Certainly a Birthday to Remember

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I was excited to get to celebrate my birthday in Lebanon and it proved to be one to remember =) The day started late, as usual. When I walked into the kitchen, Odette was making pancakes and the family sang happy birthday to me. =) Certainly a nice way to begin the day. Joelle, Joanna and I got dressed and headed to a public beach, Zireh, in Jbeil. It was a couldy overcast day and was fairly windy, so it was cooler out and had some nice waves to play in. The beach was sandy, but soon turned into a rocky beach as you entered the water. If you waded out far enough, the rocks eventually gave way to more sand. Later, Lara (the neighbor) and her cousin joined us. It was a fun and relaxing way to spend several hours. I of course, came home red as a lobster. oooops =)

When we came home everyone was acting as if that were it for the day. Joanna said she was probably going to just sleep the rest of the day. I told her, "No way am I sleeping my birthday in Lebanon away!" hehe... Later, as I was just relaxing in our room, the family surprised me with gifts and told me we were going out that night. They had wanted it to be a suprise, but knew I'd have to get dressed up for going out.

Later that night we all got dressed up and at about 11:30pm Joelle, George, Joanna, friends and I all piled in to a couple cars and we headed to Batroun. We went to a night club, Bank. We had a blast. The party didn't really get started til after midnight, but we enjoyed a night of drinks, dancing and lots and lots of laughs. I even danced Debke, traditional dance. =) The DJ played a mixture of American R&B, European hits, Arabic pop hits and for traditional Arabic music. The night, however, was dominated by house mixes. The club looked like any in the States or Europe.

It was also Roula's (George's girlfriend) birthday. Joanna and family got us a combined birthday cake in the shape of an "R". =) At the club, they put in two firework like candles and brought out the cake for us. =) It was really special and sweet.

It was certainly a great birthday! =)

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