection of notes to open while I am here and included, was a stack of birthday cards. I am lucky to have you all in my life. Thank you for joining in on the celebration and loving me well, despite the distance. One of my cards included a pile of homemade confetti and when I saw it, I showed Gaby and she immediately showered me with it...and this was the result:

After my exam, I came home and was welcomed with presents from my host family and a whole bunch of joy. We had a family celebration that night with beer and pizza. It was casually wonderful and perfectly delicious. As you can see, the pizza here is more like cheesy bread...what's not to like?! So yummy. But even better than the food, was the company.  

Over the weekend, I decided to host a party at our house. There were a couple of reasons for this: 

1. I love an excuse for a party(if you know my mother, you will understand this...) 2. I live in a more rural area 30 minutes outside the city, where most of the exchange students had never seen or experienced. 3. Gaby insisted I have a party. 4. Some of the exchange students do not live with a host family or in a house and so it is nice to experience that occasionally. I just invited a group of students over and we made hamburgers on the grill. I suggested we have hot dogs on the grill too-because they eat hot dogs here too, but Gaby was appalled by this idea. She said if I wanted it to be a Uruguayan party, I could not have hot dogs on the grill. I then reminded her that hamburgers are actually American...but I complied and stuck with a "truly Uruguayan" menu. Afterwards, a dance instructor came and taught us some salsa and cumbia(a local music genre). I had a blast and I think other people did too. Here are some pictures from the event. Disclaimer: I have found it is just easier to have no shame when it comes to pictures...these are not the most flattering dancing pictures of me, but I assure you I wasn't as bad as I look like I was. haha

<North Carolina pals> :

All around, I think it was a pretty successful birthday. I sure enjoyed it! I can't wait to continue the celebration with all new people when I return!