Birthday Celebrations in Peru!

My super special day in Peru

Hola a todos!

Last week, I celebrated my birthday here in Peru for the first time. I was a little apprehensive about celebrating in a foreign country far from my family and friends that I normally celebrate with. However, my community here in Peru really showed up and went all-out to make me feel super loved and supported.

I started the day slow – sharing a yummy breakfast with my host family, calling some loved ones, and answering birthday messages.

I’m currently teaching English classes for Vacaciones Utiles, which is like a combination of summer school/summer camp here in Peru (more on that in another post). I had classes in the afternoon, so I went for a couple of hours to teach. My little host sister from my first host family is in my class and she remembered it was my birthday! She greeted me with a big hug and a birthday present – how sweet!

After my classes finished, I went to my office in the municipality after to return the projector that I had borrowed for my classes, and my group in the municipality surprised me with cake, soda, and some yummy goodies to celebrate. As you can see, the cake had a cut out of a girl riding a horse and also an image with a girl, a horse, and a cat. When I walked in too they started playing Taylor Swift – it’s clear to me that these people have gotten to know me pretty well over the past several months!

A bunch of people within the municipality came to celebrate – the people who work with the ATM, my pals who work in the same office in the municipality, the head engineer of the group, my old host mom, as well as the head engineer in charge of social programs (like vacaciones utiles) and the head engineer of economic development. It’s common in Peru to give some speeches about the person celebrating their birthday. It was really sweet to hear the nice things that people had to say. I didn’t expect this celebration at all, and their surprise and kind words made me feel super supported in the municipality.

In Peruvian tradition, after singing and blowing out the candles, my face got smushed into the cake – they really got me good!

After I cleaned up my frosting beard, we ate cake, hung out, and enjoyed some time together.

Following my celebration in the municipality, I went home to celebrate with my host family! One of my volunteer friends, Erin, came to celebrate with me as well in the evening. My host fam also went all-out for my birthday. My host mom made chocolate cake, empanadas, and alfajores, all from scratch! We also drank some wine and my host brother shared some mead from his business.

The weekend after my birthday, another volunteer came to celebrate as well! She wasn’t able to make it during the week due to her teaching schedule, but it was still super fun to celebrate with her afterwards. We ate lots of ice cream, walked around, and went to one of the lookout points nearby. Here is a picture of us at the top looking over my site!

Like I said before, at first I was a little uneasy about celebrating my birthday “alone” here in Peru. However, the outpouring of love from my community – the other volunteers, my host family, and my friends and coworkers in the municipality – showed me that I am in no way alone here. I am so glad that I could celebrate here with the community that I have been lucky enough to develop over the past seven months.

Hasta pronto!