We’re gonna party like its my birthday…
why? Because it is! Yup, turned 24 today, halfway to 48. I’m feeling old,
trying to hold on to my youth, fighting off Alzheimers, creaky bones, and
preparing for retirement now real soon here. Wait, what day is it again? Who is
having a birthday… what is my name and… wait, where am I?… Ah, its all coming
back slowly. Oh, aging.
Joking aside, here’s a little glimpse in to
what my 24th birthday looked like here in Cochabamba, Bolivia in
month three of the World Race!
coffee and muffins made by my teammate Emily. Delicious! As I stumbled around
in my morning routine I noticed a few well placed signs next to items that it
was known I would be visiting: the coffee maker, the fridge, and the bathroom.
FelizCumpleanos, Steven! My contacts living in the house, Katherine and
Weatherly, must have gotten the memo.
Our team went to the international church
again today and the sermon was excellent; Pastor Joe talked about keeping our
perspective focused on heavenly things and not on the things of this world. Our
life is gone in an instant, in the blink of an eye, and why do we store things
up for ourselves here on earth when we have so much waiting for us in eternity
in Heaven? It almost served as a birthday reminder as well; we are only here on
earth for a short time and that time is getting shorter everyday (hello,
birthdays). The sermon was an excellent reminder to take advantage of our time
here on earth and use it to glorify Him.
After church Glenn, Sam and I went to lunch
at a Bolivian buffet. However, different from buffets in America, you go
through the line once and you pay by how much your plate weighs. Hm. Let’s just
say we were all pretty bad at estimating and staying within our daily budget…
we had a lot of food. Stupid, fat, Americans, their looks seemed to say. It was
worth it though; it was an awesome selection of native Bolivian foods and we
were stuffed afterwards. Did I mention that we were already planning to go to a
steakhouse later to have a little celebration? Food coma time now, let’s see if
we make it to the steakhouse.
One thing I knew I wanted to do for my
birthday was to talk to my parents, which I hadn’t done since getting to
Cochabamba. The computers in the internet café have Skype, but the microphones
don’t work and there is no video camera, so the other end of the call is pretty
much out of luck. I tried calling my mom anyway, hoping the microphone would
somehow work. I was able to connect, but it was obvious my mom couldn’t hear me
talking. However, she still started to sing me happy birthday. I could see and
hear her, and it was the sweetest thing, but I was getting frustrated that she
couldn’t see or hear me! Finally, I decided to shell out some cash for the pay
phones and was able to talk to my parents and brother for about 20 minutes. For
me, that’s what birthdays have always been about: spending time with my family.
I was missing home a bit today specifically, which doesn’t happen often as I
get so caught up with things here, so it was good to be able to talk with
themfor a little while.
is the time I get with my friends. This part was easy to satisfy: my teammates
are my family and my friends this year! We ended up going to a steakhouse and I
had a fat ribeye steak, potatoes, and cheesy rice (and all for roughly $5 USD).
So delicious! I told the lady who was serving us it was my birthday as well,
and she did her best to make it extra special, toasting with us and giving me a
bootleg DVD (in Spanish, of course) as a gift! We ended up spending a long time
after our meal talking with her and sharing about who we are and why were in
Bolivia. She was so sweet, and made the experience extra special.
My teammates went out of their way to give
me a special day today (Sam even bought me some peanut M&M’s, my favorite!)
and I was so thankful for all of them. This is the World Race: we are with each
other all the time, we go through the good and the bad, the easy and the hard,
we bicker and pick at each other, we laugh and cry, we just want to be alone
sometimes, but, at the end of the day, we all are learning to love each other.
This is what makes this family so special, and this trip so memorable. We have
each other, and I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my 24th birthday
with anyone else, anywhere else in the world.
