In The Philippines for my 24th birthday. I never thought I would be with 6 people that I have only known for 5 months. I never thought that 6 “strangers” could love me so much and spoil me so much for my birthday.
It started with the cake. The night before my birthday, I was outside washing clothes. The girls were acting kind of funny and as I walked inside they tried to stop me. I didn’t really think anything of it. I walked through the main room all the way to the back room. When I walked back to the main room, they all started singing to me. Apparently I had walked right by the cake and not noticed. It was a beautiful cake that Laura had decorated with frosting that Close had carried with her since Nicaragua. It was wonderful. They lit candles, let me make a wish and then we ate a delicious birthday cake!
The morning of my birthday, we left and headed for Cagayan (CDO) with Redemption Valley. We were going rafting for my birthday! We arrived in CDO and loaded on to a Jeepney with three rafts on top of it. We arrived at our launch site and unloaded. We got life jackets and paddles and headed off for the river.
We had a wonderful time. The water was pleasant and a little more powerful than normal due to typhoon Pablo. Our guide knew we were adventurous and took the hardest lines he could down each rapid. It was so great.
After rafting, it was lunch/dinner time. We arrived back in CDO and went to the new mall called Centrio. William had told us about a new restaurant called Army Navy that we were supposed to try. It was great food – pretty American and delicious. After eating, we went to Friday’s for desert. They surprised me with a birthday song and free ice cream!
The day was fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better 24th birthday. Thanks to the best team ever!
