my BIRTHDAY!

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Thursday my class had a surprise party for me, which was so cool, they drew all over the board, sang for me, and got me a hello kitty cake. And I had no idea which made it so much fun. Friday there was no class (vacation this week) and… I tried to make cookies for my birthday party… what an adventure. My two cousins and I went out and bought all the ingredients, (including chocolate bars to smash up because there are no chocolate chips) except for baking soda, which we asked for in every little store in a 5 block radius of the house before we found it (about 7 or 8). There are no measuring cups or spoons or anything, so I did my best to estimate everything, and there are no baking pans, so we greased the lids of two big soup pots. And, they never, ever use the oven, it´s only for storage really, so we emptied it out and lit the pilot light and everything, and it ended up being about 40 minutes or so for every batch (instead of 10). But, in the end they turned out pretty surprisingly good, not really the same though. That night there was a “Baile de Gala” for the “Reina del Colegio” at school (just a dance really). It was kind of fun, got a bit better at dancing reggaeton, haha. Annnnddd, Saturday, my birthday! After getting home at 1:30, my cousin and I got up at 7:00 to go to the Malecon with Ruth because my class had a presentation. I´m not really sure why we went, we ended up walking around for a bit and taking the bus home where we decorated the house, and I ended up accidentally breaking my piñata (which was easy to do seeing as it was a big balloon). My party was fun, a bunch of friends came over and we danced and ate, and they sang “sapo verde to you..” (means green toad, but it sounds the same as happy birthday when they sing it) and as is the tradition here, I had to bite the cake, and then someone shoved my face into it, and then I ran around trying to smoosh it onto other people´s faces. Very fun actually. 4 boys in my class bought me a giant stuffed-animal dog (named Luna Pancrasio, not really sure why), and I got a lot more stuffed animals from everyone else (they really like stuffed-animals here). Very sweet of them though. I had a great birthday, but I missed you all. 16!! Didn´t get to bed until 1 again, and got up at 7 again, because yesterday Ruth and Tio Alfonso, Tia Maria and cousins Hector, Brian, and Giovanni and I all drove in to the Sierra to Bucay. It´s very beautiful, very damp and green, and the foothills and the fog feel so very South American. And all the trees are jungley and viney (I don´t know how else to describe it.) anyway, we went to a little park-ish place (they´re all over, just a place with a pool, some animals, and food where families go on the weekends). There were ostriches, turtles, a waterslide, it was really fun, and much cooler up there. Alfonso is a traffic police officer, and afterwards we went to another pool, a police club or something. I didn´t swim though, because I was cold (cold!) It was a fun weekend, but I did a LOT and I didn´t sleep much so today I slept until noon. But hey, it´s vacation right?
Also, last week we went walking on the Malecon del Salado (its pretty near the house) and then all walked across the river to the Circo (circus) that was fun, but a little scary because we sat on tiny little boards (that bent when you stepped on them) held up about 20 feet or so in the air by what looked like really old stacked saw-horses It was good, the usual,. lots of flexible Chinese people and that sort of thing. I saw a very-obviously American couple, and I wanted to go talk to them, but I wasn´t going to brave the bleachers with so many people, and they left early. I haven´t really seen many tourists here. Not that I can tell anyway.
As for my tests, my best score was 19 out of 20 in computacion, and a 15 in math. And, mysteriously enough, on one test I knew pretty much nothing, so I answered two questions and left the rest blank. But, when I got it back, some one had filled in all the questions, and I got an 18.. I have no idea who did that, but it was nice of them I guess. We´re going to Salinas on Thursday… I´m excited about that, and today or tomorrow I´ll be turning in my deposit for the Galapagos trip. thank you all for the birthday wishes <3

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