The last few weeks have been spent in celebration.
During the last two weeks i celebrated my 24th birthday (man just writing that makes me feel older), and Fiestas Patrias.
I will talk about my birthday celebrations in this post and the following will be about fiestas Patrias.

This year is probably the most i have celebrated my birthday. There were several different types of celebrations

1st we had a karaoke night with the members of the pastoral team. It was fun and it has become a custom for the members of Pastoral (Campus Ministry) to go out on each others Birthdays. As per custom, i went up to sing a song. Joe and I did a wonderful rendition of one of The Backstreet Boys classic hits.

Then next day i went to the Chile vs. Venezuela soccer game with Joe and a Chilean buddy, Alvaro. The game was fun to see and luckily the game ended in a tie otherwise i am pretty sure there would have been rioting. Plus the game was highlighted by a constant downpour that left all of the fans slightly aggravated. Most of the fans were pretty soaked and could be in a better humor. Yet, this experience was rather colorful and interesting because it was the first time i had come into contact with truly angry Chilean soccer fans. Again, very happy that Chile at least came out with a tie.

Wednesday during school i received a nice present from the 1st and 2nd graders that i teach English. They, with the aid of the assistants, sang happy birthday to me in English and then i received a Chilean flag made out of separate cards written by the students. It was pretty cute. I will not post the picture because it might be too cute for the internet.

Then for my birthday itself we had a nice communal dinner at home with the 5 gringos (americans, or our program) Father Mike, Padre Erwin and Oliver. It was a nice meal, with Brian making Chicken Cordon Bleu and Apple pie. So that was very nice. It was a very relaxing and quiet event. Which was nice considering the next week after was anything but.

So my birthday was celebrated on several occasion and by several different people. I thank you all for the birthday wishes that you sent and hope that you are all well.