The Celebrations.

Well, that’s it—after thinking about, writing about, dreaming about, and celebrating my birthday for so long, I am finally 25. We had a full week-long celebration, starting with a cake at the hotel last Sunday when we arrived (accompanied by two rounds of singing “Happy Birthday”) and finished with a wonderful dinner out with my supervisor and her family last night. Sandwiched in between those pieces of bread, there was another cake with only my favorite other volunteers (accompanied by singing and some super awesome gifts), a dance party in our hotel room, a night out on the town, a night of celebrating swearing-in, being able to talk to my mom on both her birthday and my birthday (because of the time difference….how cool), baking a cake and celebrating with the stranded volunteers in my city, and a birthday party for my new cousin, who turned 8. It was definitely a busy week, and I am exhausted!

I arrived at site on Saturday looking like a mess of emotions—all week I had gotten about 2-4 hours of sleep each night, we had formed some good friendships, I was so nervous to go, and then we had to say good-bye to everyone. Yes, I was crying (I’m a crier, so I’ve found out…haha). I was also throwing up and sick to my stomach, thanks to the nervousness. That was definitely something new. I slept the entire 28-minute flight to my site, but once I was at my site again, I remembered exactly why I loved it the first time. It is just like a big family and is such a great place to be. My emotional roller-coaster went directly from being way at the bottom to being way at the top. Crazy how that happens! I slept for three hours once I arrived at my new host family’s and then did all my unpacking. I will just take this moment to say that I absolutely love this family already! I have three new siblings—two sisters (23 and 17) and a brother (15). The parents are pretty awesome as well. And so far I feel like an actual member of the family, rather than like a guest. I’m also not quite sure what to do in the morning—there are no roosters to wake me up, so I feel really lost and disoriented when my alarm clock is the first thing to wake me! The hot water heater for the shower is going to be tricky as well. Ha, just doing some bragging. Have I mentioned how cool they are? Plus, they own a catering business, so all the weight I've lost so far will be creeping back on (which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing...I mean, right now I can literally pull my pants over my hips while still buttoned).

Wish me luck on my first day of work!